80 million years ago the Billings area was the shore of the Western Interior Seaway. The sand deposited by that sea is now evident in the rimrock sandstone formations that border the metro area. Many of the local trail systems are located on the sandstone ledges overlooking town, offering up terrific views of the area. The Yellowstone River runs through Billings and several trails can be found along its forested banks.
Links to local trails:
Four Dances Natural Area
Soft Surface Trails
Hard Surface Trails
 |
| Cute payload seen on the road to Billings. |
 |
| Yellowstone River overview from Four Dances Natural Area. |
 |
| Sandstone bluffs at Four Dances Natural Area. |
 |
| Checking out the Yellowstone River. |
 |
| Swords Rimrock Park. |
 |
| Montana beauty from Zimmerman Park trails. |
There are a couple of disc golf courses in Billings. We played the easy nine holes at Pioneer Park on a smokey day, but the Diamonx X course at Phipps Park is supposed to be extremely challenging.
 |
| Fun and easy disc golf at Pioneer Park. |
We were thrilled to discover Billings has the best farmers market we've seen in months. Held on Saturday mornings, this is a true farmers market...there are no crafts, only produce, homemade edibles, meats and eggs, and ready-to-eat foods. It's big, about six blocks of vendors, and the prices and quality were excellent.
 |
| There were several Hutterite Colony farms in attendance, with large spreads of gorgeous produce. |
We stayed at Billings Village RV Park. Roads and sites are paved with nice grass between sites. Sites are quite close together, but staggered for maximum separation possible. Verizon signal was decent. There are a couple of clothes lines so you can air dry your laundry, always appreciated! There is some train and road noise. The park is convenient to everything Billings has to offer.
Today we've relocated to Red Lodge, MT and we're ready to explore the Beartooth Mountains, home of the highest peak in Montana!
I smell a "summit" coming :)
ReplyDeletemark
:-) We'll see....
DeleteWow 6 blocks of nothing but produce. That sounds like the best "market" ever. Too many of them have become one or two produce vendors and the rest crafts. I had no idea the Yellowstone River went through Billings. I'll be glad to go to Beartooth with you.
ReplyDeleteSome of the tiny towns we went through this summer had more crafts than produce...not my kind of farmers market! This was was awesome!
DeleteThat first photo made me chuckle! I've passed through Billings many times on my way to SD, but never really spent any time there. Good to know about the farmers market and hiking trails.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a bad town...though it pales in charm to most of the other MT towns we've been to.
DeleteWhere there any pastured pork? Six blocks of produce!
ReplyDeleteI am sure there must have been pastured pork, they really had every kind of fresh food imaginable!
DeleteNice picture of the Yellowstone River and Montana's beauty! So happy to hread the smoke was not an issue. Can ou believe Moab Valley has been so thick with smoke we can't even see the LaSal Mountains most days.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a great farmers market...
Ooooh, that's too bad about the smoke in your area...we're hoping it stays reasonable here so we can get out on the trail.
DeleteWe may have to give the Billings area another look. When we lived in Montana for a couple of years I didn't think Billings had much to offer. Looks like I was wrong. Love Red Lodge and the Beartooths. Looking forward to your next post.
ReplyDeleteLove the big truck hauler - nice to give fellow travelers a chuckle on those highways :-) Tell Hans not to stand so close to the edge!! Glad you got some clear days, this smoke is everywhere right now. What a lovely, true market. We've been lucky to find more than five stands of veggies among all the other booths.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you -- the farmers' markets that we appreciate are those that focus on produce, not crafts! Those rock formations are so interesting -- looks like great hiking. Glad to hear that you haven't been too badly affected by the smoke. It seems sometimes that the entire West is going up in flames this summer.
ReplyDeleteBoy does the smoke ever make a difference in the photos. Glad you only had two days:) That is a beautiful display of produce. I could use a good farmers market. Red Lodge is neat. But Beartooth Pass is our all time favorite motorcycle road. The open views are amazing. Of course, we've only driven it in the month of June so there is always still a ton of snow, the lakes were all frozen, and one year they were skiing. There is a rope tow that operates as long as there enough snow. It is quite the drive. Hope moutain goats are around! Can't wait to hear about it! The Chief Joseph Highway is also very pretty.
ReplyDeleteWe drove half the road today...fantastic! I'd love to see it with snow!
DeleteThat payload picture was too cute. Great catch with your camera! I'm with you and everyone else about the farmers market crafts. Have a good time in Red Lodge. We're off to Teddy Roosevelt NP in a few days.
ReplyDelete