A visit to West Yellowstone is destined to be one filled with many photo opportunities and at the holidays, the best photos will often end up gracing the front of your family Christmas card and although you could take a formal and posed one that would do fine, we think you will want more. Families grow and they change and the family that explores West Yellowstone over the Christmas of 2024 won’t resemble the one who may return many years later and we at Sweet Home Montana understand this need to immortalize today’s version. Our guide to where to take family holiday photos in West Yellowstone will ensure that the pictures taken will be pictures never forgotten, even as the look of your family changes and moves forward.
West Yellowstone Heritage Park, 179-199 Firehole Avenue
Looking entirely different than it will in the summer months, West Yellowstone Heritage Park will be a wintry wonderland and as you dress in your most colorful and warmest winter garb, the contrast of color and white snow, green pine trees and white snow, will ensure that every pic you take will stand out in the crowd. An interesting jungle gym, offering a pirate’s ladder just begging for your little monkeys to climb on could be used as a prop for your family photo, so don’t forget to smile, reminding everyone who sees the finished shot just how wonderful of a time you had during your holiday adventures in Montana!
Gibbon Falls
If you have never seen a waterfall freeze in the winter, you are about to experience something that will change the core of who you are. No two ice waterfalls are the same, and while some may resemble the back of a woman’s white wedding gown, trailing down over the rocks, others may provide something a little more witchy, with spikes splintering out in all directions. Gibbons Falls can resemble both, depending on the time of year and how cold it gets, and we can promise that any family photo taken with the falls in the background will be the best ones ever. There is a catch, though, as the falls are located inside the gates of Yellowstone National Park, which with the exception of the North Entrance, are all closed during the winter months. To see this amazing site, you must book a guided tour. We highly recommend Yellowstone Back Country Adventures for this and other winter-time tours.
Horse Butte Lookout
The snowmobiles come into play again for this next family photo opportunity, as the Horse Butte Lookout Snowmobile Trail provides an excellent way to get to one of the most scenic spots in the area. Offering panoramic views of the mountains, the trees, and the stark and nearly desolate beauty of a Montana snow-covered landscape, the photos taken here deserve to be on a Christmas Card and perhaps you can even include the snowmobiles as props, providing even more color to your shot.
West Yellowstone Town Christmas Tree
The West Yellowstone Christmas Tree provides the perfect background for any holiday pic, even in the daylight hours and when your family and friends see how happy you look, how beautiful the tree is with its lights shimmering in the dark sky, and how stunning our landscape can be when blanketed in snow, they will wish they could have joined in all the fun. Traditions become traditions for a reason and the picture of the family in front of our Christmas tree is one that will definitely bring you joy.
At Home with Sweet Home Montana
The best family photos are the candid ones, and throughout your stay, our Sweet Home Montana holiday hideaways will offer plenty of opportunities to snap the perfect picture. Line up along the railing of the front porch of your escape, tall ones in the back with the littlest ones on their shoulders, and the ones who are neither big nor small standing in front. Gather around the Christmas tree you put up and decorated, colorfully wrapped gifts adding excitement to the background. You can’t help but to keep watching all the goings on from behind the lens of your camera or phone, afraid to put either down, as you might miss the picture that will best reflect the wonders of your visit. Maybe this will be the year that you don your matching pajamas and pose with happy smiles in front of a roaring fire, reminding you of the best vacation you have ever experienced every time you see the resulting photo.
Reserve your favorite Sweet Home Montana escape today!
The holidays are when we begin to appreciate family moments the most, spending more time at home our spouses and our children, playing, relaxing, and devouring the holiday feast, something you can continue to do when you choose to make a white Christmas visit to our West Yellowstone piece of paradise. And because the food that we eat over the holidays is as important as the decorations, the presents, even Santa Claus, you will be reassured to know that our Sweet Home Montana holiday hideaways offer fully equipped kitchens in which you can prepare the entire meal from scratch or heat up a takeout feast for less muss and fuss. For those who prefer to dine out on the holiday, there are some restaurants in town that will be open for business and this guide to helping you enjoy your Christmas dinner in West Yellowstone will point you in the right direction!
Three Bear Restaurant, 205 Yellowstone Avenue
This family restaurant is famous for its reasonable prices, its delicious comfort food, and for being open on Christmas day, cooking dinner for your family so that you don’t have to. As of this writing, the information we have states that they will be open regular business hours on Christmas eve and Christmas day, but that could change and they don’t state whether reservations are accepted, so you might want to call ahead of time to ask about both. Offering a rustic and colorful charm every guest feels at home when seated at their tables, tucking into a feast that fills the belly and warms the soul.
