Montana - just back! Anyone have questions?

iujen94

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
We just got back yesterday from the Montana trip (the one that includes Yellowstone, glamping and the 320 Guest Ranch). It was fantastic! When we were planning the trip, I wasn't able to find a whole lot of information about it. So while I'm not sure I'm up for doing a trip report, I'm more than happy to answer any questions that anyone has!

My one piece of packing advice - there is NO need to bring anything nice for dinners, especially for kids. My boys (12 and 14) wore jeans/athletic shorts and t-shirts every night and were totally fine. Adults could have easily worn the same - maybe jeans and a collared polo shirt for the guys, and jeans and a nice-ish shirt for the ladies 1 or 2 nights (and even that isn't really necessary).

We absolutely loved the trip so let me know if you want any information!
 
Would love to know more about this trip! Can you tell us your thoughts on the 3 locations/accomodations?
 
Would love to know more about this trip! Can you tell us your thoughts on the 3 locations/accomodations?

Sure - happy to! Here comes way more information than you probably want or need!

The first night we stayed just outside the north entrance of Yellowstone in the town of Gardner at a place called Yellowstone Village Inn. It was basically a glorified motel (although it did have interior doors), but it was family-owned (we met the family, who were super nice), it was clean, and it was just fine for its purposes. We dropped our bags there after coming in from the airport and immediately headed out on the coach to do dinner and some sightseeing in Yellowstone that night. We were all exhausted when we got back, so literally all we did was sleep there, as we had an early wakeup call the next morning for breakfast at a great restaurant in town.

The next two nights were glamping at Yellowstone Under Canvas, which was either in or near West Yellowstone (just outside the west entrance of the park). It was a really cool experience staying there. I joked ahead of time that it was "camping with a toilet," and that's not too far off the mark. We were a family of 4, so we opted for the tent with a king-sized bed (incredibly comfortable!) and an adjoining tipi with 2 cots for our sons (ages 12 and 14). There was a wood-burning heater in the main room (which we needed - it got down to mid-30s at night the two nights we were there!), but no heat in the tipi. There was plenty of room in the main tent to move both cots in there, and our younger son opted to do that, but our stubborn older son stayed out in the tipi both nights - a decision I'm pretty sure he regretted because he was pretty darn cold both nights! The staff was great and was on call 24 hours if your heater ran out of wood in the night, or if you wanted extra blankets. Several people in our group had problems with their heater, but ours worked like a champ. The bathroom in the tent was great considering it was in a tent. Fully functioning toilet, a shower and small sink. There's no electricity, but Under Canvas provides battery-operated lanterns and also giant power packs into which you can plug a total of 6 phones or anything with a USB cable. The glamping site was cool - I think they have a total of maybe 80ish tents spread around the property and lots of outdoor games for the kids (or adults!) There was a restaurant and a private event space. We did a cookout the first night there in the private event space, and the second night the kids had dinner with the guides in the event space, while the adults had "date night" in the restaurant.

The last 3 nights were at 320 Guest Ranch, and it felt like a 5-star hotel after glamping! All of the ABD families were right in a row in a set of cabins along the river. We had a cabin with a bedroom with a queen-sized bed, and a bedroom with 2 full size beds. There was also a pull-out couch in the family room. We had a small efficiency kitchen and one bathroom. Everything was really comfortable. The ranch had a restaurant, a private event space, and a small bar with a pool table and TVs. This is where we could do horseback riding and/or fly fishing. There were also some hiking trails nearby. They had a volleyball court, basketball hoop, corn hole, ladder ball, and all kinds of other games. The dinners we had here were absolutely fantastic!

Some people on our trip complained about the accommodations - they were definitely not five-star, but I feel like you can stay in a generic Marriott or even Four Seasons anywhere - what I love about ABD trips is they find these really unique, quirky places that really immerse you in the experience and the surroundings.

I hope that's helpful! Just let me know if you want to know anything else!
 
Sure - happy to! Here comes way more information than you probably want or need!



I hope that's helpful! Just let me know if you want to know anything else!


Thank you! This is exactly what I wanted to know! Were a lot of activities included at the 320 Guest Ranch?
 


Thank you! This is exactly what I wanted to know! Were a lot of activities included at the 320 Guest Ranch?


