This summer, I had the chance to visit Billings Montana, and spend a few days exploring Southeast Montana. Other than a hiking trip to Glacier National Park, I haven’t spent much time in Montana, so I was excited to explore a new area of the Mountain West. With a population nearing 120,000, Billings may seem like a sleepy little town, but I was really impressed with the variety of things to do in Billings Montana and the surrounding area. And the food! Wow, there are some amazing places to eat in Billings!

What Do in Billings Montana

Billings came about in the late 1800s, thanks to the Northern Pacific Railroad. In addition to being “Montana’s Trailhead” with access to endless outdoor adventure, Billings has a rich cultural history as well. The Western Heritage Center Museum is a great place to start your trip, so you can learn about the history of Billings before setting out to explore the Billings area. The Yellowstone County Museum is another good spot to learn about the Yellowstone River Valley.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

On our first full day in Southeast Montana, we were up bright and early for a trip out to Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Just under two hours south of Billings, Ok-A-Beh Marina is where we picked up our pontoon rentals and hit the water with two National Park Service rangers. Much of the canyon sits within the Crow Indian Reservation and our first ranger to join us was Ranger Plainfeather, a local Crow park ranger. She taught us about the history of the Crow, how they used the land before the dam created the lake, and how they still use the area for rituals like fasting. We were all riveted when she told us about the Legend of Big Metal and that, to this day, Crow grandparents will raise any children if a couple divorces.

We boated up Black Canyon and made a quick stop at the floating porta-potties…this would be such a cool place to camp as it’s boat-in only. Most of the canyon sits in Crow country, so make sure you know where you’re allowed to go and where you’re not allowed to go before setting off into Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area.

Next, Ranger David joined us and gave us the stories of the pioneers like Jim Bridger who came through in the mid-1800s. The canyon has a lot of history, much of which was flooded when the Yellowtail Dam was built in 1968, creating the 71-mile-long Bighorn Lake. The Yellowtail Dam Visitor Center is a great spot to learn more, and there’s a cool glass viewing area over the dam. It’s impressive!

I’m bummed that I ran out of time to visit Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument as I heard a lot about it during my visit and it ties a lot of the cultural history of the area together.

For boating or paddling a bit closer to Billings, check out Lake Elmo State Park, which is just on the north side of town.

Mule Train Alpaca Ranch

Visiting the Mule Train Alpaca Ranch was a highlight in a week full of adventure! Udo and Angi started this family business with a spinning wheel. Eventually, they got into the alpaca biz and when we visited, they had over 70 alpacas, plus a few guard llamas and herding dogs.

We started off visiting a small group of alpacas and ended up waiting out a thunderstorm in the barn with a few mamas and their babies. We then headed out to the main pasture, armed with buckets of alpaca food. Throughout the visit, Angi explained so much about raising, breeding, and showing alpacas. We learned how and when the alpacas are integrated as they are separated by age and gender. We then moved into her loom room and learned about the process of shearing, spinning, and weaving the alpaca fibers.

The Ranch, just 17 miles west of Billings, is now open for tours and photo sessions. In the spring, they plan to open an Airbnb trailer on the property! As they are just getting into agritourism, a visit to Mule Train Alpaca Ranch is super affordable. If you’re looking for unique things to do in Billings Montana, definitely give Angi & Udo a call! You might even think about sponsoring an alpaca through their new sponsorship program.

Billings E-Bike Tour

Billings is known as Montana’s Trailhead. The Rimrocks that loom over town have nearly 50 miles of hiking and biking trails, all right in Billings. Not to mention the vast wilderness areas you can reach within an hour or two drive! We joined The Spoke Shop for an e-bike tour above Billings. We started at Swords Rimrock Park for great views out over the city and then rode the Heritage Trail out to Boothill Cemetery and back.

I love airplanes, so I loved riding near the airport and it seemed we were level with the planes approaching Billings Airport. Boothill Cemetery was really interesting. Active until the 1880s, it is now a part of Billings’s history. The central monument has some pretty interesting quotes on each side of its base.

In memory of those who blazed the trail

and showed us to our west

in boots and spurs they lie

and on this hill they find rest

ZooMontana

As an animal lover, I’ve always been leary of zoos. I know that they are important for education, but seeing animals in cages never gave me a great feeling. I never knew how to evaluate which zoos are ethical and which are not. As it turns out, there is an accreditation that does that research for us. Less than 10% of zoos in the United States have AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) accreditation. These zoos go above and beyond to ensure animal welfare. I was pleased to learn that Zoo Montana in Billings is one of those accredited zoos.

At ZooMontana, all of the outdoor animals are naturally found in the 45th parallel or above, meaning these animals can be outside 95% of the time, as the conditions in Billings are similar to their natural habitat. The ZooMontana residents typically fall into one of four categories: former pets that got too big, injured animals that cannot return to the wild, trouble animals like Ozzy the Grizzly who got too comfortable with humans, and animals that are part of genetic diversity breeding programs. For the majority of animals here, ZooMontana is their last chance before euthanasia.

