Mount Rushmore to Glacier

We get off of I-90 at Billings and take MT-3 north to US-12 west to MT-3/191 north to US-87/89/MT-200 to Great Falls. All good roads.

X2 on 464 Browning to St. Mary.

kridg wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. We would like to make a day trip to Waterton NP and thought we'd stay at St. Mary's to be closer. Is that a good plan?

We are pretty familiar with that area as we spend 2-3 weeks each year camping close to West Glacier. We prefer the West Glacier side of the park quite a bit more than the East Glacier side. And we prefer Glacier over Waterton. We find Waterton beautiful but it can be very windy and cold as the prevailing winds blow up the glacial lake towards town.

Saint Mary is a good place if you want to do a day trip to Waterton though. Don't forget that you will have two border crossings to deal with (in/out of Canada) so make sure you allot enough time. The Chief Mountain crossing usually isn't too busy except during the long weekends, but is isn't as large as some of the other crossings so there can occasionally be lineups.

I would not take hwy 89 north to St Mary because it is narrow and VERY curvy. We avoid it with the trailer and take 464 north of Browning to Babb. I would take that route and then backtrack to St Mary. It will add less than 10 miles to your trip but remove lots of stress.

Make sure to do the Going-to-the-sun road. You access the east side from St Mary, but the views are much better past the summit on the west side.

Enjoy your trip!

kridg wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. We would like to make a day trip to Waterton NP and thought we'd stay at St. Mary's to be closer. Is that a good plan?

That will work fine. Don't forget you need passports to get back into the US. The folks at the Chief Mt border crossing have always been very nice.

Thanks for all the suggestions. We would like to make a day trip to Waterton NP and thought we'd stay at St. Mary's to be closer. Is that a good plan?

I-90 to I-15 to US2 west.
we stayed in Essex MT at Glacier Meadow RV Park. Between east and west Glacier if you don't already have reservations.

You know, it is beautiful area, but I would never, NEVER drive US 89 from St Mary to Browning again.

Good grief, it is almost one giant curve. One endless curve after another. Got old in a hurry.

Go US 2 at Browning.

From Black Hills, I-90 all the way to Butte, MT, then I-15 north to Shelby, MT where you find US 2.

Besides, there are some very neat things to see along this route. Custer battlefield, a great Lewis & Clark museum in Great Falls, and others.

Mostly I-90 if you like interstates. We don't so for us it was US hwys and state roads. We also went through Yellowstone NP. This was back in 2010. You can go US 16 through Custer and then nw to pick up I-90 at Moorcroft. I-90 through Billings until you pick up US 287 and head towards Helena and pick up I-15, you will still be following US 287 actually, Take US 287 off I-15 at(near) Wolf Creek. Pick up US 89 at Choteau and follow it through Browning to the NP CG at St Mary or pick up US 2 in Browning and follow it west. There are other options.