Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
operated a branch line to this inn from 1927 to 1961. In those years, park visitors arriving by
train were met at the inn by the classic yellow park concessionaire's buses.
Soon you'll be following the canyon of the
Gallatin River,
flowing north out of the park
and long famous for its trout. Fishing scenes in the movie
A River Runs Through It
were filmed
here in the 1990s. Guest ranches and private vacation cabins are numerous in the canyon.
There are several Gallatin National Forest campgrounds and trailheads along the highway.
Forty-three miles (69 km) from Bozeman is the turnoff to
Big Sky.
Motels and eating estab-
lishments are plentiful, and you'll find a small chapel near the turnoff. Since TV journalist
Chet Huntley began it in the early 1970s, Big Sky has become a major vacation resort and ski-
ing center. Before that, this part of the Gallatin Valley was fertile farmland; it was known for
its lettuce and provided oats and hay for Yellowstone Park horses in the very early years.
Above Big Sky stands the pyramid of
Lone Mountain,
a
glacial horn
carved by the action
of glaciers.
About 12 miles (20 km) south of the Big Sky Junction you begin to see eroded gray and
yellow rock formations made of welded
tephra,
that is, particles erupted from a volcano. This
tephra also tops Crown and Lava Buttes just inside the park.
Lone Mountain from the Big Sky road.
