Montana Trip Help

[ruff54]

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Montana this June. We’ll be driving all the way out and all the way back via I-90.

Right now I think the plan is to hit up some of the Black Hills, Devils Tower, and of course Glacier National Park. We’ll also be spending time in both Billings, MT and Missoula, MT.

I’ve started making a bookmark list of caches I think we might want to do in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota (I would have mentioned Minnesota, but I have a personal beef with the state and the SW part of it is a hole).

I was wondering if anyone of the WGA had any caches they would suggest or any bookmark lists they could point me towards. If you want to see a list of tentative caches I’ve bookmarked feel free to check it out. Some of them I have yet to whittle off and some I’ve yet to add…namely a handful of Glacier National Virtuals.

Any help is appreciated!

[zuma]

Sounds like a great trip. Here are a couple in SD that you might like:

GC59EC a virtual at a lost homestead, near the Badlands.

GC1A58R Awesome display of military aircraft. You walk the grounds of about 40 historic planes on display. Ike’s flying HQ is one of the planes there. There is also a free museum there.

GC11PCB P&G with a view.

When ya get back, let us know which ones around Glacier you liked….I visted Glacier NP pre-caching, and it has got to be one of the greatest places on earth. I know I will be back there some day, and look forward to caching near Glacier sometime in the future.

z

[redrusty]

you need to give proper credit on that quote of yers brudder………..so go ahead and quote him..

[Team Honeybunnies]

We’ve cached in or through Montana a few times now. Our visit to Glacier was pre-geocaching, so no suggestions there, but good caches along I-90 include:

GC6F9E – Little Bighorn Battlefield. If you have any historical interest, it’s a great stop in an otherwise pretty empty area, with only a couple other caches for miles.

GCK3QM – Lewis and Clark stop an hour or so west of Billings. Pretty river final with plenty of cottonwoods.

GCX39H – Prairie dog village just off the I, and a state park. Yeah, they’re fun to watch for a bit.

GC493 – Significant Lewis and Clark stop. The Three Forks of the Missouri, outside of Whitehall near Missoula. Also the oldest cache in Montana.

GCG0G3 – Just south of Missoula and another important L&C stop. Extremely enthusiastic volunteers at this small state park. Pretty but encroached. If you have the time, the drive up to Lolo Pass is worthwhile.

Those are some of the nicest we’ve done in Montana close to your route. Plenty more to explore, and hope you enjoy the trip!

[ruff54]

You guys are clutch. Thanks. It’s a little ways out yet, but I want to make sure I get it done right. We’ll have about 10 days to go out and come back so we have quite a bit of time, but I don’t think we’ll be able to do all the “10 mile round trip hikes for 1 cache thats been found 14 times since 2001.”

Zuma, I’ll be sure to give a full report of suggested virtuals, earthcaches, and even good regular caches when I return.

Thanks again!

[Timberline Echoes]

We spent a lot of time in SD, WY and Montana last summer. We did not go on I-90 but took other hightways most of the time. If you check out the caches we did last June you can see the route we took.

Timberline Echoes

[MikeB]

We did a trip to Yellowstone a couple of summers ago — didn’t do any caching (it was a family trip). It was an awesome trip, but I would suggest a little bit of caution in SE Montana.

A significant portion of that drive on I-90 is through the Crow Indian Reservation. While the Crow welcome visitors, and have lots of cool things going on, you should plan to visit on their terms. (Do some research, phone ahead, make reservations, don’t just show up and expect to be served).

There is only one cache along I-90 on the reservation (the Little Bighorn virtual). Further, roadside services between Hardin and the state line are minimal and have shorter hours than you may be accustomed to.

(My wife didn’t understand why the gas station, including the Subway, was closed after 6 PM on a Friday. We didn’t stop in Hardin and were pretty much running on fumes as we rolled into Wyoming.)

Have an awesome trip!

[hogrod]

I’m not sure what type of gps you have, but if you have a garmin and want some free Montana topo maps, Have a look at the links below.

These are user created maps that include a lot more data than the Garmin topo maps.
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/87

Or

The complete list of Montana Maps:

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/state/mt/

[Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu]

I know you are coming in via I90, but if you trek out of Billings on I94 you can grab these great ones in a neat park rich with history and a large geological formation. There is a fee for these, but we came off season, parked at the end of the round and walked in.

GCM2V7 Pomp’s Tower is just before you get into Billings. A Lewis & Clark stop with nice views, historical center located on site and you can see where L&C etched their names into the rock!!

GC1CWXK Pompey’s Pillar – An EarthCache, is also obtainable at this location. Requirements are very easy. Wish it was there when I had come thru a number of years ago

GCGJ87 where the Mountain Lion Lies is a Virtual located 0.2 from Pomps Tower. It must be in the park also, but I didn’t do this one. Was with a NON caching persona at the time and they didn’t want to stay any longer than they had to.

out of Montana

[Author]

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