Exploring Bozeman Montana

August 01, 2021

Exploring Bozeman Montana

So we somewhat stumbled onto Bozeman on accident. I was looking on the map in Montana for places to stop and stay for a few days. I purposely planned our trip so that we would do a big travel day (8-10 hours) followed by at least a day or two of exploring the area and relaxing. I was looking for a stopping point after South Dakota and I saw Bozeman on the map. I remembered that they had the largest collection of Dinosaur bones at a museum there so I figured "eh why not." Apparently I've been living under a rock for the past few years and Bozeman has become the place to move if you are from California.

Facts about Bozeman, MT

Population- just under 50,000 people and growing rapidly! It is the 4th largest city in the state of MT.

Home to Montana State University which is known for its paleontology program, among other things.

Bozeman is a very dog friendly city. Many shops allow dogs to enter and even have treats outside for your four legged friends.

Museum of the Rockies

This museum was the original main reason I picked to stay in Bozeman for a few days. I would highly recommend this museum. Even if you are fairly "meh" on Dinosaurs (which is me) it was so informative and super interesting. I was so shocked at how big the bones were and how much we have learned about Dinosaurs and other creatures just from studying their bones.

In addition to dinosaur bones, the museum has an exhibit on the history of Montana and Yellowstone National Park.

It is open 9a-5p daily during the summer

Tickets are $16.50 for adults for an all day ticket. You can come and go- we went and got lunch and then came back. Plan on spending a few hours there- more if your husband likes to read every sign in full detail

T rex skulls in order of age!

The big T-Rex!

They also had a temporary Viking exhibit while we were there which was included with the price of admission

Also included in the price was planetarium shows. We saw two of them and found them both very interesting!!

Pictures from the viking exhibit (above) & Planetarium shows (below)

Downton Bozeman Activities

Bozeman has a very walkable main street that has many restaurants and shops. It is fun to walk up and down the main street and explore the area. Specifically between 3rd ave and N Wallace Ave is where the main concentration of shops are.

We did not have time to do all of these things, but this is all that was recommended to me by others and by our air bnb host

Restaurants:

Breakfast: Main Street Overeasy and Nova Cafe

Just Coffee: The Coffee Pot, Wild Joes

Lunch/Dinner: Thai Basil, Seven, Wasabi and Dave's sushi (pictured to the right)

Authentic Montana Dining experience (steakhouse): The Oasis (roughly 12 miles outside of Bozeman)

Breweries etc: Montana Ale Works, Bridger Brewery- known for it's beer and wood fire pizza- we really enjoyed it. Bozeman Spirits Distillery- known for it's Huckleberry Vodka

Gallatin River

The Gallatin River is a tributary of the Missouri River it originates in Yellowstone National Park and travels North 120 miles, it is near Bozeman Montana. It is said to be one of the best rivers to whitewater raft in the Yellowstone- Teton area. There is a section of the river near Bozeman called the "Mad Mile" which is a mile of continuous class IV rapids. Because of this there are many whitewater rafting companies that operate in this area.

OF NOTE: There is no cellphone service in the Gallatin River Canyon so make sure that you know where you going before you get into the canyon and lose service.

We whitewater rafted with Montana whitewater and it was very fun!! We don't have any photos though because I misplaced our waterproof phone holders- Pro tip- remember your waterproof phone holder. They do take photos and sell them to you but I didn't love any of them enough to pay the price.

In addition to white water rafting we also ziplined over the Gallatin River with Montana Whitewater- and this time I brought my phone. The ziplining was amazing and it was so beautiful!!

This was my favorite zipline- right over the river. It was so beautiful!!!

Hiking in Bozeman Montana

Great website resource for hiking trails near Bozeman: https://gvlt.org/trails/

Recommended Hikes:

- M trail- 1.5 miles, beautiful views of the Gallatin Valley. Past the "M" of Montana State University

- Drinking Horse (near the "M" trail)- 2.2 miles round trip, Dog friendly, nice views of the Gallatin Valley

-Palisade Falls- Easy hike, mostly paved trail 1.2 miles round trip. Pretty waterfall

We hiked Lava Lake trail because we had a few hours to kill in between zip lining and whitewater rafting and it was right down the road from the ziplining/ rafting company. It is a 6 mile trail round trip. We did about 4 miles but we were unable to complete it because of the extreme heat (95-100) degrees and just not having a enough water. Still it was gorgeous and I would love to go back and do it when it's cooler.