Bozeman Cottage has teamed up with Ghost Town Coffee to provide starter packs of fresh roasted coffee for guests at check-in. Ghost Town’s retail space is a coffee tasting room, roasting viewing room, and a great coffee shop to boot. Visit them on Bridger Canyon Drive on the north side of town. The dog park is also out that way in a beautiful setting just beneath the Bridger Mountains.
If you happen to have any health needs during your visit, there is a great independently owned urgent care on E Main East Main Urgent Care. We are also most fortunate to have a walk-in acupuncture clinic on S Wallace: Good Medicine Acupuncture. For mental health services we have a wonderful 24-hour crisis center, the Help Center.
Town Tours
Here is a map link for Bozeman: Yahoo
A great way to get oriented to town and see some scenery at the time is to take a walk up Pete’s Hill (S Church & E Story, just 4 blocks south of Main St). From the ridge trail you’ll see all of Bozeman and be able to easily make out MSU, downtown, our beautiful, new public library, the Hyalite Mtns to the south, Spanish Peaks to the SW, Tobacco Root Mtns to the west, and Bridger Range to the north. The Linear Trail System (see below) runs diagonally to the SW and passes duck ponds, a climbing boulder, creek, and community gardens. Continue south and you’re on Sourdough Trail (more info below).
Guided Hikes & Naturalist Walks
Turn your vacation into an education – professional guides are available to unveil the wonders of Montana to you.
Yellowstone Guidelines offers very fun and educational guided tours starting from Livingston, ask for Phil Knight for your guide.
Another great option is Yellowstone Wildlife Profiles. These gals are based in Gardiner, MT at the north gate of Yellowstone National Park and are very experienced guiding in the Park and will customize tours based on your needs, and they also do hiking shuttles.
Bearman’s Tours – specializing in Yellowstone tours: bears, wolf, hiking, geysers
Yellowstone Association – working out of an historic buffalo station in the northern part of Yellowstone Park
Other opportunities to get out and learn the flowers, birds, fish, and animals are the local Audubon Society which has organized trips throughout the year, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition has free guided walks about every month through the summer, and Montana Wilderness Association has a book detailing favorite wilderness walks around the state.
Places to Eat
Downtown casual:
Coop Downtown Main & Black. Hot food bar that’s always great, salad bar, smoothies plus basic staples like bread and milk.
I-Ho’s Korean Grill. You won’t stumble onto this place without knowing about it! I-Ho is a city commissioner and has run a great Korean restaurant here for decades. Now in a brand new building downtown she has upped her game and the food is as good as ever. My favorite is the Bi-Bim-Bob.
Backcountry Burger
We have a new downtown hotel with great food and views, the AC Marriot. They specialize in Napoleon style pizza and have incredible apps and cocktails. 60% of their menu is sourced from Montana and I recommend the charcutery board and the white bean appetizer. They also have a European style self serve breakfast in the lobby area that is fully open to the public.
For a sit down breakfast or lunch try Jam or the Cateye downtown.
A great little deli and imported cheese shop is called Mayven’s Market at Main and 7th. They have sandwiches, soup, gelato, and their cheese and meat side has more options than I can believe and you are welcome to sample anything they sell.
Mid-range:
Jam Fusion Breakfast and Lunch, more towards the gourmet end of things and really tasty.
Rice (asian) Main & Bozeman, authentic food, service can be slow
Cateye Cafe (American home made) N Tracy downtown
Revelry (American diner w/ outside seating) N Tracy downtown
Pakeeza – Downtown, delicious Indian food restaurant! Reservations recommended if going after 5pm. They also have a lunch buffet but the dinner menu is much better. 14 N. Church Ave downtown.
Mountains Walking Brewery & Pub – This is a great, casual atmosphere ‘down near the tracks’ with incredible beer and food. Many non-traditional beers and fruit sours if you like to branch out.
Pizza Compania – Excellent pizza and Italian dishes, nice outdoor seating in the Cannery District on N Rouse Ave. Great wine list, too.
Sidewall Pizza – Outdoor seating in cozy, private wall tents right in downtown Bozeman, 2 blocks off of Main Street. Also great indoor atmosphere and takeout. This has become my go-to pizza joint!
