Montana's hwy. 2 and 212 ?

I loved Hwy 2 because I hate freeways but you have to be creative where to stop as campgrounds are sporadic, lots of dry stops, few resort types.

Will do Tyrone & Gladys. And thanks to all for your replys.

IMHO in the areas that you are going to be going to and through to get there go to 1/2 tank rule. Which is when you get to a 1/2 tank stop at the next fuel stop and fill up

We go to Great Falls all the time from southern Indiana and usually take Mt 3 out of Billings to US12 then west to North Mt3/191 to Eddies Corner and on west on Mt 200/US 87 to GF. We have also gone across Mt200 from Circle to GF. In fact we headed that way in OCT. Happy trails.

Thanks for your experienced information and links. They are all well appreciated.
We will be hauling our truck camper and once we get a feel for the areas we are looking forward to getting into some of the more remote ares.

There is another piece of US212 (not MT212) that heads into Yellowstone NP - but that's an entirely different kind of road.

If you're on I-90, take 287 at Three Forks, MT and I-15 for a short distance and then pick up 287 again to 89 to East Glacier and 89 north to St. Mary's. Or..just stay on I-15 north to Hwy 2 and head west to East Glacier.

Keep in mind that when a mapping program (or gps) recommends a route, it has calculated the distance (and time estimate) on many possible routes, and presented the shortest (or fastest). It usually choose freeways simply because the speed limit is higher.

By 212, I assume you mean the piece in SE Montana. As the other poster showed, it's been discussed before. It may save a hour over staying with I90, but it is more remote. Your program recommended it solely because of that time or distance saving, not because it is better. For you peace of mind, I'd suggest staying with the freeway. You'll have enough 2 lane highway driving later.

What was the US2 recommendation? To get to St Mary you have to first get to Browning (and do take MT464). To get to Browning you have to use either US2 from the east, or US89 from the SE.

US2 is the main highway across the top of the country. Some RVers drive it all the way from Michigan. It is also a good way of crossing the Rockies to the west side of Glacier.

But if you are coming from the I90, a route including US89 is more direct. The drive from the Billings area to Great Falls is mostly flat open country, with the exception of the Little Belt Mtns that US89 crosses.

Even if you map does not show mountains (but it should), it will show National Forests. In this part of the country, NF are located in the mountains, where trees grow well, and ranching and farming is harder. These are also the more scenic areas, but a bit more challenging to flat landers in big RVs.

We returned from St. Marys a couple of weeks ago and have a suggestion for travel between Browning and St. Matys. We made the mistake of taking US89 from Browning to St. Marys. It was narrow, no shoulders, and very curvy and up and down. Returning home we went north on US89 towards Babb and then took MT464 east and south to Browning. It was a much better drive and about 16 miles longer. Was worth it to me. Some people talk about using Starr School Road between Browning and US89 but in my opinion it doesn't avoid the worst of US89.

Yes, Easr Glacier is our destination. Never been on a road trip out west. Since we are in upstate SC we will be taking interstates all the way to MT. I'm sure by the time we get there we will be ready to get off the Super Slab. But I am curious about fuel availability, only have a 27 gal. tank. Don't want to spend the night on the side of the road. That is the main reason we may stay on the interstate as long as possible.