Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
There is excellent
hiking
in every direction—the Tobacco Root Mountains and the
Madison Range ring the town—and you'll find trail maps and helpful advice west of town
at the local
USDA Forest Service Ranger Station
(5 Forest Service Rd., 406/682-4253).
For dining, Ennis offers a number of good choices, but perhaps none more enticing than
the
Continental Divide
(47 Geyser St., 406/682-7600, 5pm-9pm daily mid-May-mid-Oct.
15, $23-42). This sophisticated country bistro is tiny but makes up for its size with ex-
ceptionally good food with French flair and a comprehensive wine list. Outdoor seating is
available and well worth it. A great spot for diner-style breakfast or lunch right on the main
drag is
Yesterday's Soda Fountain
(124 Main St., 406/682-4246, 6am-3pm daily), which
is part restaurant, part pharmacy, part antiques store.
After filling your belly, the creek-side cabins south of town at
El Western
(4787 U.S.
287, 406/682-4217,
www.elwestern.com
,
$88-476) are an excellent place to hang your hat
for the night. They have everything from single rooms to lodges with four bedrooms.
For more information about Ennis, contact the
Ennis Chamber of Commerce
(201
E. Main St., 406/682-4388,
www.ennischamber.com
, 9am-4pm Mon.-Fri. winter, extended
summer hours).
In the shadow of Lone Peak, tucked in the winding and rugged beauty of Gallatin Canyon,
the resort town of Big Sky (population 2,308, elevation 7,218 feet) actually has three re-
sorts: Big Sky, Moonlight Basin, and the entirely private Yellowstone Club. Although there
are not any sights per se, the town and resorts are clearly geographically blessed with
mountains for skiing, hiking, climbing, and biking; rivers for fishing and floating; and
trails aplenty for horses, hiking, cross-country skiing, and mountain biking. Visitors can
take solace in the fact that mountains make up for museums, and the area can be used as
a launching point for Yellowstone National Park (51 miles south) or Bozeman (50 miles
north).
Although Big Sky has more activities than any visitor could dream of pursuing in a
single trip—golf, horseback riding, fishing, skating, skiing, kayaking, wildlife watching—it
has a slight identity crisis in that there is no real center of town, which the community has
been working hard to remedy with the 2009 completion of its own K-12 school (so that kids
don't have to be bussed 50 winding miles to Bozeman), and the 2013 opening of the im-
pressive 282-seat Warren Miller Performing Arts Center. Though the community is grow-
ing stronger by the year, Big Sky still feels a bit like a collection of enclaves, resorts, and