The first day we got to the ranch after whitewater rafting - I think we got to the ranch around 4:00 or so? So we had time to unpack and relax before dinner, but that's about it. The second day we went by bus to go hiking at a nearby waterfall (where we saw Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen!) and then to Big Sky Resort, where you could pick from several different activities, including ziplining. We left Big Sky Resort around 5, so we didn't have much down time at the ranch that day either. The third day, we stayed at the ranch all day, and we could pick between several different horseback riding and/or fly fishing options (each had a 1-2 hour option, and also a longer half-day option). Some people did one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We decided just to horseback ride in the morning, so we had the rest of the day to just relax. My husband and younger son went on a hike, my older son played basketball and some other games with a friend he made on the trip, and I actually got to sit and read a book! (Note that on our trip, the last two days were switched - so usually the horseback riding/fly fishing day comes before the hiking/Big Sky Resort day.)
 
Thanks for this write up. I would LOVE to do this trip - it's just right for our family and we would be fine with those accommodations. But, we took it off the list after realizing it is one that dates tend to move around/departures get canceled. Due to my husband's quirky work schedule he has to secure vacation very far ahead of time and we don't have the flexibility to shift around. I'm so glad you had such a good time. It sounds fantastic.
 
Thanks for this write up. I would LOVE to do this trip - it's just right for our family and we would be fine with those accommodations. But, we took it off the list after realizing it is one that dates tend to move around/departures get canceled. Due to my husband's quirky work schedule he has to secure vacation very far ahead of time and we don't have the flexibility to shift around. I'm so glad you had such a good time. It sounds fantastic.

I'm actually surprised to hear that - it seems like a really popular trip (we had 33 in our group). This summer, anyway, they have 6-day trips departing on Saturdays and I think Wednesdays. I guess since the season is relatively short, they try to cram as many trips in as they can. But if they can justify twice-a-week trip starts, I'd assume it's a pretty popular one and pretty stable.
 


thanks for the info. We have this booked for next year. They no longer offer the adjoining tipi option (not happy at all about that change). My boys will be the same age when we go. I'm very nervous about the tent. How bad is this going to be?
 
thanks for the info. We have this booked for next year. They no longer offer the adjoining tipi option (not happy at all about that change). My boys will be the same age when we go. I'm very nervous about the tent. How bad is this going to be?

Honestly, we didn't think it was bad at all. The tent was pretty roomy, the bed was super comfortable, and the bathroom was a legitimate bathroom, even though it was definitely small and only separated from the rest of the tent by an extra sheet of canvas. The one quirk to the bathroom is that the shower has a pull-down chain to get it started. If you let go of the chain, the water turns off. You can have someone hold the chain while you shower and then switch off, or as my clever DH discovered, you can hook one of the small lanterns they provide to the chain and it will hold it down for you!

Honestly, if we had to do it again, we probably would not do the adjoining tipi, just because it was so cold while we were there and there was no heat in the tipi. The people on our trip who didn't enjoy the glamping had problems with their heaters, but ours worked just fine. And the staff is so helpful with the heaters and really will come any time of day or night to re-start them if necessary. I also would have thrown in some long underwear to sleep in for those two nights (I only had shorts and t-shirts), although with the heat running it was perfectly toasty. It really is a great trip!
 
thanks . . that makes me feel better. I'm nervous about the trip since glamping etc is definitely not my usual style. But I think my kids will adore it, so I will survive :)
 
Great Info. Thanks for sharing. We're on the adults only trip in August. Will you share some details about the different activities you did? Zip-lining, rafting, horseback riding... did you do them all? Was there anything (besides long underwear) that you wished you had brought?
 
Great Info. Thanks for sharing. We're on the adults only trip in August. Will you share some details about the different activities you did? Zip-lining, rafting, horseback riding... did you do them all? Was there anything (besides long underwear) that you wished you had brought?

Happy to!

