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Riding the rails in Big Sky CountryBy Kathleen Ganster
The Montana Rockies Rail Tours is a unique way to travel and entirely fun for everyone. The company specializes in scenic train tours that travel during the day through the Montana Rockies. Our particular trip was the “Yellowstone Expedition Tour East.” We traveled from Sandpoint, Idaho to Livingston, Montana by train and then spent time in Yellowstone National Park and Big Bend, Montana on our own with a rental car provided by the tour company.
Rail traveling allows you to really sit back and enjoy the scenery. You don’t have to worry about traffic, directions, road conditions, stopping for rest room breaks or anything else! It is also an ideal mode of travel with children because they can get up and walk around the train cars while still taking in the historic and educational aspects. As we traveled through the Rockies, we did indeed enjoy the scenery that also included sightings of three bear, eagles, hawks and osprey, mountain goats and deer. We also enjoyed meeting new friends and even napping for a bit. The train traveled from Sandpoint to Missoula, a charming college town in Montana. It is also home to the “A Carousel for Missoula” a huge carousel that some claim is the fastest in the world.
Again, we just sat back and enjoyed the ride. The trip ends at Livingston Depot Center. The depot was built by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1902 and has a wonderful museum for train and history buffs. Since we were on the Yellowstone Trip, we spent the next two days in the park. We received a rental car for the self-drive portion of our trip and drove the sixty miles to the park.
For information about Montana Rockies Rail Tours, contact 1-800-519-RAIL (7245) or www.montanarailtours.com. For more travel tips or to contact Kathleen, go to www.thetravelingbag.com. Images by Robert Normann |
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It
is no wonder that they call Montana “Big Sky Country.” The sky is as blue as
blue can be and seems to go on forever as only the sky can do out west. And
what better way to see it than by sitting back, relaxing and eating good
food while doing so? 
First, the train trip. We flew from Pittsburgh into
Spokane, Washington – a nice city to visit on its own. I wish we had built
in a day to site-see there, but we were off early the next morning by bus to
Sandpoint. There we boarded the Montana Daylight, a train comprised of
restored 1940-‘50s train cars. In the train, there are three levels of
service, all a nice way to travel. In the Discover Service Level, you travel
in a rail car that is very comfortable with lots of legroom, large windows
and snacks and lunch brought to your seat. You also have access to the
classic club car and gift shop area that we found sort of serves as a
gathering area. The Big Sky Level allows you access to the dome cars with a
360-degree panoramic view of the western landscape plus lunch in the dining
room. Guests traveling at these levels stay overnight at hotels. The
Montana Gold Service Level is the ultimate in rail travel with a private
car, dining area and room where you spend the night. It is luxurious but I
preferred traveling with others and leaving the train at night. 
The
next day we continued on the rail and crossed the Continental Divide. 
I
had been to Yellowstone Park twice before in my life – once when I was 8 and
once when I was 18. Both times, I had traveled with my family and both
times, it was wonderful. I was excited to visit the Old Faithful Geyser
again and delighted that we were staying at the Old Faithful Inn, the
largest log structure in the world plus a stone’s throw from the geyser. In
fact, we could see the geyser from our room! 
Yellowstone
Park is truly a natural wonder. The hundreds of geysers and hot springs are
fascinating to watch. Plus the wildlife is fun as well – we saw magnificent
elk, huge buffalo, coyote, deer and various birds. There are dozens of
hiking trails – we particularly enjoyed the trails above Old Faithful so we
could watch her “go off” and take some great photos. The Grand Canyon of
Yellowstone is also spectacular. 
As
if that that wasn’t enough, we then drove to Big Sky, Montana a little town
tucked in the mountains.
Summit Lodge at Big Sky Resort was located at the
base of Lone Peak, a spectacular mountain for hiking and skiing. We took the
gondola ride to the base of the summit and the ski slopes. We had high hopes
of hiking to the top of the summit but realized we started too late in the
day to make the nearly 12,000 foot climb, stopping at about a third of the
way there. We did however; sight a bear (far away!), indulge in some great
views before spending the rest of the day hiking back down, taking a dip in
the hot tub swimming pool and enjoying the local beer – Moose Drool.