Montana's 9 best winter activities – skiing is just the beginning!

10.10.2024 - 19:10 / lonelyplanet.com

Oct 9, 2024 • 7 min read

Winter is a harsh but magical time to visit Montana. A winter hush descends upon a landscape so cold that even sound itself seems frozen. But for well-equipped adventurers with a certain level of outdoor experience, there are some incredible ways to enjoy Montana's stunningly beautiful mountain terrain in winter.

Of course, there are great things to do in Montana year-round, but winter has a special allure for fans of the white stuff. Whitefish and the surrounding Flathead Valley are unbeatable locations for pretty much every kind of winter sport, as is the Gallatin Valley between Big Sky and West Yellowstone.

For pristine backcountry skiing and snowmobiling, plus access to Yellowstone National Park, remote Cooke City is a great in-the-know destination. Here are the best things to do in Montana in winter.

For many people, winter is the very best season to visit Yellowstone National Park. There are almost no crowds, the geysers are at their steamiest, and the frozen landscapes are simply stunning. It's also a great time to meet the wildlife.

There are two essential parts of Yellowstone National Park to visit in winter. From West Yellowstone, snow-coach tours shuttle to Old Faithful, from where you can explore the park's geyser basins on skis or in snowshoes, before retreating for a hot chocolate and cozy overnight stop at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge.

Further north, the road linking Cooke City to the park entrance at Gardiner remains open to cars during winter. This opens up a host of snowshoe and cross-country skiing trailheads around the Mammoth region, some of which are served by snow-coach drops.

Planning Tip: Wildlife spotting in Yellowstone in winter is legendary – it's considerably easier to spot animals against a plain white background. For an unforgettable opportunity to lock eyes with a Yellowstone wolf, sign up for a wildlife-spotting trip with a local company such as Yellowstone Wolf Tracker.

While there's an environmental impact to exploring by snowmobile (some locals despair at the noise and fumes created by snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park), if you are a confident rider, there's no more exciting way to traverse Montana's epic landscapes.

Cooke City is one of the most remote towns in Montana – with only one access road in winter, passing through Yellowstone National Park – but once you get here, the snowmobiling is incredible. Rentals and guides are available in town, and groomed Forest Service tracks climb to passes that offer astonishing views of the powder-filled Beartooth Mountains.

As the gateway for winter trips into Yellowstone, West Yellowstone is also well-suited for snowmobilers, with hundreds of miles of spectacular trails in the nearby Caribou-Targhee