best route to/from Waterton, AB canada
IF Canada opens the border by August 1, 2021 then we plan to drive from St. Mary's at Glacier NP ro Waterton, AB. This would be our first driving trip to Canada. What is the best/preferred route p...
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I live in Helena MT and USED to go to Alberta all the time. I miss Peter Lougheed park.
Well, IF...and I repeat IF...and when they reopen, there are kind of three ways to get to Cody. If you want the fastest, take the highways down to Billings and south. A more scenic route is 89 south to 287 through Augusta and down to Helena. It's still 70 mph road and nice and very pretty. Actually, there is a campground at Gibson Reservoir just west of Augusta that is beautiful and ALWAYS has open sites (Mortimer Gulch). The 23 mile dirt roads keep the riff raff out and is why it always has open sites. But it takes you right up to the edge of the Bob Marshall... The road is variable in quality. I put a road armor suspension on my TT as I like to go to these hidden gems. There used to be a very nice Nat Forest campground just above Helena on the McDonald Pass (not a big deal of a pass) but they cut down ALL the old growth trees and now it is bare... grrrr...
From Helena, you can either take 287 down to the highway or go south to Boulder and take 69 south to the highway. There are two Low passes that way Boulder Mountain and then the other one as you head east but not a big deal and less than 15 minutes difference but prettier. 287 is flat. All of the roads are 70 mph.
Then you can just drive highway all the way to Billings and go south through the Crow reservation or you can do two scenic routes. If you take the highway, in the Crow reservation is the battle of the little big horn site. The scenic routes are one through West Yellowstone and across the north side of the park or second from Gardiner into the park and across the Lamar Valley to Cooke City. This time of year I'd recommend Gardiner simply because of the Yellowstone traffic. You will miss the really crowded part east of West Yellowstone. The valley is awesome, Cooke City is a fun stop and there is a little cafe you can sit outside and get the dried trout as an appetizer. We usually get one to go in the cooler. Then east out of Cooke City and down to Cody.
So, those are really your main choices. Under NO circumstances take that trailer across the Bear Tooth as it might look tempting down through Red Lodge. You could technically do it, but it would NOT be fun for the driver or anyone else on the road. Cody sucks for camping. There are Nat forest campgrounds as you leave Cooke City but good luck and one RV park in there somewhere. The campgrounds right around Cooke City are all hard side ONLY has a few tenters got grizzlied a few years ago and at least one of them died. So, no soft side anything now days.
Well, IF...and I repeat IF...and when they reopen, there are kind of three ways to get to Cody. If you want the fastest, take the highways down to Billings and south. A more scenic route is 89 south to 287 through Augusta and down to Helena. It's still 70 mph road and nice and very pretty. Actually, there is a campground at Gibson Reservoir just west of Augusta that is beautiful and ALWAYS has open sites (Mortimer Gulch). The 23 mile dirt roads keep the riff raff out and is why it always has open sites. But it takes you right up to the edge of the Bob Marshall... The road is variable in quality. I put a road armor suspension on my TT as I like to go to these hidden gems. There used to be a very nice Nat Forest campground just above Helena on the McDonald Pass (not a big deal of a pass) but they cut down ALL the old growth trees and now it is bare... grrrr...
From Helena, you can either take 287 down to the highway or go south to Boulder and take 69 south to the highway. There are two Low passes that way Boulder Mountain and then the other one as you head east but not a big deal and less than 15 minutes difference but prettier. 287 is flat. All of the roads are 70 mph.
Then you can just drive highway all the way to Billings and go south through the Crow reservation or you can do two scenic routes. If you take the highway, in the Crow reservation is the battle of the little big horn site. The scenic routes are one through West Yellowstone and across the north side of the park or second from Gardiner into the park and across the Lamar Valley to Cooke City. This time of year I'd recommend Gardiner simply because of the Yellowstone traffic. You will miss the really crowded part east of West Yellowstone. The valley is awesome, Cooke City is a fun stop and there is a little cafe you can sit outside and get the dried trout as an appetizer. We usually get one to go in the cooler. Then east out of Cooke City and down to Cody.
So, those are really your main choices. Under NO circumstances take that trailer across the Bear Tooth as it might look tempting down through Red Lodge. You could technically do it, but it would NOT be fun for the driver or anyone else on the road. Cody sucks for camping. There are Nat forest campgrounds as you leave Cooke City but good luck and one RV park in there somewhere. The campgrounds right around Cooke City are all hard side ONLY has a few tenters got grizzlied a few years ago and at least one of them died. So, no soft side anything now days.
