Here’s How to Make the Most of Three Days in the Bozeman Area

Are you having a hard time figuring out what to do with friends and family that are visiting Bozeman? With so many options, it's difficult to decide what to do. Especially if you only have a few days to explore the area.

Recently, I had a couple of friends visit from Boise, Idaho. They arrived on a Friday and stayed through the following Wednesday. Neither of them had been to Bozeman before, and I wanted to do my best to make sure they had a memorable experience.

My friends arrived on Friday afternoon and we made reservations for dinner at Last Call Modern Mexican. After we filled our bellies, I took them downtown to check out the local bar scene.

On Saturday morning, we met up with my friend Stephan for a float down the Yellowstone River. We floated from the Hwy 89 bridge to a take-out known as "The Pig Farm." We saw quite a few bald eagles and did a little rockhounding along the way. After we got off the river, we went to dinner at Fiesta En Jalisco in Livingston before heading through the Paradise Valley to Chico Hot Springs.

On Sunday, we got a bit of a late start. We went out to lunch and then toured the Museum of the Rockies. Afterwards, we had dinner at Stacey's Old Faithful Bar & Steakhouse. Sunday night, my friends and I drove up to Hyalite for a little stargazing.

We woke up early on Monday to drive the Beartooth Pass. We stopped at Faye's Cafe in Livingston before making our way into Yellowstone National Park. We entered at Gardiner, then proceed to drive across the Lamar Valley to Cooke City.

We saw a lot of deer, elk, and bison. Once we made it to Red Lodge, we ate dinner at Bogart's Restaurant and stopped by the Montana Candy Emporium for some sweets.

Other than getting a flat tire on I-90, it was a great trip. We were able to swap out the tire with a spare and made our way back to Bozeman.

Tuesday morning, we got another slow start. In addition to being worn out from the drive over the Beartooth, my friend had to stop by a local tire shop to get her flat fixed. We met up Tuesday afternoon and went to dinner at Hooked Sushi in downtown Bozeman. After dinner, we stopped at Michoacan A Pedir De Boca on N. 7th Avenue for some delicious ice cream.

We only had about three full days but were able to see a lot of really cool things in the Bozeman area. My friends told me it was one of the best vacations that they've ever been on.