Gardiner, MT...must see/do items??

[Bwana]

Going to be heading to Gardiner, MT at the end of June on a family vacation (all teenagers or older), do you kind folks have any suggestions for places to eat, things to see or do, and recommended hikes, etc.?

We plan on staying in Red Lodge on our way out and then hitting Bear Tooth Pass the next morning on our way to Gardiner. Will be staying in a rental cabin for roughly 4-5 nights and then working out way back home. We've been on the Gallatin side a few times either snowmobiling, skiing, or elk hunting but this is our first time here.

So if anyone is willing to share their ideas, I'm all ears and thanks in advance.

Bwana

 

[rmyoung1]

Happy to help. I grew up in the park at Mammoth and went to jr/sr high school in Gardiner. As for places to eat... Gardiner's not known for culinary excellence, but here are a few options: 1) Yellowstone Mine is the nicer restaurant in town. Located at the Best Western hotel. 2) Ironhorse Cafe has a patio that overlooks the river and serves sandwiches, salads, etc. 3) There a few pizza places. Outlaw's Pizza is across from the Yellowstone Mine. There's a new pizza place on Park street which has a patio and faces the Roosevelt Arch. And then there's the K-Bar which is a bar/pizza joint that sits right on the main drag. 4) There's also a BBQ place that's pretty good. It's a log building that rests just a block from the K-Bar adjacent to the "High Bridge" over the river.

Hikes - This is much more fun question to answer. If you include the area around Mammoth in the park, I could fill your entire trip. Some of my favorites are: 1) Bunsen Peak, which starts up on Swan Lake Flats just south of Mammoth. It's a short hike (probably 4 miles roundtrip), but provides a lot of bang for your buck. You get a great look at the park and A-B Wilderness from the top. On clear days you can see clear to the Tetons. 2) Across the road from the Bunsen Trailhead is a hike to Soldier's Corral. This is a very pretty walk that takes you up over a sage-covered ridge and drops you over toward the headwaters of the Gardner River. It's a really pretty place to take a family hike and bring a sack lunch. Beautiful views of Electric Peak. Grizzlies tend to like that lush little valley, though, so keep your eye out. 3) If you guys are into seeing some wildlife without being surrounded by clueless tourists, then I'd recommend hiking up McMinn Bench and walking the crest of Mount Everts for as long as you desire. Start at the Rescue Creek Trailhead near the North Entrance to Yellowstone (trailhead is only like a half-mile from the North Gate). Cross the footbridge over the Gardner River and then leave the trail and just start climbing the big slope on the north face of Mt Everts. You can see bighorn sheep up there. I've also seen antelope, elk, black bear, red fox and bison on various hikes in that neck of the woods. You won't see anyone else when you leave the trail. You can take the crest of Everts clear back up to the Lava Creek Picnic Area east of Mammoth if you're up for a good walk and you have someone to pick you up. 5) If want to do a little fishing on your hike and you have impatient youngsters who will want to join you if the action is non-stop, then I'd head to Knox & Fish Lakes. These lakes are north of the park in the A-B Wilderness. You can get to the trailhead by driving up to Jardine and then following the signs for "Bear Creek". The road dead-ends at the trailhead and both lakes sit in gorgeous spots at the base of Castle & Monitor Peaks. Tons of little brookies to catch. 6) The best hike in terms of scenery, in my opinion, would be the hike up to Pine Creek Lake. The trailhead begins at the Pine Creek Campground which is closer to Livingston than Gardiner. The scenery is unreal, though. Beautiful views of the Absaroka Range and a double waterfall at the top near the lake. Just awesome Montana stuff. The hike is STEEP and about 10 miles roundtrip, but it's worth it. Just beautiful.

As for other stuff to do, I'd probably take them on an afternoon float down the Yellowstone. These are fun and you can do longer trips that go through Yankee Jim Canyon which provides some whitewater excitement. There are a number of rafting outfits in town. We use the Flying Pig. Also, you might want to check out Chico Hot Springs. It's halfway between Livingston & Gardiner near the small town of Emigrant. It's actually close to the Pine Creek Trailhead so maybe you combine a soothing dip in the pool after your big climb up to Pine Creek Lake.

 

[Ben Lamb]

If you're up for a guided experience in the Park, contact Parks Fly Shop. They run some great wading trips inside YNP and seem to have the area dialed in well. End of June should be perfect for casting dries to cutthroat. They also run trips on the Gardiner & Yellowstone rivers.

 

[rmyoung1]

Oh... I forgot... You guys will probably want to walk around the boardwalk at the Mammoth Terraces in Mammoth Hot Springs. That's a cool thermal feature that's constantly changing and an interesting thing to see. Also, the Alright Visitor Center just got a massive renovation and you'll probably want to peek in there. They have some cool items, like Thomas Moran paintings, on display in there. And you might want to take the Fort Yellowstone walk through Mammoth. It's an interesting look at what it was like before the National Park Service existed and the US Army was tasked with protecting Yellowstone. (The self-guided walk will take you right past my old house )

 

[Ben Lamb]

Another fun family activity is to get to a pull out in the Lamar and start pointing far into the distance, without actually spotting critters. Within minutes, you'll have people 150 from around the world doing the same in a confused manner. Then loudly say, as you pack up, I guess it wasn't anything.

 

[rmyoung1]

Another fun family activity is to get to a pull out in the Lamar and start pointing far into the distance, without actually spotting critters. Within minutes, you'll have people 150 from around the world doing the same in a confused manner. Then loudly say, as you pack up, I guess it wasn't anything.