Hank’s Chop Shop, 221 N Canyon Street
Hanks Chop Shop is another family style restaurant open for Christmas, offering a comfort food menu made with locally sourced ingredients, their holiday menus are known to hit all the right spots in your stomach. Famous for being a popular selfie spot (due to the giant Sasquatch standing outside their front door) as well as for being so obviously passionate about the food they serve, Hank’s is worth visiting on any day of the year, not just during the holidays. Reservations are not accepted.
Takeout Is Good, Too
It will be cold and snowy during your West Yellowstone Christmas adventures and you may be reluctant to spend a lot of time out in the elements, preferring to stay in where it is warm, cozy, and a fire in the fireplace is adding romance to your holiday. Ordering your meal from Hank’s Chop Shop will ensure that you enjoy a traditional dinner and will mostly get to stay home, but what if the traditional is not what you are craving? Maybe it is a large pizza with all the trimmings that is making you salivate and fortunately for you, the Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon will be open for pick-up on Christmas Eve! Located at 14 Madison Avenue, travelers can finish up their last-minute shopping with a stop in the saloon, perhaps taking the time for a drink before picking up your pizza and heading back to your holiday hideaway for a night of family memories. Reheat your pizza for dinner the next day and enjoy; for some reason pizza always tastes better the second day, but only if you heat it in the oven. Popping a slice in the microwave is guaranteed to be a disappointed, but when you heat the entire pizza in the oven, soon your rental will be filled with the savory scents of tomatoes, cheese, and all the herbs and toppings that make pizzas the international food of love. The best part of Christmas in West Yellowstone is knowing that you can do whatever you want to do and if eating pizza for the holiday feast is what you want to do, the Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon is here to help!
Feasting at Home with Sweet Home Montana
We’ve offered up quite a few ideas as to how you can get a meal on Christmas Day, but perhaps your favorite kitchen to visit will be the one inside your Sweet Home Montana holiday hideaway. Fully equipped with new appliances, spacious counters, and a cheerful vibe that can only come from the heart of the home, it won’t feel like work putting together a family meal. Pick up the ingredients you need at Food Roundup, 107 Dunraven Street, and when it is time to do the work, pour yourself a glass of wine, stream your favorite Christmas music stations, and prepare for a couple of hours of fun and flavor. This could be the year you share the secret ingredients in your great-great grandma’s homemade stuffing, keeping the recipe alive for another generation. Or it could be the year you choose to make grilled cheese sandwiches for your Christmas feast. It doesn’t matter which direction your meal goes, all that matters is you spend this holiday in our West Yellowstone sanctuaries. Reserve your favorite today!
Not everyone gets to celebrate a white Christmas, and if you are one of the unfortunate ones who doesn’t, you may be looking towards West Yellowstone for your Christmas journey. Offering snowy days and nights that can really make you feel the spirit of the holiday, our small and rustic corner of the world shines brighter this time of year, offering a variety of holiday activities that will make you believe in the magic of Christmas, especially when you choose one of our Sweet Home Montana holiday hideaways for a comfortable and endearing holiday celebration. This guide to Christmas lights and displays in West Yellowstone will help you find the joy and comfort you have been missing over the holidays.
The Shops and Businesses in Downtown West Yellowstone
Although the big cities seem to have toned down the decorating when it comes to Christmas, here in West Yellowstone the tradition of big decorations remain strong. Finish up your Christmas shopping at our local stores, enjoying the lights that reflect off the snow at night, doubling the effect and bringing color to your life. Inside, Christmas music may be playing and more decorations will help you rediscover your love of the holiday, turning the chore of shopping into a happy adventure that will add to your enjoyment of the season. The restaurants of West Yellowstone will also be decorated, their lights shining bright, while also offering Christmas trees that greet you at the doors, reminding you that the holiday will be here before you know it. Serving meals that are hearty and hot, warming your insides as well as your soul, they may not be open on Christmas day, but the days leading up to it will offer your favorite comfort foods.
West Yellowstone Christmas Stroll, December 20
This annual event is one we at Sweet Home Montana look forward to every year, offering a jump start to our holiday celebrations that is festive and fun and encompasses every Christmas tradition, including the lighting of our town tree. Below, we have listed some of our favorite parts of this wonderful event, perhaps leading you and your family towards a new holiday tradition.
- Holiday Selfies – The Chamber of Commerce will be offering a variety of holiday backdrops perfect for family pictures or a quick selfie you can post on your favorite social network site, showing your friends and family how much Christmas fun you are having. This activity can take place all day, and many of the backdrops will feature Christmas lights that will shine even in bright daylight.
- Reindeer Games – The shops will be open extended hours on this day of celebration, giving travelers another opportunity to finish up their holiday shopping, while also offering a variety of “reindeer games” at Santa’s Workshop. Prices will be a shopping spree, so be sure to play.
