Top 10 things to do

T. rex central, Smithsonian affiliate, rainy-day hero.

The largest collection of North American dinosaur fossils in the United States sits on the Montana State campus, along with a planetarium, a living-history homestead and rotating exhibits. It is the one indoor plan worth keeping in your back pocket if the weather turns, and it is genuinely good — budget two hours, more if anyone in the car likes bones.

Where:

600 W Kagy Blvd, Bozeman

Hours:

Daily 9 AM–5 PM

Price:

$20

Drive:

~19 min from Belgrade

Stroll, shop, sip local whiskey.

Eight walkable blocks of galleries, bookshops, fly shops and bars, with two distillery tasting rooms in the middle of it. Bozeman Spirits is right on Main; Wildrye is a block off it. Montana law caps distillery tasting rooms at 2 oz per person and closes them at 8 PM, so this is an afternoon plan that ends somewhere with a dinner menu.

Where:

Bozeman Spirits 121 W Main St · Wildrye 111 E Oak St

Hours:

Tasting rooms 10 AM–8 PM (2 oz per person, Montana law)

Price:

Free to wander

Drive:

~16 min from Belgrade

An 80-ft waterfall at the end of a paved half-mile.

The most reward per step anywhere near Bozeman: a paved, mostly gentle path up to a columnar-basalt wall with water falling down it. About 1.1 miles round trip and 240 feet of gain, with a vault toilet at the trailhead. It is a fee site, and it pairs naturally with a lap around Hyalite Reservoir on the way back.

Where:

Hyalite Canyon Rd, Custer Gallatin National Forest

Hours:

Daylight hours · 1.1 mi round trip, 240 ft gain

Price:

Recreation fee site

Drive:

~69 min from Belgrade

Mirror lake, canyon drive, picnic pavilion — pair it with Palisade Falls.

A high mountain reservoir ringed by larch and spruce, with pull-outs, picnic shelters and a shoreline path. In early October the water goes glassy in the morning and the canyon drive up is half the point. No entrance fee, and it is the same road as the falls, so treat the two as one outing.

Where:

Hyalite Canyon Rd, south of Bozeman

Hours:

Daylight hours

Price:

No fee

Drive:

~55 min from Belgrade

Two quick summit hikes, one parking lot, valley-wide views.

The "M" climbs to the big white letter above the Bridger foothills — one steep mile straight up, or a 3.6-mile switchbacked loop, about 750 feet either way. Drinking Horse is the friendlier 2.2-mile loop across the road, 700 feet of gain. Same trailhead parking, so split the group by ambition and meet back at the cars.

Where:

Bridger Canyon Rd (MT-86), north of Bozeman

Hours:

Daylight hours

Price:

Free

Drive:

~25 min from Belgrade

Twelve pools, 59°–106°F, ten minutes from the cabins.

The closest soak to Belgrade and the easy answer on a cold evening: a dozen indoor and outdoor pools across a wide temperature range, plus saunas and a steam room. It is the practical alternative to the longer drives out to Norris or Chico if the day already ran long.

Drive:

~10 min from the cabins

Lakeside patio beers with the Bridgers behind.

A big glassy taproom on the edge of a pond north of town, with a patio that looks straight at the Bridger Range and a kitchen that goes well beyond pretzels. It is the most scenic casual beer in the valley and it is on the Belgrade side of Bozeman, so it barely costs you any driving.

Where:

510 Manley Rd, Bozeman

Hours:

Daily 11:30 AM–8 PM

Price:

$$

Drive:

~15 min from Belgrade

Railroad town on the Yellowstone River — good Friday plan after horseback.

Livingston is the old Northern Pacific railroad town over the pass: brick storefronts, saloons, fly shops and a small museum in a 1907 schoolhouse covering the valley from the Crow to the railroad to Yellowstone tourism. It is on the way home from Bear Paw, which makes it the natural Friday afternoon stop.

Where:

Yellowstone Gateway Museum, 118 W Chinook St, Livingston

Hours:

Tue–Sat 10 AM–5 PM

Price:

$10

Drive:

~42 min from Belgrade

The river road from the movie.

Forty-five miles of highway pinned between cliff and river, with bighorn sheep, elk and the occasional moose standing near the shoulder. This is the water A River Runs Through It was filmed on. There is effectively no cell service the whole way, so tell someone your plan and enjoy being unreachable.

Where:

US-191 south from Four Corners to Big Sky

Price:

Free

Drive:

~20 min to the canyon mouth from Belgrade

Watch a 1,300-lb grizzly up close, safely.

A rescue sanctuary east of Bozeman where bears that could not be released live in a large open habitat. You watch from behind glass and fence while keepers talk through each bear's story. It is small, it takes about an hour, and it is the only guaranteed grizzly sighting of the weekend.

Where:

80 Bozeman Hill Rd, Bozeman

Hours:

October: Thu–Mon 10 AM–5 PM

Price:

$13.50

Drive:

~43 min from Belgrade