Montana Travel

[itdave]

We are currently in Bismarck ND and need to get to Sandpoint ID. Would like to see Glacier National Park so we are thinking of going north to Minot ND then take US HWY 2 to Sandpoint. We are looking at stopping at the Walmarts in Minot ND, Havre MT and Kalispell MT before reaching Sandpoint ID.

Any thoughts on driving HWY 2 with a 40 ft Motorhome towing a GMC Envoy. Also any comments on the Walmarts. I am OK with 2 lane roads and mountains if the road is in good condition and wide enough.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Pigman]

A great route. We use it to go and return from Glacier and Alaska. Three times in the last 4 years. There are boondocking sites all along the route, from wide spots in the road to town parks and roadside rest areas. We enjoy the route much more than the Interstate, and find we make better time as it's a pretty straight shot across. There is some construction, as they are in the process of widening the road from 2 lane to 4 lane divided road, but no real problem and they keep the lanes fairly well graded when you have to go on gravel.

John

[Chickadee]

Dave & Jeri:

Great route all the way to Sandpoint (notwithstanding possible construction), AND.....once ya get to Great Falls the scenery gets SPECTACULAR!! By the way, Sandpoint is one of our favorite spots....ahhhh....but that may be because my wife spend a good deal of time & $, at Cold Water Creek Mall Have a GREAT trip!!

Steve & Lynette

[BigSkyBob]

Hiway 2 across the Hiline is a great route in summer. There is some construction but nothing to be concerned about. The weather has been cool, 10 degrees above freezing yesterday morning, but that's Montana. Have a safe trip.

[CD]

itdave
I drove a 42' semi over that road in the 70's between Central Wa & Kalispel. I had no problem with the road & I doubt it's any worse now. A word of caution. About 2mi after turning onto 95 in Idaho headed towards Bonners Ferry there is a steep grade (about 1/4mi long) that bottoms out at a bridge with a left turn onto the bridge. At the top there is a truck turnout for trucks to check brakes (good idea). This may have been rerouted by now but I don't know. Just gear down and take it easy.
Have good trip.

[CD]

itdave
I checked on Google Earth and that grade I mentioned going into Bonners Ferry is about a mile long and drops about 500'.

[itdave]

Thanks for all the good info.
So far we have made it to Glasgow, MT and HWY 2 has been fine. Had two sections of gravel between Williston and Glasgow. The interesting thing was the routing the GPS provided between Bismarck and Williston. Just north of Max on Hwy 83 the GPS had us head west on Hwy 23/1804. That took us to New Town, ND on lake Sakakawea, where we continued on 1804. 1804 travels along the north side of the Missouri river until it meet US 2 in Williston. The only issue with 1804 is that from New Town to Williston the rode is marked No single axle over 8 tons and our rear axle is 10 tons. We could not find another simple route from New Town to HWY 2 so we stayed on 1804. We could not see a reason for the limit except there is a lot of oil well drilling going on in the area so maybe they are trying to make sure the road does not get ruined by a lot of heavy trucks.

Will let everyone know about the rest of the drive. We are planning on spending a couple of days in Kalispell so we can visit Glacier National Park. Then we will move on to Sandpoint, ID.

[Cruzer]

If your plans aren't set - try the West Glacier KOA rather than Kalispell. Much closer to the park.

[UFO Pilot]

We just spent 1 week at North American RV park in Coram. Great location for exploring the area and very close to the West Glacier entrance. Rate was less than $30 per night, friendly family owned park.

[az bound]

I believe Logan pass is still closed. They almost got it open on the 19th but a snowstorm and avelanch closed it again. Ranger said the road was covered with 60ft of snow and crews were working to get it open. Road was open for 16 miles on the west and 13 miles on the east sides.

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by itdave We are currently in Bismarck ND and need to get to Sandpoint ID. Would like to see Glacier National Park so we are thinking of going north to Minot ND then take US HWY 2 to Sandpoint. We are looking at stopping at the Walmarts in Minot ND, Havre MT and Kalispell MT before reaching Sandpoint ID. Any thoughts on driving HWY 2 with a 40 ft Motorhome towing a GMC Envoy. Also any comments on the Walmarts. I am OK with 2 lane roads and mountains if the road is in good condition and wide enough. Thanks for any suggestions.

regarding walmarts, check this website.

Walmart Store Locations Map - Wal-Mart Guide

we recently overnighted in the susanville, ca. walmart parking lot. it was a good experience. free wifi was available at walmart from 2 hotels/motels across the street.
we ate breakfast at the subway inside the store in the am and of course did some shopping and thanked the store manager for her hospitality.

[itdave]

We have completed our travel from Sioux Falls South Dakota to Mount Vernon Washington. We drove 99% of the trip without using Interstates. Once we reached Bismarck most of the trip was on US 2. I gave an earlier update when we were in Glasgow. From there we stopped in a Walmart in Haver MT then on to the Glacier Nation Park Area. We were going to stay at a Walmart in Kalispell, but the old one had closed and the new one was combined with a lot of other store and the parking lot was impossible. We ended up staying at Columbia Falls RV park in Columbia Fall, MT nice place and only 14 miles to Glacier. As someone said Logan pass is still closed they hope to open it in the next few days, still a great drive from the West Entrance to the end. After leaving Columbia Fall we went on to Walmart in Wenatchee WA then followed US 2 to Everett WA. We did get on I 90 going from Kilispell to Wenatchee because we did want to go all the way north to Bonners Ferry. From Kilispell we took 95 to 28 to 135 and hit I-90 at a town called St. Regis MT Again all 2 lane roads the only issue was 10 miles of construction on MT 28 gravel road with a pilot car. After Spokane we got back on US 2.
We sure did see a lot of road work along this whole trip. This is our fourth time crossing the country and we really enjoyed seeing all of the Farm and Ranch Land and the many small towns along the drive. I think in the future we will look for opportunities to travel the small road. It is a slower pace and more to see.
Thanks for all the suggestions.