- S’more Stations – You never know when you need a gooey and chocolatey marshmallow treat to help restore your flagging energy, and for that reason, there will be multiple S’more Stations set up around town in the afternoon.
- Christmas Movies – What is better than watching a Christmas movie on a snowy day in West Yellowstone? Watching it for free on the huge screen at Yellowstone Giant Screen Theater, located at 101 S Canyon Street. Last year, the movie “du jour” was the Santa Clause, but it hasn’t been announced as of yet if it is going to be the same this year or if they are choosing a different Christmas movie to screen.
- Parade of Lights – We love a parade, and the West Yellowstone Parade of Lights offers magical floats that are shimmering and glittering for the big holiday. Snaking its way along the streets of downtown, spreading cheer, excitement, and building anticipation for the events that follow, this small town parade will warm your heart in a big way.
- The Lighting of the Christmas Tree – The parade ends at the town tree, towering over the West Yellowstone landscape, waiting for the click of the switch that sets it alight. The beauty of this moment will burrow its way into your soul and as you stand out in the cold, watching the tree light up the night, staring at the people who surround you, you will know that your Christmas journey to West Yellowstone is destined to become a new family tradition. Pictures with Santa begin after the lighting, adding more joy to the moment.
The Neighborhoods That Surround Your Holiday Hideaway
We love Christmas and the homes that surround your Sweet Home Montana holiday hideaway will be adorned in their holiday finest, encouraging you and your family to bundle up, perhaps fill a thermos with hot cocoa, and take your own Christmas stroll around the neighborhood. Reserve your favorite holiday escape today!
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Gather your group and enjoy the beauty of West Yellowstone in a spacious 4-bedroom rental, offering comfort and convenience, or indulge in even more space with a 5-bedroom vacation home, perfect for large families and group getaways.
Although Thanksgiving falls in the fall months, November in Yellowstone can be more closely described as winter with the snow season beginning the end of September. Offering a blanket of snow as a backdrop to your Thanksgiving adventures, you will learn all that you have to be thankful for as you relax, play, and enjoy the comforts found in our Sweet Home Montana holiday hideaways. Offering serenity, quiet, and that peaceful vibe that will come in handy during these chaotic holiday months, below we have listed the reasons we believe West Yellowstone is the perfect Thanksgiving destination.
Find Your Joy
In the past, Thanksgiving may not have been as wonderful as you may have hoped it could be. Working full time and still having to get the house cleaned, groceries bought, and all of that cooking made for a rough holiday. The workload increased, but the amount of time you have available in each day still stayed the same, adding to the chaos that often characterizes this holiday, but in West Yellowstone, you will find your joy once more. Wake up early to catch the sun rising over the mountains and then crawl back in bed for a few more zzz’s, knowing you don’t have to be anywhere or do anything anytime soon may be the biggest gift you give yourself. But if sleep eludes you or you just happen to be an early riser at any time of the year, the Macy’s Day Parade starts at 8:30 in New York, which means it will be on television sometime around 5:30 here. Our state of the art televisions will make you feel as if you are standing on the sidelines of the parade, but the fire in the fireplace and the blanket you have tucked around you will ensure you stay cozy and warm.
The Feast of the Day
As you begin to add up your blessings, your next item added to your list may be the one about not having to work your fingers to the bone making a meal for your family to love. Even as West Yellowstone is a small town and many businesses and restaurants will be closed so employees can celebrate with their families, there are generally at least a couple of restaurants open and serving delicious feasts, as listed below.
- The Branch Restaurant & Bar, 315 Yellowstone Avenue – Serving a special Thanksgiving meal with a Montana twist, the Branch has served a roasted quail dinner that delighted the taste buds of everyone who tried it. If quail is a little far out for your own palate, their Apple Brandy Glazed Ham never fails to excite, and the whisky glazed carrots served with both main dishes are something we dream about for the remaining 11 months and 364 days we have to wait until NEXT Thanksgiving!
- Happy Hanksgiving at Hank’s Chop Shop, 221 N Canyon Street – Although Hank’s Chop Shop is known for its wild game menu, they stay completely traditional offering a choice between turkey and ham. Creamy mashed potatoes, homemade pie, and someone else creating, serving, and clearing away the table? Your turkey day meal at Hank’s will be memorable and full of flavor, both things we want to experience on this grateful day of deliciousness in November.
Black Friday Shopping
If it seems like you have barely finished your last piece of pie and Christmas begins, well, it seems that way because it is true! Black Friday shopping, however, is a great way to get into the holiday spirit, even if the shops around here wait until Friday morning to open their doors. We like the less frenetic energy of spending Thanksgiving night at home, watching Christmas movies and playing games with the family, making sure to get a good night’s sleep so as to have plenty of energy for the next morning. Every store in town will be open on Friday, November 29th (Can you believe that Thanksgiving is so late this year?), and whether you choose to shop the big box stores or to explore what the downtown shops and boutiques have to offer, we can promise a good time will be had! Dancing Moose Gift Shop, located at 108 N Canyon Street, is sure to have unusual gifts that your friends and family will fall in love with.
