4 Best Sights in Red Lodge, Helena, Bozeman, and Southwest Montana

Driving south from Red Lodge along the 68-mile Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212) will take you over the precipitous 11,000-foot Beartooth Pass as the road winds its way through lush alpine country to the "back door" of Yellowstone National Park. With multiple steep climbs and switchbacks, this National Scenic Byway was a feat of 1930s engineering. The highway is usually open from late May to mid-October, but snow can close it at any time of the year. You'll find trailheads for several good hikes along the route.

Established to showcase a prominent family's rodeo artifacts, this community museum now chronicles the area's mining history as well as the cultural legacy of Native Americans and homesteaders. The new (2019) Festival of Nations exhibit is a great addition.

Along Highway 212 in Joliet you'll find the Charles Ringer Studio & Gallery. Ringer's metal kinetic sculptures, from the huge and strange to the small and lovely, are in collections around the world, including that of former president Bill Clinton.

See eye-to-eye with mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, and bison at this nonprofit center sheltering injured animals that cannot be released in the wild. Year-round educational programs are offered, and there is a summer camp for children.