Things to Do in West Yellowstone, Montana

This is why most people come. The town sits at the park’s West Entrance, and the road inside leads toward Madison and on to Old Faithful. When roads are open, entrances are not gated at night, so you can drive in at any hour.

★ Good to know Most park roads close to regular cars from early November to late April. From mid-December to mid-March, you get in only on a guided snowcoach or snowmobile tour.

This not-for-profit wildlife park at 201 S. Canyon St. is next to the West Entrance. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and keeps grizzly bears, a wolf pack and river otters you can watch up close. It’s a reliable way to see a grizzly up close on a Yellowstone trip.

★ Good to know It’s open every day, which makes it a good first stop on arrival or a fallback if park roads are closed.

The museum fills the 1909 Union Pacific depot, built of native rhyolite stone, at 104 Yellowstone Ave. It covers the stagecoach and railroad companies that brought early tourists to the park. The depot even had dressing rooms where travelers swapped train clothes for stagecoach dusters.

★ Good to know It’s a summer museum, open roughly mid-May to mid-October, and it runs guided walks of the historic district.

On August 17, 1959, a quake set off a landslide that sent more than 80 million tons of rock into the Madison River canyon, killing 28 people and forming Earthquake Lake. The Forest Service visitor center, 27 miles northwest of town on US 287, looks straight at the mountain that fell. It has a working seismograph, films and a path to the Memorial Boulder.

★ Good to know Admission is free, and the center is open daily from Memorial Day through September 15.

More than 35 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails start at the southwest edge of town, winding through lodgepole pine and meadows on national forest land. They’re used for skiing in winter and for hiking and biking in summer. The trails also have a biathlon course.

★ Good to know Freeheel & Wheel in town rents Nordic skis in winter and bikes in summer.

The pet-friendly Boundary Ski and Snowshoe Trail runs 7.9 kilometers along Yellowstone’s western border. The Riverside Trail heads straight into the park along the Madison River. In winter, skiers there watch for bald eagles, bison and trumpeter swans.

★ Good to know Choose the Boundary Trail if your dog is along; it’s the one the chamber lists as pet-friendly.

This family-owned rodeo runs five to six nights a week from mid-June through the end of August. Shows include bareback and saddle bronc riding, roping and bull riding, plus a calf scramble for kids. The arena is about six miles west of town on Highway 20, near the Idaho line.

★ Good to know Performances start in the evening, so it fits after a day in the park.