Originally Posted by Otter:
If you like the outdoors, swinging a fly rod, field dressing a mammal (not endorsing humans) or just hiking for exercise and the view you really can't go wrong with Cook City, MT.
Just don't try and keep up with Bwana and his crazy kin on 4 wheelers without making sure your life & health insurance is squared away.
If you are looking for off-the-beaten-path and you want to avoid the swankier (pricier) respites like Jackson Hole, Park City, and Aspen try Idaho. There are dozens of skin-head neo-Nazi survivalist dude ranches if you're into that sort of thing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
That is one of the places we've looked at...that and Glacier.
Stay in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and do Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Both are a relatively short drive from Jackson Hole and Jackson Hole is fun in the evenings after you've been in the parks all day. Our last trip to Yellowstone we were able to see wolves, grizzly bears, elk, buffalo, and moose. The landscape and scenery is awesome as well. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Not to derail the thread too much, but for you Belizers, where did you stay and what did you do? My wife and I like to take a "get out of the cold" vacation over MLK weekend, and Belize is on my radar for this year.
I have only missed one year in the last 18 years. I go to San Pedro every year. Fly into Belize City, then take a 15 minute flight on a puddle jumper to San Pedro. Lots of great accommodations and restaurants on the island and it's safe, unlike the Belize City area. The best was to get around, is rent a golf cart for the duration of your visit. You can take several day trip out of there and there is plenty to do. If you ever get serious about it, hit me up and I'll make several recommendations for you. I stay at the same place every year, the Grand Caribe. https://www.grandcaribebelize.com/ [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Yeah, that's the case for most of Latin America. Our friends always like to stay on Caye Caulker, but they tell me even finding a TV is a challenge there, and I've got an annual ritual of watching the Chiefs win a playoff game while on vacation...
Do that for a day trip, (A day is enough to Caye Caulker) stay in San Pedro. [Reply]
Wish I could be more help, but 99% of my knowledge of MT/WY is about the fishing.
I can tell you that Missoula has become a pretty busy and expensive little town. Nearby is a bison preserve that you can drive through. Fairly high chance you’ll be surrounded by a hundred of them at nice or twice before you finish the drive.
Lo-Lo is not too far from Missoula, which is where ‘Yellowstone’ is timed. You can drive right by the ranch.
Glacier is really cool.
Otherwise, the fishing is great/amazing, especially if you fly-fish. But there are also float trips you can take on the Flathead that are spectacular for taking pictures. [Reply]
Wish I could be more help, but 99% of my knowledge of MT/WY is about the fishing.
I can tell you that Missoula has become a pretty busy and expensive little town. Nearby is a bison preserve (Bison Range, iirc) that you can drive through. Fairly high chance you’ll be surrounded by a hundred of them at nice or twice before you finish the drive.
Lo-Lo is not too far from Missoula, which is where ‘Yellowstone’ is timed. You can drive right by the ranch.
Glacier is really cool.
Otherwise, the fishing is great/amazing, especially if you fly-fish. But there are also float trips you can take on the Flathead that are spectacular for taking pictures. [Reply]
I did a Great Plains circle back in 2018 or 2019. We did this in chronological order.
1. Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Grade: C. It really is a bit of an abomination against nature. It was kind of cool to see the rough shape of Crazy Horse still being carved, though.
2. Black Hills. Grade: B. If you don't do a lot of western landscapes you'd give it a higher grade. It was pretty cool, but I've toured a lot of the west already.
3. Deadwood. Grade: C. Just stopped for lunch. Kind of okay touristy town.
4. Devil's Tower. Grade: A. You don't have to spend much time here, but you really should spend some time here. It's a very unique place.
5. Little Big Horn. Grade: A. This is perhaps the best historic battle site I've ever visited. They've really worked to understand what happened, and they lay it out in a great way. (We also visited Big Hole Battlefield, which is not nearly as well documented, but it's got some good historical context.)
6. Glacier National Park. Grade: B. The Going-To-The-Sky Road is amazing. You really should do that. The rest of the park is a bunch of trees and stuff. The drive up there is kind of interesting because there are a bunch of road signs in a really funky native language.