Happy Thanksgiving from Sweet Home Montana
Of course, some of your best moments will be the ones you spend within the confines of your Sweet Home Montana holiday haven. Inside these four walls lies a world of comfort and joy, and if you do choose to make your holiday meal in our fully equipped kitchens, you will soon learn that cooking can be fun. Reserve your favorite holiday escape today and discover your own reasons for enjoying a West Yellowstone Thanksgiving this year!
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Gather your group and enjoy the beauty of West Yellowstone in a spacious 4-bedroom rental, offering comfort and convenience, or indulge in even more space with a 5-bedroom vacation home, perfect for large families and group getaways.
The annual fall break is beginning to reach levels of popularity that heretofore were only met by summer or spring, but when you choose to travel to West Yellowstone over Halloween, there may be some members of your family that take issue with the trip. Of course, we are talking about your tiniest travelers, the ones who start anticipating next Halloween’s goodies and costumes before they have even completely looked through this year’s stash, and when they ask, “What about trick-or-treating?” you can answer with complete assurance that the Halloween hijinks will not have to be skipped. We at Sweet Home Montana have created this guide to the best places to trick-or-treat in West Yellowstone, while also offering ideas on how to celebrate for the whole family.
Trunk or Treat, Date TBD, Povah Community Parking Lot
The information isn’t complete as of yet, but in previous years, the Povah Community Parking Lot has held a trunk or treat event guaranteed to thrill the kiddos. Generally held the Friday before Halloween, (that would be October 25th this year) they offer all the fun of Halloween while allowing parents to feel safe as their kids race from trunk to trunk begging for the candy they crave. Costumes are key to the fun, so be sure to bring your kiddo’s along for the trip, or if you forgot, you could always pick up something at our local stores. In any case, this fun Halloween activity offers candy, hot chocolate, (it can get cold at night this time of year) and family photo opportunities that will provide the most amazing souvenir of your West Yellowstone vacation.
Neighborhood Trick-or-Treating in West Yellowstone, October 31
West Yellowstone is a small town located at the edge of Yellowstone Park, and unlike larger towns, there aren’t a lot of Halloween events, but we have kids too, and we invite you to join in the neighborhood fun. We love the small-town closeness of neighbors who are always looking out for each other, and your kids will be safe too as you make the door-to-door trek that brings them joy. Even better, your Sweet Home Montana escape will be located close to where you are trick-or-treating, and parents won’t have far to trudge when returning with exhausted toddlers in their arms or on their shoulders! And after you get them in bed, they will be sleeping so soundly, they won’t hear when you sneak some candy from their goody bags. With the guide to candy and wine pairings listed below, we can promise your night of spooks, thrills, sweets, and fun will be one you never forget.
Candy and Wine Pairings for the Parents
Whether you chose to dress in your own costume or simply donned coat and sneakers to chaperone your little goblins and ghouls, you too deserve a little treat (but no tricks!) in the form of stolen candies paired to perfection with your favorite wines. We have listed a few of our favorites below, but a simple tip to remember when choosing a wine, chocolates pair best with red wines and fruity candies pair best with white wines.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – Reese’s is always going to taste best when paired with either a dark cabernet sauvignon or a rich merlot, again sticking with chocolate and red as the theme of the pairing.
- Snicker’s – Yep, you guessed it, a rich and smooth cabernet sauvignon will bring out the highlights of this nougat and peanut rich candy bar. Hopefully some of the neighbors are overachievers and will provide the full sized ones so you can sip, sample, and savor in style on All Hallows Eve.
- M&M’s – It’s a red again for the treats that melt in your mouth and not in your hands, but because there are many different types of M&M’s, you may want to sample the reds you have on hand to try and determine which goes best with which. For your standard M&M’s we highly recommend a pinot noir, for peanut butter ones we suggest a cabernet sauvignon, and for all the others, well, as long as you stay in the red category you should be just fine.
- Starburst – The blast of fruit enjoyed in every piece will best be accompanied by a glass of bubbly Moscato with this treat being one that carries over into real life!
- Candy Corn – This last candy is for the traditionalists out there; a chilled and crisp chardonnay enhances the waxy sweetness of this sugary blast that has been around for over 100 years.
Your Halloween Hideaway
After the trick-or-treating has completed and you have sipped and sampled your way through your kiddo’s goody bags, the best night’s sleep will be had in our Sweet Home Montana Halloween hideaways. Reserve your favorite today!
