Tourist Attractions in Montana

Yellowstone National Park. It is very beautiful but Montana/Wyoming has so much more. During the summer the crowds are ridiculous. One year while driving through and I actually saw some tourists running after a Black Bear to get a picture. This started a frenzy and there was about 50 other tourists following. I felt sick seeing it. Go to Glacier or better yet buy yourself a guide and trek out on your own.

There are many Montanans that make a substantial part of their yearly wages from tourism so they will be very friendly and helpful. I would suggest buying any fishing equipment before you come or shopping at 'The Sportsman's Surplus' in Missoulla for you sporting goods needs. Yellowstone seemed like a tourist trap to me.

West Yellowstone is a gateway town for the Park, but it is overrun in the summer with tourbuses and groups. Doesn't have a western ambiance anymore--just lots of overpriced motel/hotel rooms and fast food restaurants.

Maybe it's not really a tourist trap, but there are places where you can 'pan for gold'. You start out with a huge bucket of gravel, and after various means of washing, you end up with some to 'pan'. You swirl it around and the dirt washes away leaving you with the heavier gold, and in my case, a whole bunch of garnets, which are a semi-precious stone used as an abrasive in sandpaper. Anyway, out of my 20 gallon bucket of gravel, I ended up with a little vial of gold flakes and 3 vials of garnets...I won't get rich from the gold, but if I could only make my own sandpaper...hmmm.