Other Activities
Freefalling with DZone Skydiving. “It’s not looking good,” the pilot, Jon lamented, as he surveyed thick clouds closing in around us. “We’re probably going to need you to reschedule.” Read more >>
Don't rush the season.“There is no such joy in the tavern as upon the road thereto.” —Cormac McCarthy Read more >>
First comes runoff, flushing snow out of the mountains and forcing fisherfolk off the rivers. Read more >>
Nobody moves to southwest Montana looking for balmy beaches. The choice to live here is a choice to embrace the long winters that come with the territory. June snowstorms aren’t out of the question, nor is ice-fishing in November. Read more >>
Traveling light, fast, and free.Get your motor runnin’Head out on the highwayLookin’ for adventureAnd whatever comes our way Read more >>
Slow down—don’t turn off the heat just yet. Check back in a month; we’ll be ready then, I’ll bet. Read more >>
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Snowmobiling
Snowmobilers have unique avalanche risk factors built into their sport. Today’s high-powered sleds are capable of reaching new heights at greater speeds, and each year riders venture farther into remote terrain. Read more >>
Imagine a cross-country skier gliding through the backcountry with only the sound of his skis on the groomed trail—a peaceful afternoon in the winter woods. Read more >>Snowshoeing
Looking for a new venue for your favorite winter activity? Just head over the hill. Doesn’t matter what blows your hair back—once the snow comes down, you can find it in Paradise Valley. Read more >>
Snowshoes have come a long way since the old wooden tennis-racquets of yore, and the MSR Lightning Ascent is a prime example of modern technology done right. I used and abused these ultralight, super-sturdy shoes in all conditions and was unable to make them fail. Read more >>Sledding
Affordable winter pursuitsTo live in Bozeman, you have to love winter, and that means getting out in it. You could pay big bucks and hit the ski slopes, but there are cheaper ways to fall in love with winter too. Read more >>
As soon as snow covers the ground, you can count on Bozemanites rushing to their favorite spots for some sweet sledding action. Read more >>
I am a proud participant in Extreme Saucer Sledding. It's not your average five-year-old's sport. Extreme places tend to attract extreme people, which is no exception in our cozy little mountain berg. Read more >>Last winter, I had the opportunity to “experiment” with an early model of Mad River Rocket’s Killer B Sled. With a little practice, I mastered a basic carve turn and a rudimentary hockey stop at the bottom of the slope. Read more >>Ice Skating
Demand for ice time in Bozeman is on the rise, and in response, a second skating rink is going in adjacent to the Haynes Pavilion at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. Read more >>Affordable winter pursuitsTo live in Bozeman, you have to love winter, and that means getting out in it. You could pay big bucks and hit the ski slopes, but there are cheaper ways to fall in love with winter too. Read more >>
In Bozeman, many of us not only look forward to the arrival of Old Man Winter, we spend months preparing by saving money for passes and gear, mentally planning Ridge runs, scheduling work vacations, taping hockey sticks—and just plain getting giddy. Read more >>
With bone-jarring hits, lightning-fast skating, and even faster flying pucks, hockey is a game played with the aggression of scrapping pit bulls. Even with helmets and pads, players routinely limp back to their cars after the game, eager to nurse their wounds with ibuprofen and a stiff drink. Read more >>Dog Sledding
Now that winter is here, high-energy activities for your dog don’t have to end. Consider taking up skijoring, where two of Bozeman’s favorite things—skiing and dogs—are combined for a team-oriented adventure. Read more >>
I'm standing in chaos. Twenty-some Alaskan Huskies lurch and leap amid a morass of trucks, trailers, sleds, and riggings. Kennel doors open and close; rope, webbing, and harnesses line the ground; blankets and duffel bags pile up. Read more >>Shooting
For a compact rangefinder that reaches out past 1,000 yards and doesn't require two hours of prep time with the manual, check out the Leupold RX-1200i TBR/W. That's a lot of letters and numbers, for sure, but the name is as arcane as this product gets. Read more >>Caving
People don't usually think of bats when they think of Montana, but Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is a great place to view these critters close up. Read more >>
"Listen!" says Peter, who is lying on his side a few feet in front of me in the small canyon-shaped passage. "I think I hear thunder." Read more >>This summer, when the mercury rises and another float down the tepid Lower Madison River sounds anything but refreshing, one might consider loading up the family for a day at Montana’s first state park. Read more >>Birding
Adding wildlife to the outdoor agenda. Most folks don’t consider themselves “birders,” but who knows when you’ll be peeing in the forest and you get dive-bombed by an angry bird? Want to know what it is? Here are some birding basics. Read more >>
Harrison Lake, aka Willow Creek Reservoir, just east of Harrison in the Madison Valley, is now formally an Important Bird Area (IBA)—the 40th IBA in Montana. Read more >>Swimming
On those blazing summer days in Bozeman, sometimes all you want is to grab a swimsuit and some beer and go in search of sweet relief. There are a number of places to swim around Bozeman if you’re willing to look. Read more >>
Fatigued muscles from too many turns at Bridger Bowl? Have the doldrums from short cold days? How about relaxing, rejuvenating, and warming in up in one of Montana’s hot springs? Read more >>
Need a two-day getaway, but don’t want to blow wads of dough or spend hours on the road? Then pack a few things, shut off the cell phone, and head south to Ennis, where a laid-back and fun-filled weekend awaits—all within an hour’s drive of Bozeman. Read more >>Scuba Diving
On the first dive, nothing feels right. You can’t float, or you float too much, and the plastic regulator in your mouth tastes like car tires. But by the third dive, you’re a goldfish. You find neutral buoyancy in a second, floating weightless and even, light as a ghost. Read more >>
Love snorkeling and scuba-diving but can’t afford a week in the Caribbean? Think there’s nowhere to dive around here? Sure, Bozeman’s no Cozumel, but consider this: between tourists and locals, some two million people swarm southwest Montana each summer. Read more >>
At 10:30 am, heat waves swim off the asphalt on Hwy. 287 north of Norris. It's gonna be a hot one. A quick stop at the Harrison store for munchies and Gatorade, and we're cruising down the dirt road to Willow Creek Reservoir, aka Harrison Lake. A 50-yard-long wake of dust billows out behind us. Read more >>On any hot summer day when I was a teenager, all it took was a phone call:"Hello?""Firehole."Click. Read more >>Geocaching
Look at a map of your area, and what do you see? Can you find every fishing access site you’ll ever need, or all the best hard-to-find creeks the locals won’t tell you about? Read more >>
Until relatively recently, �GPS� was an acronym familiar only to gearheads and a few fatcats who were able to access the U.S. Government�s Global Positioning Satellite system to steer their BMWs to the nearest Taco Bell. Read more >>Golfing
Think Big Sky is only fun in the winter? Think again. Over the last few years, Big Sky Resort has been ramping up their snowless activities, building a tasty menu of summer options that’s nearly on par with their wintertime fare. Read more >>My memories of golfing in Montana as a young girl still provide my diehard golfer friends with a grin and a chuckle. The golf course had no fees, no tees, no sand traps, and come to think of it, no greens either, and golf clubs were optional. A hole-in-one meant you bagged a gopher hole. Read more >>In New Mexico, it's 100 degrees out in July and the last thing you want to do is walk around with 20 pounds of golf clubs on your back for four hours. But that's what I did summer after summer as a kid, because my parents kept signing me up for lessons and tournaments. Read more >>