For example, Sampson is a beautiful gray wolf who was abandoned by his pack at around five weeks old, presumably due to a medical condition that has since been addressed. He now lives with two other wolves in a large outdoor enclosure. Many of the animals at ZooMontana have signage explaining their story, so you can learn about how and why these animals came to live here. After meeting with Executive Director Jeff, I have a whole new perspective on zoos now! ZooMontana also has a great lineup of summer concerts and special events throughout the year.

Red Lodge and the Beartooth Highway

Red Lodge is the perfect little mountain town, although when we visited, they were still recovering from the devastating floods on the Yellowstone River. A former coal mining town turned tourist stopover, A lot of the buildings in town date back to the late 1800s. Red Lodge is a fun mix of boutiques, cafes, and souvenir shops. Red Lodge Mountain Ski Area is just a few miles outside of town, and then there’s the Beartooth Highway, the main driver of tourism in Red Lodge.

The Beartooth Highway connects Red Lodge Montana with Cooke City, one of the gateway cities to Yellowstone National Park. Regularly touted as one of the most scenic drives in the United States, this seasonal road is closed due to snow for more than half the year. When we visited, it was closed due to flooding, so we didn’t get very far on the Beartooth Highway, which seems like a great reason to visit Red Lodge again.

Other Billings Montana Attractions

Our travel conference was only a few days long, so there are many more things to do in Billings that we just didn’t get to. I’m saving this list for my next trip to Billings!

• The Alberta Bair Theater underwent a $13.6 million renovation in 2020. We got a tour of this gorgeous space, but I would love to see a performance at Montana’s largest fully-equipped performing arts venue.
• While I’m not a huge art fan, I do love Western art, so I definitely want to visit the Yellowstone Art Museum on my next trip.
• The Moss Mansion Historic House Museum was built in 1903 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are offered daily.
• Yellowstone Cellars blends various wines from grapes grown in the Pacific Northwest and offers complimentary tastings daily.
• Pictograph Cave State Park has three caves where prehistoric hunters once lived. Over 100 cave paintings remain some as old as 2000 years.

Places to Eat in Billings Montana

I was really impressed with the food scene in Billings. We tried some trendy new restaurants with amazing food and family-owned businesses serving up classic comfort food. After dinner, check out the Alive After 5 Summer Concert Series in downtown Billings Montana.

• The Marble Table was a semi-finalist for the James Beard “Best New Restaurant” category! Everything we had, especially the appetizers, was fantastic! This is a peanut and tree-nut-free establishment.
• Walker’s Grill, another James Beard semi-finalist for the Best Chef: Mountain in 2020. This place makes you feel like you’re in a big city and is clearly the gathering place for the most beautiful people of Billings. The food and atmosphere are both outstanding.
• Jake’s Downton is another downtown hot spot, with a classic steakhouse menu.
• 3 Brother’s Bistro, now the Outlaw Cafe & Casino in Hardin has some of the best pizza I’ve had in a long time! If the owner, Greg, is there (he probably will be!) ask about the bent propeller on the wall. It’s a crazy story!
• Project Lunch – on our way out to Bighorn Canyon, we grabbed (pre-ordered) lunches here. Aside from being delicious, everything came with reusable containers, which are easily returned and reused! Cloth napkins and real silverware, too!
• TopZ Sandwich Company catered our lunch at the zoo, and their sandwiches and queso were tasty!

And while you’re at it, make sure you check out the Billings Brew Trail, Montana’s only walkable brewery trail. The 1.5-mile brew trail includes six breweries, two distilleries, and one cider house. There’s even an app where you can check in along the trail and win prizes like stickers and pint glasses.

Where to Stay in Billings Montana

There are plenty of hotels in Billings, Montana including many chains near the highway. Staying in downtown Billings is really fun, though, because it’s so walkable. When I visited, I spent my first night at the DoubleTree Hilton in downtown Billings, Montana. It was…meh.

However, for the rest of the week, we stayed at the Northern Hotel, which was lovely! This historic hotel was launched in 1904 and completely rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1940, and redone most recently in 2014. Unlike the DoubleTree, the hotel felt very modern with historic touches and none of the old, musty scent you get at a lot of historic hotels. The rooms were small, but quite comfortable, especially the bedding. The hotel has a boutique, bar, and diner, and is in the best location in downtown Billings Montana.

Browse Billings Hotels at Booking.com

Getting to Billings Montana

Getting to Billings is easy, whether you want the scenic route or the quickest way. My direct flight from Salt Lake City was less than 90 minutes, and there are daily non-stop flights on Delta. There are also daily non-stop flights from Seattle, Portland, Denver, DFW, and Minneapolis. Of course, the best way to get to Billings is to follow the Beartooth Highway from Yellowstone National Park to Red Lodge and then Billings, which is just under three hours. See why Billings is called “Montana’s Trailhead!”

Billings Montana and the surrounding region is located on the colonized lands of the Crow, Sioux, Blackfeef and Northern Cheyenne. To learn more about the people who call these lands home, visit Native Land or Visit Montana.