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Experience the charm of West Yellowstone with a stay in our inviting 2-bedroom vacation rentals, perfect for a cozy retreat, or upgrade to a spacious 3-bedroom rental, ideal for families and small groups seeking adventure and relaxation.
Every traveler deserves that one perfect vacation spent exploring someplace wonderful, a place that offers peace, serenity, and a natural landscape that will make them long for simpler days in their own hometowns. And if that vacation happens to fall during a season that isn’t usually considered tourist season, a time when traffic jams are rare and wait times in restaurants are shortened, the only thing that could make that vacation even better is knowing that it is West Yellowstone your airplane and rental car are pointed in the direction of, and realizing that every night you will be able to rest your heads on the most comfortable pillows in the state of Montana, simply because you chose Sweet Home Montana for your vacation accommodations. This guide to a West Yellowstone vacation that occurs in the midst of our quiet season is destined to speak to your soul.
The Quiet Season Starts Soon
As summer draws ever closer to its natural conclusion, travelers are returning home in droves, lured by the siren’s song of back to school bells and the realization that the end of the year holidays are almost here. And although you may be tempted to do the same, you also know that your soul needs a few extra days where your responsibilities are few and your free moments are many. You want to sleep in late, greeting the day on your own time schedule and you need to find the moments so serene and peaceful you can tuck them away in your heart to be explored at a later time, perhaps when real life gets too harsh. In West Yellowstone, those quiet days can be found in the months of September and October—April too, but that’s a story for another day! Don’t take that quiet for boredom, however, especially in the fall months when the sounds of elk calling out for a mate may ring through the countryside, and when the call is answered, you too can sleep peacefully knowing the bull has found his cow, and when spring rolls around, new babies will be frolicking in our beautiful landscape.
Faithfully Yours
There are other geysers in Yellowstone National Park, but the first one named is the most famous of all and in the tourist season, Old Faithful can be a little more difficult to access as all the crowds want to witness its predictability. Officially known as a cone geyser, the geyser has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours since the year 2000, with the boiling water reaching heights of up to 125 feet, creating a sensation every time. Enjoy a leisurely walk along the boardwalk that takes you to other, less predictable geysers, springs, and pools known for their beautiful colors and extreme heat and feel as if the entire park belongs to you as you will encounter very few thrill seekers during your adventures. (The Biscuit Basin Interpretive Trail is currently closed due to a hydrothermal explosion, but there are still areas you can enjoy during your visit.)
Play in the Snow
Yes, you read that correctly. Although we can’t predict exactly when, the snow often starts falling sometime in September and October, and although it is chilly, we firmly believe you haven’t lived until you have seen the landscape of West Yellowstone blanketed in the white stuff. For families living in warmer areas, these early season snowstorms can be the first opportunity your children will have to make snow angels and build snowmen, creating memories they will never forget.
Delicious Meals, Little to No Waiting
Parents traveling with young children understand the frustration that can accompany long waits at restaurants, the kiddos are hungry and they don’t care who knows it, but during your late summer or early fall visit, the wait is shortened, and the hearty meals served at places such as Old Town Cafe, 128 Madison Ave, can be quickly devoured, perhaps even before the little tykes realize they are hungry. Also offering lower prices during this quiet season of wonder, your bank account is sure to thank you for visiting West Yellowstone during this most beautiful time of the year!
West Yellowstone Vacation Difference
The quiet moments spent in your Sweet Home Montana seasonal sanctuary will be the ones that help fortify you for the crazy times that lie ahead. Relaxing on large decks that overlook the West Yellowstone countryside where views of trees dressed in their autumn finest or meadows blanketed with snow remind you that it’s the simple things that can provide the largest impact on your peace of mind. Sleep late every morning, play games with the kiddos, and let the peaceful ambience of your Montana home away from home fill you with joy. Our homes will be where you make your most meaningful memories—reserve your favorite escape today!
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Experience the charm of West Yellowstone with a stay in our inviting 2-bedroom vacation rentals, perfect for a cozy retreat, or upgrade to a spacious 3-bedroom rental, ideal for families and small groups seeking adventure and relaxation.
There are some places in this world where the term fall may not be understood, as the seasons rarely change, and summer springs eternal, and if a spicy summer getaway is what you are looking to enjoy in the fall months, you aren’t going to find it in West Yellowstone. What you will find, however, is a chilly portrait of the season complete with smoke coming out chimneys, the leaves on the trees turning a fiery array of colors, and maybe even a touch of frost upon the ground in the early morning hours. If this is what your idea of a fall vacation should look like, your fall journey to West Yellowstone and stay in our Home Sweet Montana seasonal sanctuaries will make all your vacation dreams come true, and this guide to the top fall events in West Yellowstone will help you fill in the blank spots on your vacation itinerary.