For the big eater:
MSU Rendezvous Dining Pavilion
This isn’t at all what you think, the food services at MSU have been upgraded to a modern food court with a lot of local ingredients. They are open to the public at a flat rate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner ($8, 10, and 12 I believe). There is about everything you can imagine from decent pizza to main dishes, salads, Mexican, Asian, etc. The only challenge is parking so I recommend walking, biking, or using Uber. Closed when MSU is not in session.
Higher-end:
Cafe Fresco Creekside setting downtown with great atmosphere inside and out. There is very little outdoor dining in Bozeman that isn’t on a busy street, this is set back just far enough to be serene!
Blackbird (Italian) E Main downtown, devoted following so make reservations. Bar seating starting at 5pm w/o reservations
Urban Kitchen Downtown, possibly the best steak I’ve ever had. They love to bring out the meat before it’s cooked so you can see it raw, and you select your own steak knife.
Plonk (New York cocktail bar with great drinks and food) Main St downtown
Open Range (MT Steakhouse with full bar) Main St downtown
Feast need I say more!
Skyshed is on top of the tallest building in Bozeman! Great views and fancy cocktails, best french fries I think I’ve ever had.
Classic MT Steakhouse:
Sir Scott’s Oasis (say no more) Manhattan, Montana 20 miles west on I-90
Farmers’ Markets: June – September
Tuesdays 5-8pm at Lindley Park southeast of the public library
Saturdays 9-12 at Fairgrounds, Tamarack St & N Tracy Ave
Winter 9-12 at Fairgrounds every other Saturday https://www.bozemanwintermarket.com/
For local art and jewelry, my favorite gallery is Altitude Gallery on the south side of Main Street downtown. They don’t try to charge 2500 for a pair of earrings and they have great stuff!
Museums
Pioneer Museum, great Gallatin Valley history & photos, old jail building, next to Courthouse on W Main downtown
Museum of the Rockies extensive dinosaur exhibit, homesteading complete with homestead cabin and crops.
American Computer Museum is a real surprise. World class museum of communication technology.
Trails in Town
The Linear Trail system runs on the old railroad bed all the way through town north-south. Catch it at the Bozeman Public Library on E Main. Trail connects to Pete’s Hill which follows the ridge overlooking town from the east starting at E Story & S Church Ave). Follow the Linear Trail to the north starting at N Wallace just after the railroad crossing and it will take you to Bridger Creek golf course and a beautiful wooded trail system leading to East Gallatin Recreation Area, aka Bozeman Beach, off of Manley Road (driving take N Rouse, left on Griffin, R on Manley just before RR crossing).
Follow Linear Trail south and it connects to Sourdough Trail and goes all the way to Goldenstein Road about 3 miles south of town. Great wooded, streamside trail, perfect for walking or easy biking.
Trails near town
One of my favorite places is Hyalite Canyon which is a paved road access to the mountains. There are numerous hikes, namely the short hike up to Palisade Falls. Just go south on 19th Ave about 6 miles, past the big curve and turn left at the sign for Hyalite. From there it is about 10 miles to the reservoir along Hyalite creek.
– S Fk Spanish Creek which starts with driving through Ted Turner’s ranch and getting up close and personal with about 10,000 beautiful bison (from inside your car!), then a 2.8 mile hike to Pioneer Falls. It’s just such a beautiful area – turn off of Hwy 191 onto Spanish Creek Road just 2 miles south of the bridge where you enter the canyon on the way to Big Sky, about 20 miles from Bozeman.
Also, check out Montana Grizzly Encounter just east of Bozeman, it’s a top quality bear rescue center that you don’t have to drive to West Yellowstone for.
And, something relatively new is the Draft Horse Sanctuary center near Livingston which has gotten great reviews.
Bad weather day suggestion: Escape406 is a top notch, locally crafted Escape Room. Book online and have a blast, one of my favorite things to do with a small group of people! The owners create and build the escape rooms from scratch and do an incredible job.
Swimming Holes
East Gallatin Recreation Area, aka Bozeman Beach, off of Manley Road (driving take N Rouse, left on Griffin, R on Manley just before RR crossing).
Sledding and Cross Country Skiing
Sledding: Bozeman has some great places to sled but avoid Pete’s Hill (on S Church near Bogert Park) as it is downright dangerous. Just north of town there is Snowfill Park which has some great smaller hills that end smoothly. Another nice hill on Bozeman’s south side is here on Graf Park, plenty of parking and a relatively safe hill. There are lots of walking trails starting from here as well, both north and south. Going south you’ll find yourself on Sourdough Nature Trail which meanders through the cottonwood forests along Sourdough Creek, aka Bozeman Creek.
