We are a couple from Israel ( 55+ ) planning to drive from Yellowstone to Seattle by the end of July.
Could you please suggest scenic route.
Many thanks Michael
We are a couple from Israel ( 55+ ) planning to drive from Yellowstone to Seattle by the end of July.
Could you please suggest scenic route.
Many thanks Michael
Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !
There are many choices of scenic routes between Yellowstone and Seattle, but if you do a little research and found a place or two of interest to you and had a couple of markers on the map, it would make it easier for us to make suggestions that are meaningful. We would also need to know how long you have for the trip, I presume you haven't got from now until the end of July to get there ?
It could also help if you were to share other details of your trip so we can get an overall picture, like how are you getting to Yellowstone ?
Hello Michael,
It's no secret I'm a big fan of the southwest corner of Montana. It is out-of-the-way, down-to-earth cowboy country, rich in scenery and historical sights.
Leaving West Yellowstone, MT, on US 287, stop at the exhibits related to Quake Lake, where a giant landslide caused by an earthquake dammed up the Madison River in the 1950s. Proceed to Ennis, thence west on MT 287 (note change from US 287 to MT 287) and see Virginia City, a developed restored mining town once the Territorial Capital of Montana. At Twin Bridges, then turn southwest on MT 41 towards Dillon. If you're interested, a 12 mile round-trip side trip can take you by the late Charles Kuralt's Big Hole River hideaway.
Dillon is a college town of some 6,000 residents and is the "capital of Southwest Montana" along I-15. At Dillon, MT 278 heads northwest to the Big Hole Valley. Just before dropping into the Big Hole, Bannack State Park is about 5 miles south of MT 278 and is the restored and non-touristy first Territorial Capital of Montana. An annual celebration called Bannack Days will be July 16 and 17 this year, and can be described as an authentic gathering celebrating Montana's frontier history, which only started in the 1860s when gold was discovered at Bannack, put on by Montanans for Montanans.
At the entrance to the Big Hole is Jackson, MT, a wide spot in MT 278 home to the Jackson Hot Springs Resort, a quaint little hot spring pool, motel, cabins, bar, and restaurant complex. The Big Hole itself is nothing short of breathtaking, with the valley floor at some 6,500', the snowcapped Beaverhead/Bitterroots to the west, forested Pioneer Range to the east, being some 50 miles north to south, and 15-20 miles wide. Mid- to late July is haying season, when the high valley's single annual cutting of hay is cut, raked, and baled. Many of the huge ranches on the valley floor still use the device first invented there known as a "beaverslide". The beaverslide is a framework of timbers with an inclined plane which hoists huge piles of hay some 30-35' high and dumps it into the timber-supported frame, where gravity and the force of the fall compresses it. The scene across the valley after annual haying gives rise to the knickname "Land of 10,000 haystacks". It's a ton of fun to pull off of MT 278 or one of the many side roads and watch the haying crews operating the oddball vehicles called buckrakes bringing the dried hay to the beaverslide, where a stationary winch or a second vehicle pulls a long cable operating the slide.
Near Wisdom, as you head west on MT 43 bound for US 93 at Lost Trail Pass, lies the Big Hole National Battlefield, site of a battle early in the months-long flight of Idaho's Nez Perce tribe from Idaho to Canada. It is one of the more somber and sobering historical sites in the Western US.
From Lost Trail Pass, you'll take US 93 north through the Bitterroot Valley, developed along its floor north of Darby and Hamilton, but wholly spectacular on the west side, with the heavily-glaciated Bitterroot Range to the west. US 93 intersects I-90 at Missoula, a nice small city home to the University of Montana. A little east of the US 93-I-90 junction is Missoula's downtown, with several motels right on the Clark Fork River and its walking paths/greenways linking the motels to campus, restaurants, and bars. The wooded river bottom and low elevation of Missoula gives rise to its nickname as the Garden City.
By taking this route, you'd see parts of the US seldom visited by other than Montanans, let alone by visitors from overseas. All US and MT routes discussed herein are nevertheless good, paved highways with 60-70mph speed limits and pose no challenges to travelers (ie: no knarly passes, switchbacks, etc).
Enjoy planning and taking your back-country RoadTrip!
Foy
Hi,
I´m planning my next trip in the very same area. Perhaps you could get some advice from my thread here. Although I´m starting in Seattle and ending up in Denver, I´m too are going to Yellowstone. I am very excited (and have been for years) to finally go to Glacier National Park and am looking forward to travel hgw 2 as well. Maybe that´s something you would consider too?
Have a wonderful trip!