West Yellowstone Community Market, Thursdays in September, Museum of the Yellowstone Front Lawn
This non-profit organization celebrates the works of local artists and the products of local farmers, making Thursdays our favorite day of the week. Every other day of the week the Museum of the Yellowstone tells the history of our Montana town, but on Thursday evenings, the front lawn shines with products and produce of the now. Offering visitors the opportunity to find some of the most unusual souvenirs to help remind them of the fantastic times they had in West Yellowstone while also helping our guests stock the pantries and refrigerators of their Home Sweet Montana seasonal sanctuaries. The future is bright for the artists and farmers of our community and your future promises to be more colorful and tasteful after an exploration of the products offered for sale at the West Yellowstone Community Market.
Chili Cookoff, September 29, Povah Community Center, 10 Geyser Street
The foods of fall are our favorite and this Chili Cookoff, sponsored by Yellowstone Baptist Church offers the perfect way to kick off the season. Everybody has their own ideas on what makes a chili the best chili, and some may prefer their bowl of goodness so hot and spicy it brings tears to their eyes. Others prefer less spice but more meat, and although most chili connoisseurs prefer their chili to be thick, rich, and filled with flavor, there may be some culinary artists that think a thinner, more brothlike dish is the very best. Whatever your preference, every chili in the contest has something that makes it stand out and who knows? Maybe you will get some ideas on how to improve upon your own chili after tasting the delicious bowls of this spicy competition.
Yellowstone Ski Festival, November 28, Rendezvous Ski Trails
Yellowstone is famous for being the site of the first National Park, but did you know that our little part of paradise is known for its cross country skiing and for 40 years, Nordic skiers from all over the country (and Canada) make their way to the Rendezvous Ski Trails for the Yellowstone Ski Festival. Offering skiing clinics, competitive races, and classes that can help you improve your cross country skills or help you develop a love for the sport that will never go away. The ski clinics are led by former Olympic skiers, many of which you may recognize their names, and although we are listing November 28 as the day of the festival, the events, clinics, races, and classes will occur all through Thanksgiving week, giving visitors many reasons to be thankful. Also offering a “Taste of the Trails” event that celebrates the foods prepared by local restaurants, giving the festival a delicious flavor you will love. Last year’s festival, however, was cancelled due to lack of snow, so if you are planning a Thanksgiving visit to Montana, you might want to check the weather if you are planning on attending.
Your Own Impromptu Events
Not every West Yellowstone event has to be a city or community sanctioned one, and some of your favorite fall events in West Yellowstone may be the ones that take place in your Home Sweet Montana vacation escape. Horror movie binge-a-thons over the Halloween holiday will be especially gory and frightening when watching on our state of the art televisions. Accompany your horror move fest with a feast of Halloween themed meals, including Mummy Dogs (hot dogs wrapped in crescent roll dough, mummy style, and baked until golden and delicious) and for dessert, a holiday classic, Dirt and Worms, made with chocolate pudding, crumbled Oreos, and gummy worms. However you spend your fall vacation in West Yellowstone, coming home to our seasonal sanctuaries will make this getaway one that you will never forget. Contact us and reserve your favorite escape today!
It can be difficult to discover all there is to do when visiting a new place, especially a place like Yellowstone where the most popular activity is simply stopping where the wildlife is and checking them out. From our own travels, however, and the experiences we have enjoyed providing comfortable vacation spaces for travelers visiting our town, we have learned that participating in the tours and expeditions of the region being visited, helps create a vacation experience that will never be forgotten. This guide to the top aerial tours of Yellowstone will help you discover the rich and beautiful world we live in, made even better when you come home to our Sweet Home Montana vacation escapes every night of your stay.
Top Aerial Tours Of Yellowstone
You’re going to spend a lot of time grounded during your Yellowstone vacation, exploring geysers, animal habitats, and the sweetly serene landscape of our Montana home, but our favorite tour company, Fly Yellowstone, located at 629 Airport Road in West Yellowstone, will keep your head in the clouds. Offering a variety of tours that last 30, 45, and 60 minutes, the tours they offer give guests a greater understanding of the area, while providing bird’s eye views of places you may want to return to when your feet are back on terra firma. The airplanes are safe and comfortable Cessna 182’s, offer a bargain price (especially in comparison with helicopter tours, and their pilots offer over 30 years in aviation, making these tours the perfect choice for thrill seekers who still want to feel safe. Up to 3 people can fly and guests must be over 18 to book.
30 Minute Flights To Remember
Fly Yellowstone’s 30 minute tours stay closer to your West Yellowstone vacation sanctuary while offering an educational and entertaining experience. Choose between two flights, the Yellowstone Seismic which explores the history of earthquakes and how they made Yellowstone what it is today, and the Yellowstone Skyline tour. This flight offers a clearer view of the beauty of Yellowstone, showing off a side you would never have seen if you hadn’t taken to the skies. Prices start at $179 per person.
