The magic of the holidays comes from more than the gifts you give and get. It’s the feeling you get when you see the sparkle in your children’s eyes, it’s the way the snowy landscape seems to bring peace to your soul, and it comes from that child hidden deep inside you, the one that still believes in Santa Claus. West Yellowstone is a small town, and the families that live here year round celebrate the holidays in much the same ways they are celebrated all around the world and when your journey brings you to our doorstep for Christmas, you will discover a magic that speaks louder than gifts. This guide to our holiday events in West Yellowstone and your stay in our Sweet Home Montana holiday hideaways will show you how this Christmas will shine bright with all the magic it brings to those who believe.

Decorated for the Holidays

The shops and boutiques of West Yellowstone are special during normal times. But at Christmas? All decked out for the holidays, their colorful lights shimmering against the snow covered landscape and the sales they offer will make it easy to cross all the names off your Christmas shopping list. Buy your sister the homemaker something for the home from Sweet Pea Living, fill all your stockings with treats purchased from the Sweet Palace (they call themselves the World’s Greatest Candy Store and we wholeheartedly agree) and bring everyone home a souvenir tee shirt from Yellowstone T-shirt Company, all of which are open year round. Dancing Moose Gifts offers a great selection of toys, supplementing those that Santa leaves for your children.

West Yellowstone Christmas Stroll

The West Yellowstone Christmas Stroll is an event we can’t help but love, looking forward to it 364 days out of the year. (On the 365th day we are too busy enjoying all the fun we are having at this wonderful event.) Offering all the magic of Christmas, visitors can expect to find holiday backdrops in front of which the most festive of family selfies will be taken, arts and crafts booths that will allow your children to discover the joy of creating gifts for their parents, and maybe even meet Sparky, the Fire Dog. Rumor has it Santa is scheduled to take a break from his very busy Christmas preparations, and the games and activity booths will bring their own joy to the celebration. Also offering firemen reading Christmas stories and holiday food that includes S’mores stations set up throughout the area, the West Yellowstone Christmas Stroll is a magical event that offers moments that glimmer for everyone who attends.

Your Christmas with Sweet Home Montana

For many visitors, the choice to travel at Christmas lies in the realization that Christmas at home has lost its sparkle. Stores that start hawking Christmas before summer has even ended, the days spent trying to outdo the neighbor’s holiday displays (when did holiday decorating become a competition instead of a natural display of our love for Christmas?) and the cleaning, the cooking, the shopping, and fighting the crowds. The magic may have faded long ago, but in West Yellowstone you will find it once again. Our town is a small one, serving as the gateway to one of the most famous parks in the world, and at Christmas, the crowds will be gone, leaving behind happy families celebrating in all the best ways, and you and yours will be celebrating right alongside them, discovering beauty in simplicity and adding new traditions to your holiday adventures.

The Differences Are Clear

Even as many of your holiday traditions will stay the same, reading Christmas stories before bed, staying up late to put together complicated toys, and the sound of excited whispers when your kids awaken before the sun and discuss amongst themselves when it will be ok to wake you and start opening presents, the differences will be clear and wonderful. Your Sweet Home Montana escape will be in pristine condition, eliminating the need to deep clean for grumpy extended family members who never appreciate your efforts in the first place. You will have the choice of preparing your Christmas feast or skipping the tradition altogether and heading to local restaurants that will be open. (Hank’s Chop Shop is one of our favorites and is usually open on Thanksgiving and Christmas.) And for our guests who are not fortunate to live in an area where snow falls, waking to a landscape blanketed in snow will add an extra layer of festive to your Christmas celebrations.

Reserve Your Favorite Sweet Home Montana Holiday Hideaway Today

Magic and memories await you in our cozy escapes, starting a tradition that will be cherished for years to come.

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 29^th (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!

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 25^th 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!

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!