dgmr45

Hi Everyone
Seeking your help in a trip that I'd like to catch with my son who is traveling around for 3 months mid to late sept 2023
At the end of Sept I'd like to catch him when he comes through Redlodge MT, Little BigHorn & the Bad Lands.
I'd probably spend 2-3 weeks traveling around. Since we are both remote workers, we'd be looking for Airbnbs with good wifi.

Here are some of my general questions.
I live in between New York City and Philly. EWR and PHL are my closest airports.
If I fly into Billings, seems there are no direct flights. Anyone know differently?
Once in Billings, how can I get to RedLodge? It's been hard for me to figure this out.

Once out of Red Lodge we plan to spend a few days aorund Little Bighorn. If you had your choice where would you stay? Hardin for example or somewhere else?
As well, I'm really interested in Native American cultures and I hope I'd be able to get battle field tours from the Native American point of view. Is this possible? I've read a lot regarding the battle of little bighorn and really looking forward to exploring every inch.
Next we'd plan to check out the Crazy Horse Monument and then finish off in the Bad Lands, devils tower and the Black Hills.
I know I am a bit all over the place so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Dan

tomfuller

Check to see if you can fly to Rapid City SD and rent a car there. See the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore first and then head west for Devils Tower. I believe Rapid City has more flights probably from Chicago. There are probably more rental car options there too. Another option to consider would be to take the Amtrak Empire Builder west from Chicago to Williston ND and rent a car there for the drive to Billings and Red Lodge.

tom_mn

Some stray thoughts:

The various Dakota tribes in central and western South Dakota still harbor a lot of animosity toward "white" people and the US govt so it isn't necessarily the most accessible place to interact with tribes. There will be less animosity in Montana with the Crow and Cheyenne tribes near/at Little Big Horn. Hardin is a reservation service town, I wouldn't spend a lot of time there.

From Billings you can drive to Red Lodge (note this is a ski area and small town). Are you interested in the Beartooth Highway?

United to Chicago or Delta to Minneapolis will give you several connection choices. FYI: The Indian museums in Minnesota are better than the ones in South Dakota and Montana.

PrairieHikerI

The Black Hills are actually small mountains (7,242 feet is the highest point). There are lots of things to see and do there: Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park (a state park of national park quality with bighorn sheep and bison) and Roughlock Falls Nature Area is located in Spearfish Canyon. . Go view Bridal Veil Falls which is the easiest of the three waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon. Custer State Park has Sylvan Lake, the jewel of the Black Hills. Iron Mt. Road (16-A) is an incredible 17-mile experience with 14 switchbacks, three pigtails and three tunnels. It starts at Hwy 16 and goes south to Hwy 30. Ride the 1880 Black Hills Central Railroad steam train.

tomfuller

FYI: The museum of the Plains Indians (Blackfoot) is in the west end of Browning MT on the way to Glacier NP. I would rate it only as "fair".

Gardyloo

United flies nonstop from Newark to Bozeman, which is an hour farther from Red Lodge than Billings, but since flying into Billings requires a plane change someplace, the total travel time will be shorter to Bozeman. Also, flights seem to be a little cheaper to BZN during September. You'd need to rent a car to get to Red Lodge from either.

bigtyke

Slightly out of the way, just over the border in Chadron, Nebraska is the excellent Museum of the Fur Trade which deals with the mountain men trappers and their interaction with the Indians. Not too far away is Ft.. Robinson State Park, an old military base where Crazy Horse was killed.

dgmr45

Thank you so much for the reply!
I forgot to mention that my son is coming from the west and heading back hom east.
So I'd have to start in Billings and then fly out of Rapid City.
If I was going west, I love your train idea!
Let me know your thoughts heading east..
Thank you!

dgmr45

Thank you for the reply!
Valuable stray thoughts!
I've been to the Bear Tooth Highway a while back.
Sounds like to me Billings is the best place to explore from and check out Little Bighorn and etc....then hope over to the badlands black hills area?
Sounds like Hardin isn't an option.. What's a resservation service town? A small town with just bassic needs? Would a white 6-5 guy from the northeast be necassrily welcomed at such places?
Thanks for you help!

tom_mn

It’s a term I just made up. There’s going to be a large federal/tribal area where there’s no supermarket, no building supply stores, no restaurants, no banks, no liquor stores. Then there’s going to be an adjacent town with those things. There’s also going to some demand for private housing and private businesses which may be hard to have or run on a reservation. I’ve only eaten in Hardin but it’s not much.

The easiest place to interact with tribal people is in the southwest where there are so many native jewelry sellers and native gift shops.

In the northern plains there should be annual powwows (maybe goes by another name like wacipi is the Dakota word) open to the public which would be a way to meet and interact. Church services on the Rez would be another way. Volunteering would be another way but I don’t know how you would connect. You could always stop along the road and pick up litter. Someone will stop and talk to you.

tomfuller

The two train routes from the west coast are the Empire Builder from Seattle (or Portland) and the California Zephyr from Emeryville California. both end up in Chicago and are daily. For cities served by Amtrak to meet, your choices would be Whitefish Montana or Havre MT which has Nez Perce history Or SLC on the California Zephyr line. either is within a days drive of Red Lodge.
Check to see what the drop fee would be to rent elsewhere and drop off in Rapid City. The two sections of the Empire Builder join in Spokane WA after midnight every night.

kureiff

Havre is a 5.5 hour drive to Red Lodge. Whitefish is 7.5 hours. Either would eat up a day.

dgmr45

Picking up trash is a great idea!

bald0ne

A bit out of the way, but not terribly so given that you have 2-3 weeks, is the Buffalo Bill Center in Cody, WY, about an hour south of Red Lodge. The center has a Plains Indian museum, among other museums. From Cody, Sheridan WY, is about 3 hours. The Museum of the Bighorns has the permanent exhibit "Tribes & Trails. From Sheridan you could approach the Little Bighorn area from the south. From Sheridan it's only an hour the the Little Bighorn Monument.
https://centerofthewest.org/our-museums/plains-indians/
https://museumbighorns.org/exhibits