45 Minutes of Wonder and Beauty
Plane rides can be addictive, so if their 30 minute tours whet your appetite, their 45 minute tours cement your understanding that there is no better way to explore a new area. Also offering two 45 minute tours, Fly Yellowstone delves deeper into the rugged beauty of this part of Montana. Their Rugged Mountain flight will make you forget humans have ever touched the landscape, with the countryside looking wild and untamed from your perch inside the plane. Their Continental Divide flight flies along the rivers that will eventually end at the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, showing off the serenity that can only be found in large bodies of water. Prices for the 45 minute flights start at $224 per person.
An Hour you will Never Forget
Saving the best for last, the hour long tours provided by Fly Yellowstone offer an experience that visitors will never forget, and even as you are spending 60 minutes in the clouds, we can tell you it will never be long enough. They also offer two hour long flights, starting with the Border Tour that takes guests on a flight around the entirety of Yellowstone National Park, or as much of the park as possible due to flight restrictions. This first flight provides a stunning overview of the vastness of Yellowstone, but it is their final hour long tour that may become the epicenter of your favorite Montana vacation memories. Their Combo Flight is exactly as it sounds, a flight that combines the Skyline, Rugged Mountain, and Continental Divide flights, showing off the best parts of each flight and making guests fall in love with the skies and the expansive views they are enjoying of the ground below! Prices for this tour start at $269 per person.
Comfortable Adventures with Sweet Home Montana
However you spend your daylight hours during your West Yellowstone vacation, coming home to Home Sweet Montana will ensure that this vacation is one that will spoil you against all others. Relax on balconies overlooking the most scenic spots in Yellowstone, keeping your eyes open to more wildlife encounters, create home cooked meals in fully equipped kitchens, and spend every night dreaming happy dreams in the most comfortable beds in the state. And when you fall asleep each night, don’t be surprised if, after your daylight adventures, you find yourself flying through the night skies in your dreams. A Yellowstone getaway hits differently especially when enjoyed from the comfortable confines of our Montana vacation rentals, providing peace, serenity, and an innate quiet that will help quiet the chaos of your soul. Contact us to reserve your favorite haven today! Search our rentals by bedroom here!
Family traditions are important, often becoming an essential part of the memories created when the structure of your family changes. We all remember the golden days of our youth, when every year Mom and Dad loaded us up in the station wagon, driving us across the miles, enduring multiple renditions of 99 bottles of beer on the wall, the never ending game of slug bug (we still have bruises on our arms from that game) and numerous queries of “are we there yet?” often being asked within minutes of pulling out of the driveway. We always stayed in hotels or motels during those long ago trips, but when you want to continue that tradition with your own family during your summer vacation in Montana, staying in the suites and rooms we provide will offer an updated and far more comfortable vacation experience.
Why Stay In The Suites And Rooms At Sweet Home Montana
Chances are you never stayed in a suite during your childhood travels, but the luxuries we provide in our Sweet Home Montana escapes will make you never want to travel with family any other way. These beautiful and spacious retreats are located right where you want to be, offering sweeping views of the Montana landscape and separate bedrooms that ensure mom and dad can get in all the private time they need while the siblings can enjoy late night giggles that will largely go ignored, but not unheard, as parents realize that the kiddos deserve this extra bonding time. Also knowing that it won’t be too long before the call of the sandman is heeded, due to daytime adventures that ensured the wild ones are properly exhausted. Perhaps the best part of our beautiful suites, however, will be the ones that come with fully equipped kitchens or kitchenettes, allowing the vacation budget to sigh a breath of relief with the realization that not every meal has to be eaten at the admittedly very delicious, but potentially expensive restaurants that dot our landscape.
Room for Romance
In the age of vacation home rentals, the standard hotel room has been pushed aside, sneered at, and often disregarded, but our Montana rooms are not standard hotel rooms. Again, located exactly where you want to be, these spacious rooms are ideal for honeymooners, small families, and maybe adventurers who want to spend a little less, saving their vacation dollars for more important things like delicious meals enjoyed with an entire bottle of wine or admission into Yellowstone National Park for another day of naturally wonderful fun. The rooms that we offer do not resemble those roadside shelters in any way, shape, or form (aside from offering beds and tv’s!) and will be the ideal spots to relax and recharge in after a long day of explorations. Premium beds topped with the softest of linens, large windows that look out onto the Yellowstone landscape, and those state of the art televisions that will help ease the transition from wide awake to sound asleep, all work together to ensure that your stay will be comfortable, welcoming, and relaxing.