You are a sick, tortured soul, Mr. Lamb.

 

[RobG]

You are a sick, tortured soul, Mr. Lamb.

Not nearly as me; I want to set up a stuffed jackalope in a field and start taking pictures of it with one of those 800mm lenses.

The whitewater float is a fun experience if you've never done it. It's commonly said the best option for eating in Gardner is to drive to Livingston. Not sure why tourist towns have such expensive yet marginal eating, but we do stop at Outlaw's Pizza when we're desperate. If you go up Tom Miner basin you can hike to the petrified forest interpretive trail and learn about the volcanic history and see some petrified trees. Setting out off trail can produce interesting finds (but don't take home any rock without a permit).

 

[Ben Lamb]

Not nearly as me; I want to set up a stuffed jackalope in a field and start taking pictures of it with one of those 800mm lenses.

The whitewater float is a fun experience if you've never done it. It's commonly said the best option for eating in Gardner is to drive to Livingston. Not sure why tourist towns have such expensive yet marginal eating, but we do stop at Outlaw's Pizza when we're desperate. If you go up Tom Miner basin you can hike to the petrified forest interpretive trail and learn about the volcanic history and see some petrified trees. Setting out off trail can produce interesting finds (but don't take home any rock without a permit).

Rib & Chop House in Livingston is a good steak.

Chico as well has good eats, and if you can get a cabin, you might want to hang the family hat there for a night.


My other favorite activity in Yellowstone is to go to Old Faithful, and when the pre-eruption activity dies down, say loudly, "well, that's it." and start walking off. You'd be surprised how many swear words in different languages you will under will understand. I did that once in July and had about 75 people pack up and leave. Funniest danged thing.

 

[MHMT]

Another fun family activity is to get to a pull out in the Lamar and start pointing far into the distance, without actually spotting critters. Within minutes, you'll have people 150 from around the world doing the same in a confused manner. Then loudly say, as you pack up, I guess it wasn't anything.

If you do this with radio telemetry gear in hand, the results are even better.

 

[Ben Lamb]

If you do this with radio telemetry gear in hand, the results are even better.

Game, set & match.

Fantastic.

 

[Josh Kuntz]

+1 for Chico Hot Springs. You can order your drinks from a slider window from the pool area and I believe that Oly beer is still under $2/can, every day. And check Chico's website to see if they have a band playing in the bar. It can quickly turn into a really fun/random bar scene on any given weekend.

The Paradise Valley Grill (40 miles from Gardiner) is know for having fantastic food. Expect to spend some $$ if you go.

If you do go to Livingston, which you should, here are a few good choices.

Second Street Bistro for dinner
Murray Bar for drinks
Neptune's Brewery if you are into craft beer. And they have surprisingly good sushi. Yes, good sushi in MT, I am not kidding.
Stockman Bar for burgers, steaks, drinks.
The Mint for drinks
Pinky's Cafe for breakfast
Gil's Goods for baked goods, pizzas, etc.
Mark's In and Out for a local favorite fast food. It's an old school type burger drive up.

Sacajawea Park in Livingston is a nice place to take a quick walk, there is a short trail along the Yellowstone River.
If you play golf, the course in Livingston is interesting. Not a great layout, but you get to play 9 holes and a few of them run along the Yellowstone River.

If you do drive from Gardiner to Livingston and you have an extra 15 minutes to spare, take East River Road instead of Highway 89. You get a nice perspective. Consider driving 1-2 miles up the Pine Creek Road to get a really nice overlook view of the Paradise Valley.

You can also rent rafts in Livingston at Rubber Ducky and go for a fishing or pleasure float through Paradise Valley. The easiest stretch is probably from Grey Owl to Mallards Rest (access point names).

 

[brownbear932008]

Well rmyoung gave you about everything I really enjoy outlaws pizzas they are great imo. One thing I would add is a drive up paradise valley to Chico hot springs to spend a night or two great eats and the pools are awesome along with the bar there. If your lucky may even run into some celebrities that frequent the bar on occasion I hear.

 

[mtmiller]

Another fun family activity is to get to a pull out in the Lamar and start pointing far into the distance, without actually spotting critters. Within minutes, you'll have people 150 from around the world doing the same in a confused manner. Then loudly say, as you pack up, I guess it wasn't anything.

Perfect....and big fun. Throw out "wolf" once in a while.

 

[rmyoung1]

If you do this with radio telemetry gear in hand, the results are even better.

That's hilarious.

 

[Bwana]

Thanks for all the insight, suggestions, and "advice." This should be fun.

 

[Bwana]

And fun it was!

Due to the father-in-law's recent surgery the hiking was restricted a bit but we still had a great time. We saw elk from the porch of our cabin and LOADS of them between there and Chico Hot Springs. Though we see bison here in ND, the massive herd we saw in the Lamar Valley was most impressive as it stretched out for more than a mile along the river. We saw what appears to be a resident herd of bighorn ewes at the top of Mount Washburn and were lucky enough to see 4 black bears but no grizzlies or wolves.

We should have spent another day in the park as there was more to see but the inlaws had to get back for a doctor appointment. On our way back we hit the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody which was quite impressive and the ranger talk at the Little Bighorn Battlefield was another great highlight from the trip.

Next time we will strive to put more distance between us and the crowds but overall it was a great trip.

Thanks to all for your input and insight, it was very much appreciated.

 

[rmyoung1]

Glad to hear that you had a good time. That's awesome.