Hi, this is Bobcat fan in Bozeman. I have often made suggestions on our board for visiting fans, so I thought I would leave some of my thoughts on your board for anyone visiting Bozeman. This will be our annual Gold Rush game, which will be on a Thursday night. Every fan in the stadium wears a gold T-Shirt and the atmosphere is very exciting. There is extensive tailgating the east, west and north of the stadium. Anyone attending will want to get there at least three hours before the 7PM kickoff. Once they block off the main street Kagy, the traffic turns into a complete mess around the campus. I encourage you to wear as much as your WIU fan gear as you can, Bobcat tailgaters will rope you into numerous tailgates. Plan on free food and booze for most of the night. The Great Falls tailgate is a large event usually with food and music. It is located right near the north entrance to the stadium, near a large copper statue of Sonny Holland. I would expect there to be at least 15-17K fans for this game, if not well over capacity. There is a lot of excitement around the Bobcats this year, and our fans are excited to play a team of WIU's caliber.
Bozeman sits around 4,850' and is surrounded by the Bridger, Gallatin and Tobacco Root Mountains and the Spanish Peaks. The area has grown substantially since expanding the airport several years ago and is considered a major outdoor tourist destination. Yellowstone National park is about a 1.5 hour drive to either the Gardiner (North) and West Yellowstone (West) entrances. The park will be nearing the end of the peak tourist traffic, but it will likely still be very busy. It is very possible to drive from Bozeman down through Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, Grand Canyon and back in one long day. Bozeman's airport (BZN) now has numerous great connections, including Chicago O'hare, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco. I believe that O'hare is twice daily on United and it is a 757 or larger plane.
There are two ski resorts Big Sky and Bridger Bowl. Big Sky is a very cool place to check out, even in the summer season. There are zipline tours and tram tours to the top of the mountain. There is whitewater rafting on the Yellowstone and Gallatin Rivers. Bozeman is commonly referred to as the fly fishing capital of the world. There are several great fishing streams including the Madison, Yellowstone and Gallatin Rivers. A guided fly fishing trip can be a terrific way to experience one of the huge valleys.
Other things to do. Museum of the Rockies, lots of cool dinosaur fossils. Very worthwhile museum. Downtown Main Street Bozeman - lots of cool shops, restaurants and bars. Livingston, MT - another cool town 20 minutes to the east of Bozeman. MSU Campus - nearing 18,000 students, the campus is very vibrant and worth checking out. Numerous areas to hike and mt. bike around town, including Sourdough Trail, Hyalite Canyon, Spanish Creek, The "M," Bridger Foothills Trail, Pete's Hill and several others. Chico Hot Springs is a hot springs resort with a decent pool and great restaurant, about an hour away.
The weather will probably be warm/hot and sunny then, but you never know in Montana. It could also snow. Even if the forecast is looking good, bring plenty of extra warm gear including rain jackets, hats and gloves. If a weather system arrives, it could be a cold game if it rains.
There are numerous restaurants and bars to think about in this area. Some of the more popular steak houses are:
Sir Scott's Oasis, Manhattan, MT - quasi-famous old-school steak house, great steaks. Steak fingers are awesome.
Land of Magic, Logan, MT.
Willow Creek Cafe and Saloon, Willow Creek, MT, great ribs and fried chicken.
The Mint Bar and Grill, Belgrade, MT. Steaks and gourmet american food.
Stacey's Bar and Grill, Gallatin Gateway, MT. Very cool old western bar, steaks and burgers.
Stockman Bar and Cafe, Livingston, MT. Chicken fried steak, steaks, burgers.
Some popular Bozeman restaurants.
Saffron Table, one of the highest rated on yelp. Great food. Indian.
Blackbird Kitchen. Yuppie Italian and wood fired pizza.
Blacksmith Italian. Italian. Right near campus. $$$
Open Range. High end, expensive but good steak house.
Dave's Sushi. Very popular, good fish.
Bridger Brewing. Right by stadium. Great pizza. Decent beer.
Ale Works. Probably the best all-around value bar and grill in town. It will be JAMMED on game night.
Sidewinders. Kinda like Ale Works only a huge menu. Big place, lots of seating.
Many others....
https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=R ... 2C+MT&ns=1
Breakfast: Storm Castle, to be featured on DDD soon. Vacquero Burrito with Chorizo = bomb. Cafe Nova, hipster good food. Main Street Over Easy. Jam! - one of the newer more popular places. Not great parking.
Western Cafe - super cool old place, been there forever. Like stepping back 50 years. Feed Cafe - yupster.
Breweries:
Bridger Brewing. MAP - probably the coolest venue in town. On a lake. Bozone Brewing, one of the oldest, great beer.. Outlaw, 406, Mountains Walking - hipster, but cool place. Lockhorn Cider. Bunkhouse. It all tastes the same to me.
Bars. I am in my 40's, so consider the source. You can do one HUGE bar crawl downtown. Park somewhere around Ted's and start walking east. Trouble.
Best local sports bar is Spectators, right by campus. Decent bar food.
Old local bars: Haufbrau, Molly Brown, The Scoop (Barmuda Triangle), Cats Paw, Crystal, Cannery, Hideaway Lounge - all dives but been there forever.
Ale Works is a great bar, a million beers. Same with Sidewinders. Bozeman Taproom is higher end beer and not cheap.
The Club Tavern - decent sports place in a motel.
The Rocking R Bar is probably the most famous bar in town, is good for adults before 10 and terrible afterwards with kids.
Ted's
I will probably keep adding to this. Please ask questions if you are coming and want a particular recommendation or idea.