The Adventures You Will Never Forget
The joy of a summer vacation in Montana spent in our Home Sweet Montana escapes is one that must be experienced to be believed and as you spend every night nestled in cozy rooms and suites, dreaming about the adventures you had while knowing that the next day’s adventures will be even greater, this vacation will move up the list to “best vacation ever” status faster than you could imagine. You probably won’t spend many of your daylight hours at home with us, but that’s ok, there is just so much to explore here that we wouldn’t want it any other way. Maybe Dad will wake up early every morning to get in a few hours behind the pole at Hebgen Lake or maybe your adventures will include a visit to Old Faithful geyser, erupting up to 20 times a day. A variety of tours of Yellowstone, including Easy Tours Yellowstone and Back Country Adventures, will give you a greater understanding as to why this first National Park is the one that will stay in your heart forever.
A Taste of the Town
Now, not all our suites offer fully equipped kitchens, and of course, the rooms will generally only offer microwaves, mini fridges, and coffee makers, but even if you planned ahead and rented a suite with the kitchen, we do recommend exploring the tasty delights served at the Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon, located at 14 Madison Avenue. A local tradition for 25 years and providing an authentic Western experience, only with pizza, parents will love the beer, wine, and live entertainment.
Come Home to Sweet Home Montana
Welcoming travelers and making them feel comfortable is what we do; contact us today to reserve your favorite suite or room today!
Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first national park, and whether you are simply looking for a vacation experience that walks on the wild side or if you have vacation goals to visit all America’s national parks, this one should be at the top of your list. It is known for being the best place for spotting wildlife in Yellowstone, especially in the Lamar Valley area here in Montana, ensuring you won’t have far to drive to get from your Sweet Home Montana vacation rental to where the wildlife roams most frequently. This guide to spotting wildlife during your explorations of West Yellowstone in Montana will give you an even better idea of the types of animals you might be able to spot and photograph!
First, a Little of What to Expect
If this is your first time visiting Yellowstone, you may be wondering how you can find the wildlife that roams free throughout the park, and our most important piece of advice is to just keep your eyes peeled. As you are driving along the roads that meander through the park, you may come upon cars parked (safely) on the side of the road, and small groups of people milling around in the grassy areas with cameras and phones in hand. This is a sign that there is some sort of animal within sight, and when you realize that there are over 300 species of birds, six reptile species, and 67 species of mammals, you can pretty much count on being able to see something wild during your time in the park.
Exploring early in the day or later in the evening can help ensure a great sighting, as this is when the wildlife steps out to feed, and stopping by the visitor centers in Yellowstone can give you an idea of the most recent sightings. In addition to your cell phone and camera, be sure to add binoculars to your viewing supplies, ensuring that you can easily check out mountain goats scampering up the cliffs, or perhaps a herd of bison grazing in distant meadows.
Spring and Summer Wildlife in Yellowstone
By the time you are reading this, you may already be planning your summer vacation, but if you have no plans as of yet, late spring is the perfect time to visit, especially as the temperatures begin to warm up and the baby wildlife begins to make their appearance.
In April, the “red dogs” (baby bison) frolic in fields and pastures and the skies come to life with flocks of birds who are making their way here from Mexico, including swallows and peregrine falcons. Elk calves take their first steps in May, and wolf pups start to explore the world beyond their dens, and if you get to spot either of these sweet babies, be sure to document it with pictures so that you can keep the memories alive in your heart long after your vacation has reached its natural conclusion. In June, babies are all over the place, exploring their fresh new worlds much as your own babies once did, bringing an innocent joy to your Yellowstone adventures.
Every month in Yellowstone provides a new opportunity to explore the wild side of our beloved national park, ensuring that you enjoy a vacation unlike any you have experienced before.
Animal Encounters to Remember
Yellowstone is where the wildlife lives, and as visitors in their homes, you will experience your own animal encounters that may thrill. Whether it is a lone wolf walking through the parking lot of a visitors center late at night or you find yourself suddenly in the center of a herd of bison as you are driving along one of our roads, these experiences will change you in ways you never thought possible.
But, as we mentioned earlier in this paragraph, it is also important that you remember you are in there home and the wildlife that lives here is, well, wild. There are no gates, no corrals, no fenced-in habitats, and if you do encounter an animal during your explorations, stay a safe distance away and do not attempt to pet them, no matter how cute and cuddly those bear cubs may look; mamas are destined to be nearby, and they do not take kindly to interlopers touching their babies.
Bring It Home to Sweet Home Montana
When it is time to take a walk on the mild side, our Sweet Home Montana vacation properties will all be located just a short distance away from the gates to Yellowstone, ensure your drive from wild to comfy will be a short one. Offering the rustic charms of country cabins and all the comforts of home, don’t be surprised if you hear the cries of lonely elk seeking a mate in the late night hours or if you catch sight of a timid doe stepping out from the tree line as the sun sets over the Montana landscape. Contact us today and choose your favorite Montana escape today!