Duluth to Glacer

Thank you Mad Norsky for your correct and precise description of highway 2. We travel that way occasionally when going to eastern Montana and enjoy the trip a lot. I am not a fan of the interstates so I tend to drive the 2-lanes and I enjoy Highway 2 a lot, the great open vistas and fun little towns.

EsoxLucius wrote:
Time your fuel stops to avoid Williston. If one stops on US2 in Williston it could take some time to get back on their way due to the truck traffic. The Bakken is a mess.

Yeah, that is most certainly true.

My nephew lives just SW of Williston. His former job site was on the north side of the four lane highway US 2 just west of Williston, while his house was south of the four lane and about a mile west.

Anyway, they finally installed traffic lights out there to help with the mess. Before lights, it would take my nephew sometimes 45 minutes just to CROSS the four lanes of traffic and get to the other side of the highway. A huge mess.

But there is a brand new, think it is a Holiday station, just west of Williston. Right along the road, so appears easy in and out with an RV.

Williston area traffic is very heavy, so just be patient and ease your way through there.

Time your fuel stops to avoid Williston. If one stops on US2 in Williston it could take some time to get back on their way due to the truck traffic. The Bakken is a mess.

LOL my gas mileage is horrible but I can get 200 miles out of a tank towing.

Any other must stop's along the way.

Dick_B wrote:
You are going to stop at Roosevelt NP, right?
Don't let your gas gauge drop too low on Route 2...

More mis-information.

First, Roosevelt is not within 50 miles of US 2. The north unit is closest, and that is 50-60 miles south of Williston/US 2.

Second, I can think of good fuel stops in Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Rugby, Towner, Minot, Berthhold, Stanley, Ray, Williston just across North Dakota on US 2. And stations in some small towns in between.

Then add Culbertson, Wolf Point, Glasgow, Malta, Havre, and Shelby Montana.

I tell you, if your vehicle cannot get from one of those points to the next one, then your fuel mileage is horrible and you should think of driving something else.

None of these towns is more than 100 miles or so from one spot to the next.

For Glacier, we like Glacier Meadow RV Park in Essex MT. Easy drive to both East and West Glacier entrances. Don't miss the Isaak Walton Inn in Essex.

You are going to stop at Roosevelt NP, right?
Don't let your gas gauge drop too low on Route 2...

Thanks Mad Norsk.

I realize it appears you have already decided on routing via US 2, but there is so much WRONG information here, I just gotta clear some of it up.

First: US 2 is NOT all 2 lane road. Fact is, starting from the east at about Bemidji, Minnesota, it IS four lane all the way west to the Montana border. So 1/2 of Minnesota, all of North Dakota is four lane.

Second, neither I-94 or US 2 goes into Great Falls, Montana. I-15 does go into Great Falls. You can cut off from US 2 west of Havre and take US 87 through Fort Benton and down to Great Falls. There is just a superb Lewis & Clark museum in Great Falls which I would highly recommend. The falls of the Missouri River in and around Great Falls are somewhat a disappointment cause most are covered in water below the smalls dams built in the area. I did not go east of town to see the big falls, and understand this is the one that is still the very best to see.

Campgrounds? Well there is just an excellent Corp of Engineers campground below Ft. Peck Dam in eastern Montana. Easiest access for you going westbound is to turn off US 2 onto Montana 117 at Nashua, Montana and follow 117 right on to the campground. One has to follow off 117 right below the dam to find the campground though, but an easy road to drive. Just look for the huge dam and head towards it once you get close. You can then route up onto the dam itself and take Montana 24 back towards Glasgow and rejoin US 2 again.

One neat tidbit about Ft. Peck Dam I never knew until staying there was that one part of it collapsed during construction. Looking at that huge mound of dirt one would never expect that to have happened, but I guess the east end of it did collapse. Since fixed and structurally sound now though.

I'd surely make use of any/all state parks to camp in once into the North Dakota area as from Minot and west, ALL the commercial campgrounds are just packed to the seams with Bakken oil field workers living there full time. Turtle River State Park is some 20 odd miles west of Grand Forks right alongside US 2 and is a nice facility. Google ND State Parks and one can get contact/reservation info. Lewis and Clark State Park is 20 miles east of Williston off from Highway 1804 and is another nice facility.

There is I believe a KOA campground just south of the US 2/I-29 intersection in Grand Forks. West side of I-29 via the frontage road about 3 1/2 mile south. One would turn off I-29 at exit 138 I believe, towards a Flying J on the west side then continue south on the frontage road to the campground.

There may or may not be camping available behind the Cenex station located on US 2 at Berthhold ND, west of Minot. Just drove through there few weeks back now and looked like space available. It is just a few sites, 5 or 6 if I recall correctly.

I'd also recommend the Cenex stations you will run into along this route for fueling. They've always had top notch fuels, and I buy my diesel there whenever possible.

There is a small campground right in Havre, Montana, again alongside US 2, next door to the Emporium Food and Fuel Stop. North (right) side of highway. Havre RV Park. You'll see a big red railroad caboose sitting there. I got my 35 foot fifth wheel in there relatively problem free.

We camped in West Glacier once we got out that way, and there were several to choose from. East Glacier does not have much in the way of services.

pawatt wrote:
#2 is a good road and not much traffic, lots of boring wheat fields on the way.

Hey I'm from Kansas I know about miles of wheat fields.;)

It sounds like route 2 it is.

I want to thank everyone that replied.