Traveling West Through Montana

June 29, 2025

Montana is a pretty big state to drive through east to west, so we split the journey into a couple of short-term stays rather than try to drive the whole thing in one leg.

Since our previous stop was near the western border of South Dakota, it wasn't long before we had our first border crossing into Wyoming. For this year's travels, our total time in the state of Wyoming clocked in at about 1/2 hour.

A very straight road in Wyoming

Kind of a bad picture, but these trucks were blocking a good view of the Montana welcome sign

The scenery got a little more interesting after entering Montana

Broadus, Montana claims to be the "wavingest" town in the west. We didn't actually see any people, but if we did, maybe they would have waved?

Nearing our stopover spot

Our first night was just an overnighter in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. We never know exactly what to expect with first-come-first-serve boondocking sites. Will there be any sites left? How hard are the sites to access? Internet research helps, but there are still unknowns, and there is always a slight amount of trepidation as we approach a place like this. Well, in this case we didn't need to worry. We were the first ones to arrive at the free campground, and we were able to choose the most scenic spot (which also happened to be quite easy to get into).

Our free and scenic boondocking spot--too bad we were only here one night!

Towards evening, the campground loop filled up, but it was mostly quiet and peaceful. That is, until generator man arrived next door and placed his rumble machine on top of the picnic table for maximum audio effect. We are trying to adopt a more chill and zen attitude toward generators and those that use them, but it's taking a bit of effort.

Next morning was beautiful and we resumed our westward travel.

Our first real mountain sighting of the year!

Our next stop was for four nights in the tiny town of Harlowton. It was a bustling railroad town in the early to mid 1900s, but the bankruptcy of the railroad in 1980 led to a general decline of the town. There are less than 1000 residents currently, about a half (or a third, or less, depending on who you ask) of its original population. We enjoyed a quiet stay at the small city park which was within easy walking distance of the town center. We chose a non-electric site that backed up to a branch of the Musselshell River.

Our campsite enjoyed a view of a branch of the Musselshell River

The electric sites were huddled together in the center of the campground--not our style

Glad we decided not to bring our comfort cattle! 😉

Pleasant little fishing pond

You can just see the Crazy Mountains in the background

Love the duck crossing sign!

We spent one afternoon exploring the two museums in town--one in the old train depot, and another a few blocks away in the town center.

The Depot Museum

Interestingly, the last owner of that yellow trolley in the corner got $100 for loaning it out for the movie "Far and Away" with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. One can see the scene in the extended version of the movie.

There are apparently a lot of dinosaur fossils in the area

Downtown Harlowton

We really enjoyed perusing this museum, and the docent (who has lived in Harlowton all her life) was quite informative

The museum was quite eclectic, and had a little bit of everything (as long as it was old)

For some reason, the vintage apartment with various antiques really captivated us. It seemed so cozy.

Every doctor's office ought to have a straitjacket, right?

A radiation light to "naturally relieve pain and suffering"? (The current-day version is known as an infra-red lamp--a lot less alarming sounding)

One of the original Milwaukee Road engines--it was actually electric!

Stuck in time

Next stop, the little western town of Choteau, Montana!

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