Red Lodge Ski Trip
 

Hi there -

The BF and I are headed to Red Lodge, Montana for a ski/sightsee trip the first week in March. We'll have at least two days (a mid-week day and maybe a Saturday) to spend doing something *other* than skiing. We might stay overnight in Big Sky and do some skiing there.

Any suggestions on must-do drives, museums, activities, etc, to do while we're in that area? I'd love to do some sort of hot springs, but I can't seem to find any that are fairly close by. We've done the Yellowstone thing, so we'll probably skip that this time around.

Any help's appreciated... thanks :)

I have no information for you. Our trip to Red Lodge is in Sept. Please post a trip report!!! Happy travels.

Chico Hot Springs in Paridise Valley is nice. Good restaurant, bar and hot springs.

If you did the Chico Hot Springs you could also include a dog sled trip that leaves from Chico. www.extrememontana.com would be something different.

I also think Chico would be fun.

Right outside of Red Lodge, about 6 miles or so, is another tiny little town, Bear Creek that has an "old time" saloon and pig races that are a fun time. I don't know if March is too early or not, it might be.

Bear Tooth pass will definately be closed, no hope for that, but the little town of Red Lodge is a great little town to explore.

Is the old time saloon the Grizzly?

Thanks so much! Looks like we'll be heading to Chico for a little overnight excursion (that is, of course, unless there's a big snowfall out there - the "powder pig" I'm heading out with would never forgive me :))

cmcfong- Look for a trip report when we get back in two weeks...

Although I'm pretty darn late with a trip report - I'm putting together my picture files and thought I'd just let you know how it went.

We never made it to Chico Hot Springs - sure enough, we had a couple powder days, and ended up skiing our brains out.

Brief summary: Big Sky was, of course, stunningly gorgeous. I took lessons both days I was there. (The second day I paid for a group lesson, but was the only one IN the group - sweet deal!) We stayed at the base lodge for ski in/ski out. The outdoor hot tub was one of my favorite parts of the trip - I've never sat in a steaming jacuzzi while catching snowflakes on my tongue and pulling icicles off my bangs. I wasn't super impressed with the restaurants at Big Sky, but then again, you don't go there to eat. I did enjoy walking around Bozeman (cool Montana college town) on our way to the mountain.

The next couple days we spent at Red Lodge. Bluebird days for skiing, and I got a chance to hang out in town, too. Highlights include dinner at Bridge Creek and jewelry shopping at Red Raven (gorgeous Native American turquoise/silver/opal pieces - I get something every year!) Also - cmcfong, if you're still out there - Grizzly Bar (aka "The Griz") is a great time. Very local, great steaks, and the fireplace was roaring.

All in all - a hell of a way to spend a week :)

Yep, still out here and loving your report! I am getting more excited about this trip every day. Sounds like it will be wonderful. Thanks for posting.