Rafting - it was FREEZING. The water was 42 degrees the day we went! Since you're going in August, it may be a tad warmer, but I'm guessing not incredibly warmer. One piece of packing advice on what NOT to bring - don't bother bringing water shoes for rafting. Everyone ended up wearing the booties that are provided along with a wetsuit instead, and there wasn't any other activity where we needed or wanted water shoes. Again, I'm assuming it'll still be cold water in August! I would have liked to have a long-sleeve quick-dry shirt to wear under the wetsuit (I wore my bathing suit and a short-sleeve quick-dry shirt). I'm not sure long sleeves would have helped that much, but it might have! Despite the freezing temperatures, it was really fun, and my kids both said it was the highlight of the trip for them. When we went, the rapids were class 2 and 3. None of them were particularly crazy or scary. Our guide was telling us that the river changes a lot over the course of the summer, so the river may be wilder or calmer when you go. The guides were great, and the scenery was really pretty! You are put 6 to a boat, so we were paired with a mother/son two-some from our trip. Unlike our Costa Rica ABD trip, where the guides took our pictures and also bought the picture package for everyone from the rafting place, there weren't any pictures taken. You could buy pictures from the rafting place but they were really expensive - I think it was $35 for one picture? Or you could get the whole set on CD or USB for around $175. Fortunately the mother/son on our raft bought the pictures and shared them with us!

Ziplining - this was one of the activities we could pick at Big Sky Resort. There were 3 options here - the nature zipline (a calmer zipline), the zipline adventure (more extreme ziplining), and the "Lone Peak Expedition," where you take a chair lift and then tram up to the top of the mountain by Big Sky Resort (called "Lone Peak"!) We did the zipline adventure. We've been lucky enough to zipline a lot of really cool places, so the zipline wasn't that exciting to us. People who hadn't really ziplined before loved it a lot more - and the scenery was really beautiful (but hard to compare to Costa Rica or Hawaii!) Lone Peak Expedition got rave reviews, and I kind of wish we had done that, just because it was a little different. Everyone said the view at the top was amazing, and some people even saw moose on the way up! For lunch at Big Sky Resort (which you do on your own), there is an amazing burger and craft beer place called Montana Jack. The burgers were FANTASTIC! It was also a great place to sit and have a beer after ziplining, while we waited until it was time to head out.

Horseback riding - this was at 320 Guest Ranch. You could choose from a 2-hour or half-day ride. We chose 2-hour because our kids have never ridden before, and DH and I haven't ridden much. That was definitely the right amount of time for us, as our bottoms and knees were tired at the end of 2 hours! Our group of 4 went with our own guide, which was really nice to be in a small group setting. The views were awesome, and our guide took pictures of us on our horses about halfway through the trip. If you really LOVE horseback riding, 320 Guest Ranch also offers an all-day ride - I'm guessing you could pay the difference if you really wanted to do that ride while you were there.

Hmmmm...what else would I have packed? I'm not sure on that. I can tell you what we did pack that we were glad we had . . . we wore shorts and t-shirts every day, and I had two jackets - a thin hoody jacket and a North Face fleece. I was glad I had both of those (although maybe you wouldn't need the fleece in August). We wore jeans at night and usually long-sleeve shirts. Near the end it got warmer, and we were able to wear shorts and long-sleeve shirts at night. We wore our hiking shoes pretty much every day, and I probably could have gotten away with those being my only shoes. If you don't have hiking shoes, you could get away with sturdy tennis shoes (although some people who wore tennis shoes remarked that they wished they'd brought their hiking shoes). I did wear a pair of flats to dinner one night, and swapped out my hiking shoes for sneakers the other nights. I brought flip-flops that I never wore. I brought 2 bathing suits and only needed one (rafting day was the only day we wore bathing suits). We got binoculars for the trip. We probably could have done without them, but we're going to Alaska next year, and I figured we'd definitely want them for that trip. I probably wouldn't buy binoculars just for this trip, but bring them if you have them. A backpack was super helpful for keeping all of our stuff for each day. Our guides always had sunscreen and bug spray for us. (It was definitely buggy - especially when we stopped for lunch the day we did the stagecoach ride!)

If I think of anything else, I'll come back and post it!
 
I stumbled upon this post and was rather excited/surprised to see a post about Montana! I live here! The places you are talking about are places I grew up going to and exploring! So cool!