7. Yellowstone National Park. Grade: A. Okay, I'll confess that I'm not into driving 30 miles in the park to see some mud bubble. The geothermal stuff is overrated. But it's cool to see the buffalo (err, bison), and we got to see a bunch of tourists stand around near a mother grizzly bear and her cubs, though I didn't get the exciting ending to that that I hoped. We stayed at a couple of different lodges, and the view at the one on the big lake is worth the stay. We also drove through the Tetons on our way out, which are very pretty and look very different than the Colorado Rockies.
Oh, I also achieved a lifelong dream of visiting the town of Lame Deer, Montana. I'm a bit of a mapophile, and I've always seen the town of Lame Deer on maps out there in the middle of Big Sky country, and wondered what it was like. I won't give it a grade because it's not really a tourist destination. We went through town and stopped for lunch at the student center of Dull Knife College, which was the only restaurant we could find. I was pretty excited to do this. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I did a Great Plains circle back in 2018 or 2019. We did this in chronological order.
1. Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Grade: C. It really is a bit of an abomination against nature. It was kind of cool to see the rough shape of Crazy Horse still being carved, though.
2. Black Hills. Grade: B. If you don't do a lot of western landscapes you'd give it a higher grade. It was pretty cool, but I've toured a lot of the west already.
3. Deadwood. Grade: C. Just stopped for lunch. Kind of okay touristy town.
4. Devil's Tower. Grade: A. You don't have to spend much time here, but you really should spend some time here. It's a very unique place.
5. Little Big Horn. Grade: A. This is perhaps the best historic battle site I've ever visited. They've really worked to understand what happened, and they lay it out in a great way. (We also visited Big Hole Battlefield, which is not nearly as well documented, but it's got some good historical context.)
6. Glacier National Park. Grade: B. The Going-To-The-Sky Road is amazing. You really should do that. The rest of the park is a bunch of trees and stuff. The drive up there is kind of interesting because there are a bunch of road signs in a really funky native language.
7. Yellowstone National Park. Grade: A. Okay, I'll confess that I'm not into driving 30 miles in the park to see some mud bubble. The geothermal stuff is overrated. But it's cool to see the buffalo (err, bison), and we got to see a bunch of tourists stand around near a mother grizzly bear and her cubs, though I didn't get the exciting ending to that that I hoped. We stayed at a couple of different lodges, and the view at the one on the big lake is worth the stay. We also drove through the Tetons on our way out, which are very pretty and look very different than the Colorado Rockies.
I would agree with your grades with the exception of Deadwood. It should get a D IMO. It’s a poorly executed Silver Dollar City for adults. The Bad Lands in South Dakota should garner a B and I really enjoyed Needles Highway as well. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JimNasium:
I would agree with your grades with the exception of Deadwood. It should get a D IMO. It’s a poorly executed Silver Dollar City for adults. The Bad Lands in South Dakota should garner a B and I really enjoyed Needles Highway as well.
I can see that. But I got a good burger at my lunch place, and that type of thing biases my opinions upward.
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I can see that. But I got a good burger at my lunch place, and that type of thing biases my opinions upward.
What's Needles Highway?
It’s outside of Rapid City in Custer National Forrest near Mount Rushmore. Supposedly a Governor is South Dakota laid it out using a pack mule. Very, very pretty. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JimNasium:
It’s outside of Rapid City in Custer National Forrest near Mount Rushmore. Supposedly a Governor is South Dakota laid it out using a pack mule. Very, very pretty.
That looks interesting. I don't think I knew to do that.
I'm remembering now too that we did "glamping" near Mount Rushmore, spending the night in a supposedly fancy tent "with views of Mount Rushmore". My wife really liked it, but I didn't see the appeal. It was kind of cold and we had to put wood in a little heater, and Mount Rushmore was just a blip of light in the distance. We had a regular bed, which was nice. I'd give that a grade of D, but my wife said she would like to glamp again somewhere. [Reply]
