Stay away from the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell, MT...total dump! Stay at the Pollard Hotel in Red Lodge, MT. Amazing food at the Pollard, and great service!

 

Unless you're in the area for business, I'd suggest staying away from Kalispell. It's a nice enough place, but not really a vacation sort of place.

If you're on vacation, you'll enjoy Whitefish so much more. Or stay on Flathead Lake in Bigfork.

In Red Lodge, the Pollard is great! Pretty much any place in Red Lodge is nice--just pick your price point. In the winter I stay at the Yodeler--great price normally but they offer a discount for ski instructors (I do some of that part-time). In the summer, I just camp. Lots of great FS campgrounds around the area.

 

I so second your thoughts on the Outlaw. Used to be a great place but many others much nicer. This is likely way out of date since JonnyD may be long since gone, but Logan's Pass (aka Road-to-the-Sun) won't be open I don't believe. Rarely opens before mid June. You can check at http://www.nps.gov/glac/.

 

Nope, not too late. Were leaving on our trip at the end of June, and should be in beartooth area around the 9th of July. I forgot to put in my travel dates, sorry. Anyways, has anyone stayed in Ennis, MT? We're looking to head west out of yellowstone and it looked like a neat town to stay in??? Also how about Lolo, MT area, before we head over the pass? Thanks guys

 

Ennis is a thousand times better than West Yellowstone, and not too far away. West Yellowstone is tourist schlock of the worst kind (taffy shops, IMAX, a thousand t-shirt shops, and no decent place to eat). You would never know you were in Montana except for what all the souvenir t-shirts say.

Ennis, while still catering to vacationers to some extent, is a much more laid back place. Better places to eat, better bars, and just a more scenic place (Madison Valley). If you stay in Ennis, take a side trip to Virginia City, the old territorial capital of Montana (~15 miles west--a half-restored ghost town).

Lolo is a little bedroom community of Missoula. Blink and you miss it. I'd suggest staying in Hamilton or in Missoula. If you stay in Hamilton, be sure to stop at the Bitterroot Brewery's brewpub.

 

Yeah, we're not staying in west yellowstone, just exiting the park that way. Have you stayed in Ennis, and can to recommend a place to flop for the night close enough to walk and grab a bite to eat?

 

I live in Bozeman; the ride to Ennis is one of my favorites on a weekend afternoon. I also ride there a lot to fish.

Plenty of places to stay in Ennis/Madison Valley. What's your price point? You can stay at a guest ranch with private Madison River frontage (great fishing!). You can go cheap at the Sportsman, which is plenty nice and clean, also has a locals' bar. Pick your price point. There's camping in the area, too.

Eating? The Continental Divide is good, so is the Reel Decoy....the Silver Dollar; breakfast is good at the Ennis Cafe or Sunrise Bagel. Just walk down Main St (two blocks long) and see what looks good. North of Ennis a few miles is the Bear Claw in McAlister, a popular road house with bikers. Good steaks there, and we don't say that lightly in Montana.

 

Excellent info, thanks Faber. We're not glitzy folk, just like to have a bed-bug free mattress that's comfy and a toilet that flushes . I emailed the Ennis chamber of commerce and they told me to check the Riverside, Fan Mountain and the Sportsman's lodge.

Can you recommend a good ride from Ennis to the Lolo area?

 

Any of those three will be fine. There really isn't anything right on Main St in Ennis, but those are all a 120-second ride away edit: the Sportsman will prolly be the cheapest, but their "cabins" are kinda tiny. the Fan Mt Inn is new.


Yup.

Take MT 287 out of Ennis to Virgina City (not to be confused with US 287). You'll at least want to walk around there. Take MT 287 to Twin Bridges, then take MT 41 south to Dillon. Stop and look at Beaverhead Rock, of Lewis & Clark fame (google it), then hop on I-15 in Dillon south for a mile or so, then take MT 278 to Wisdom. Take the side trip to Bannack, an unrestored ghost town that was Montana's first territorial capital. The ride from Bannack to Wisdom is great, up the Big Hole. At Wisdom, turn west onto MT 43 to Lost Trail Pass on the divide/Idaho border. You may want to stop at the Big Hole Battlefield. At Lost Trail Pass, take US 93 north up the Bitterroot. This will take you to Lolo/Missoula.

That ride I just described is one of the best in Montana. This ride will get you far off the tourist track and into the heart of SW Montana. Awesome country.

 

Thanks Faber, meet us in Ennis and a cold ones on me!