Obviously I have never used a tour guide or whatever to do the things that were mentioned, or go the places that were talked about, but have done it on my own. YNP is fun in August. The bison are in rut, so they are very busy and vocal. If possible, make sure your guides take you through the Lamar Valley. I can’t imagine a guided trip through YNP that wouldn’t include the Lamar Valley, but just in case, I wanted to mention it.

The rivers for white water rafting will still be freezing, but the rapids most likely will be tamer in August. The rivers run a lot faster early in the season due to snow melt. When the snow melt slows down, the rivers don’t run as fast. Still good whitewater though!

I grew up tent camping and we never had heaters in our tent, so it can be done. Since it sounds like you’re relying on the outfitters gear, I would be sure to bring a good base layer to wear at night. That should help the kiddos in the tipi with no heater. It’ll be hot during the day, but still cool at night. A hoodie and/or light jacket will most likely be fine.

We had a long winter and a really wet spring, so the mosquitos have been terrible. It sounds like your guides will have bug spray for you, but if you wanted to add those repellent bracelets, that may not be a bad idea.

I’ve never been to Big Sky in the summer, but skied Lone Peak many times. Definitely do that trip. It’s gorgeous! Of course, I can only compare those views with the northwest. I’ve never been to Costa Rica or Hawaii, but if those views are better, I am definitely intrigued!
 
Do you have a costa rica trip report posted somewhere? We have that one booked for next spring, Montana in August.
 
Do you have a costa rica trip report posted somewhere? We have that one booked for next spring, Montana in August.

I don't - sorry! I'm pretty lousy at the trip report thing. And my understanding is the trip has changed somewhat since we went on it. Our first day we flew to Tortoguero (I know I butchered that spelling) to see the sea turtles, and my understanding is that they don't go there anymore. Happy to answer any questions about that trip too . . . if I can remember! :) I can say that the whitewater rafting and ziplining on that trip were AMAZING. The ziplining was the best I've done ANYWHERE, and the rafting was a blast (and the water wasn't freezing - yay!) And what I thought would be completely dull - visiting the pineapple plantation - was actually really fun and interesting (and delicious!)
 
No worries. Thanks for all of the help. Its nice to hear feedback from someone with kids about the same age!
 
How was the hiking? Do the guides provide water along the route or should we plan to have our refillable bottles with us? Did you do the biking activity?
 
I don't - sorry! I'm pretty lousy at the trip report thing. And my understanding is the trip has changed somewhat since we went on it. Our first day we flew to Tortoguero (I know I butchered that spelling) to see the sea turtles, and my understanding is that they don't go there anymore. Happy to answer any questions about that trip too . . . if I can remember! :) I can say that the whitewater rafting and ziplining on that trip were AMAZING. The ziplining was the best I've done ANYWHERE, and the rafting was a blast (and the water wasn't freezing - yay!) And what I thought would be completely dull - visiting the pineapple plantation - was actually really fun and interesting (and delicious!)

I did a Costa Rica trip report in 2017, but it was also the older itinerary. https://www.disboards.com/threads/costa-rica-trip-report-4-17.3598069/#post-57466788
 
How was the hiking? Do the guides provide water along the route or should we plan to have our refillable bottles with us? Did you do the biking activity?

The hiking (as far as an organized activity) was very limited. On one of the days at 320 Guest Ranch, we did a hike to the Ousel Waterfall, but it was only maybe 2 miles round trip, and very easygoing. At the Ranch, they did have trails near the property (walking distance) that could offer more of a true hiking experience if that's what you're looking for.

Our adventure guides kept a cooler full of water bottles on the bus that they restocked throughout the whole trip. There were always plenty, so there wouldn't be a need to bring a water bottle with you.

We didn't do the biking. We were planning on it, but the guides described it as "intermediate mountain biking, followed by a break (at which point you could stop if you wanted to), followed by advanced mountain biking." None of our family has ever truly been mountain biking, so we opted out. The families who went on the biking (I think maybe 8-9 people in total went) enjoyed it, and said it wasn't *that* challenging.
 
I really appreciate all the information you've shared. It's very helpful. I hope you won't mind a couple more questions. Did you arrive in Bozeman a day early? If so, where did you stay? Did you rent a car or use a hotel shuttle? Also, during the adventure, are there any shopping opportunities? Thanks again!
 

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