Cross Country Skiing is abundant in and near Bozeman. Groomed trails for classic and skate skiing can be found at Bridger Creek Golf Course on the north edge of town and Highland Glen (park near the hospital at the softball fields, both regularly groomed by Bridger Sky Foundation. A great ungroomed area is Valley View Golf Course on Kagy Blvd. A little further from town is Sourdough Canyon which gets groomed and is very popular for walking and skiing, lots of dogs here, but the trail goes into the mountains for many miles and is the quickest place to get into true nature. All trails are free but donations are encouraged for using groomed trails. Hyalite Canyon has beautiful skiing and snowshoeing and the road is plowed to Hyalite Reservoir but can be very slick so use caution.
Trails in the Mountains
“M” Trail is northeast of town (N Rouse turns into Bridger Canyon Road) about 3 miles. Steep trail to M or gentle trails. Across road on south side is the new Drinking Horse trail, north facing, shady, very nice.
Sourdough Trail 6 miles south of town, S Church Ave turns into Sourdough Rd (jog right on Nash, then back left at trailhead sign) 10 mile closed logging road to Mystic Lake & forest service cabin with single track option for 2nd half. Wooded, north facing, groomed cross country skiing.
Hyalite Canyon 8 miles south of town (then 6 miles of paved road along the creek) to Hyalite Reservoir and numerous hiking trails. Recommend Blackmore Lake trail (1.5 mi to beautiful lake, then up to prominent peak seen from town) and Hyalite Lake trail (follow signs past reservoir) which has 5 waterfalls along the 5 mile trail to Hyalite Lake (huge peak above for full day hike). The first waterfall is stupendous and only 1 mile. Palisade falls is on the left fork of road and a .25 mile paved trail to tall, beautiful falls over columnar basalt.
Whitewater & Scenic Floats
Montana Whitewater, operates in Gallatin Canyon as well as Paradise Valley (Yellowstone River), and has great combinations with zip lines, fishing, Yellowstone Park tours, and horseback riding.
Further From Town
Norris Hot Springs – natural hot springs with large wooden sunken pool, great locally grown food, lots of local music, open Wed-Sun, 45 min West of Bozeman.
Virginia City – great historic mining town and hopping in the summer. Check out the Brewery Follies for nightly comedy. West of Ennis, 1.5 hrs from Bozeman.
Lewis & Clark Caverns – fun cave tours of the extensive cave system discovered hundreds of years ago. South of Three Forks, 1 hour from Bozeman.
Headwaters State Park – confluence of the Gallatin, Jefferson, and Madison Rivers and start of the Missouri River. Lots of historical significance including Native American and Lewis & Clark meeting place. North of Three Forks, half hour from Bozeman.
Willow Creek, MT – small town with one restaurant and weekly summer art walk on Fridays. South of Three Forks, 45 min from Bozeman.
Chico Hot Springs – developed hot springs and hotel with great food, greenhouses and gardens, sunny pool. South of Livingston, 1 hour from Bozeman.
Beartooth Highway – the highest highway in the US, crosses beautiful tundra-like plateaus and through the towns of Red Lodge, Cooke City, and Silvergate at Yellowstone Park’s NE entrance.
Recommendations for Kids
Bogert Pool, the summer outdoor pool on S Church, has water slides and is busy all summer.
The “Bozeman Beach” is on the north side of town, see Swimming Holes above and you can get there by trails from town.
There is also a children’s museum and the Museum of the Rockies at MSU has a great dinosaur exhibit.
An easy hike to waterfalls is up beautiful Hyalite Canyon (see Trails in Mtns above) to Grotto Falls, about 1 mile and has a paved trail option.
The Cateye Cafe is fun for kids, 23 N Tracy
Mobile Massage
Deborah Dunham does a great in-home massage service and has 23 years of experience. https://massageathomemt.com/
Music
The old Rialto Theater is now revamped and hosting lots of music and events, well worth checking out! The Elm is a brilliant new music venue with a solid lineup of concerts.
Let me know what your favorite parts of Bozeman are and have fun! Feel free to add your own suggestions to this list! Email
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