we're traveling from jackson hole, wy toward glacier np and would like to know the prettiest town to stay in thats about halfway or so between the 2 parks. we will be entering gnp thru the east entrance then proceeding over the going to the sun road to apgar village the next day. we'd like to find a town with an old west type feeling surrounded by great mountain views if there is one between the 2 parks. any suggestions?

i should add when i say between the 2 parks i mean yellowstone and gnp.

You might want to stop in Helena. It is a little larger, but still gives some of the old west feel

I think Missoula would be the most fun, but it doesn't exactly have an old west feel.

Missoula has a vibrant downtown with a river running through town. There's a new whitewater park on the river for kayakers. There's also a hand carved carousel downtown on the river. There's a concert every Thursday night during the summer featuring a local band. There are many restuarants and lots of fun shops. You'll see a lot people out walking around, walking their dogs, riding bikes, etc. I love Missoula.

Helena has more of an "old west" feel, especially Last Chance Gulch. You could visit the state capital and tour the Gulch. But Helena just doesn't quite have the same vibe that Missoula has in the summer. In terms of activities and fun, I'd pick Missoula.

Missoula is about 3 hours from Kalispell. Helena is about 4 hours to 4.5 hours from Kalispell.

Helena has everything Missoula has (including the carousel and weekly summer band concerts) except for the river, university, and traffic. It also has the beautifully restored state capitol building, the state historical society museum, the mansion district, and the Parrot Confectionary. It is also on more of a direct line between YNP and GNP than Missoula is. Helena is perfectly situated if you're planning on entering GNP from the east. You would have to backtrack if you stayed in Missoula. If you're a Lewis & Clark fan don't miss the L & C Interpretive Center in Great Falls.

Ternstail,

I'm not sure what you mean by backtracking if vgronek went through Missoula to GNP. You'd take I-90 to Missoula and then Hwy 93 up through Kalispell or Bigfork to Glacier.

I like both Helena and Missoula, but after living in Missoula and now Great Falls, I think Missoula has more to offer in terms of variety of restuarants and shops than Helena.

I completely agree with you about the Parrot and the restored capitol building -- it's beautiful.

I spent a week in Missoula two years ago and loved it. Dinner at the Bridge was very good, great walking and biking options. Very cool small businesses.

a strong vote for the Lewis & Clark Inter. Center if that interests you!!

kureiff,
In his original message vgronek says he plans to enter GNP through the east entrance and drive over the Going to the Sun Road to Apgar Village. If he stayed in Missoula the night before he would have to drive east (backtrack) the next day in order to enter GNP from the east. Given that, and the major highway construction on US 93 north of Missoula this summer, Helena makes more sense as a midway stop between YNP and the east side of GNP. I like Missoula too but I wouldn't want anyone to drive the Going to the Sun Road for the first time after a very long day on the road. If vgronek changes his plans and decides to drive directly to Apgar and wait until the next day to drive the Going to the Sun Road then Missoula would work better. However, it would still be a longer drive than if he stayed in Helena and drove to Apgar via US 12 and MT 83.

Helena is almost halfway there and it IS the most scenic small town I have ever seen. and you can stay at my place...www.montanainn.net. I have had 5 deer born in my yard(in the middle of town) in the last 3 years.

Livingston on the Yellowstone River

We are also interested in moving to Helena, Mt.

What has us confused is looking at all the real estate listings which tell us Upper west side, Upper east side, lower WS ES, central valley, in town outside of town--and on and on! We have not yet talked to an agent, I just wanted to ask if there are Helena locals here--can you fill us in on the differences between these areas? I have a 2 yr old and so I am also researching the schools. he will be going in a few short years. I want to figure out where we can live that is in the school dist I want to send him into. This is all very confusing as there are helena sch dist, east helena, west helena sc dist!!!! AGHGHGHGH. help. We'd really appreciate any brutally honest opinions on the various demographics of each place. We notice that our dollar would go very far there- but we cannot tell if there are enclaves or tiers of income levels there like there are here- in CA. in Ca you can live on a great street, but one street over is he** with lots of crime. we want to know what the differences are here. We will of course be asking the agency these questions. Thank you! Mrs. Johnson