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If you're looking for a true conservative town to live in, Missoula will be the last on your list. That place is craze. Great place to visit, but I would never want to live there. Butte is a bit better, and absolutely beautiful, but you will be driving to helena to pick anything up that can't be purchased at walmart, or at a local store (Truck parts ) My vote would be somewhere like Helena. Helena is in a valley situated in the middle of the ranges. It's an easy drive to get damn near anywhere out of Helena, and it is rich in history. There are generally a lot of things you can do around there as far as trails and things go.
I live over in Great Falls, which is about 70 miles from there. When you do move, if you want to do some wheeling let me know. Been trying to find a group of like minded people to go out and have some fun with.
it sounds like you might be more inclined to live in the Flathead Valley or the Bitterroot. in defense of Missoula, it is a college town, and it has a pretty varied, urban population, but is a good hub for access to the rest of the world.
but, if you move to Ravalli County [Hamilton], just south of Missoula, or up to the Flathead [Kalispell], you will find most of the qualities you are looking for, AND still be a short drive to a bigger city. both Ravalli County and the Flathead have wrecking yards that specialize in off-road and 4X4 pickup parts, and you can over-night ship new and salvaged parts from Spokane, Wa. pretty easily.
it sounds like you might be more inclined to live in the Flathead Valley or the Bitterroot. in defense of Missoula, it is a college town, and it has a pretty varied, urban population, but is a good hub for access to the rest of the world.
but, if you move to Ravalli County [Hamilton], just south of Missoula, or up to the Flathead [Kalispell], you will find most of the qualities you are looking for, AND still be a short drive to a bigger city. both Ravalli County and the Flathead have wrecking yards that specialize in off-road and 4X4 pickup parts, and you can over-night ship new and salvaged parts from Spokane, Wa. pretty easily.
Thanks, I have looked in Kalispell, it's definitely on my list.
I'm in Memphis, TN now. So even Missoula would be a big step up. But I'm from a little town of 50 in the Ozarks. I can stand on the back porch and pee without seeing a single house. Or shoot my guns out in the yard anytime I please without hitting anyone or having the law show up. My parents are still there and we own a couple hundred acres of woodlands. But unfortunately, I had to leave for work.
I'm hoping to move to Montana sometime in the next year or so, Thinking about Helena, Butte, Missoula, etc. Hoping for a mountain view and a conservative community. I know, kinda hard to find sometimes.
Just waiting on the right job to come along and I'll be there.
Most of Carbon County fits that description. Trying to find land with timber would be tougher, as we're on the edge of the high plains, but great views and a conservative population demographic fits everywhere except Red Lodge itself (and we still have great views, it's just a somewhat more progressive demographic). Just west of here (Luther/Roscoe/East Rosebud/Fishtail/Nye) might work if you're okay with being somewhere outside of the middle of nowhere.
Work could be tougher depending on what type of work you do, and you'll need to drive to get to a full-size grocery store, Scheels, or the like, but Amazon Prime works pretty well, too.
Most of Carbon County fits that description. Trying to find land with timber would be tougher, as we're on the edge of the high plains, but great views and a conservative population demographic fits everywhere except Red Lodge itself (and we still have great views, it's just a somewhat more progressive demographic). Just west of here (Luther/Roscoe/East Rosebud/Fishtail/Nye) might work if you're okay with being somewhere outside of the middle of nowhere.
Work could be tougher depending on what type of work you do, and you'll need to drive to get to a full-size grocery store, Scheels, or the like, but Amazon Prime works pretty well, too.
I have a good job and am relatively happy here. But the time outside of work is miserable. So I'm looking for the "Perfect" blend.
I would love to be 100miles from my nearest neighbor. But most of my work will be in a city or at least near a manufacturing facility. I am a Mechanical Engineer, currently in the automotive industry. So that's going to probably limit me to within 40miles or so of a decent sized town (10k people)
It's no doubt a special, rare, place that I am searching for. But I'm an old 26yrs of age. So I've got time to find that perfect home.
Moved to glasgow for railroad. Have a new to me 2104 f150 5.0 supercrew platinum 6.5 bed. So far have bilstein 5100 set at middle with 33x11.5 toyo at2 extreme tires. 20% tint up front to match rears.
will be spending some time out west camping and hiking. Looking for some advice on good camping spots that don't nees to be hikes in (have heavy tent).
What area will you be in? There are way too many areas to give you an accurate campsite without knowing what part of western MT you will be in
haven't decided yet. Would need a site that I can drive into since mt tent isn't packable. Literally can be anywhere since I'm new to the area and want to start seeing it all eventually.
maybe start north west part by whitefish and flathead lake?
haven't decided yet. Would need a site that I can drive into since mt tent isn't packable. Literally can be anywhere since I'm new to the area and want to start seeing it all eventually.
maybe start north west part by whitefish and flathead lake?
Probably won't be the best right now considering the fires up in Seeley/Glacier.
I would recommend staying in the belts/helena forest area to cut down on smoke and see a little more scenery. There's Memorial Falls, for a quick and easy day hike, or even blackfoot meadows trail which i beleive is around 8 miles.
If you browse the usda forest service website they have all of the montana trails listed on there as well. If you're into history, you could spend a day in the Garnet area, an old mining ghost town. There are 3 hikes there (1 down to garnet, one down to the tunnels, and another around garnet) which can be a fun one. It's an easy one though (My wife and kids went on this one with me.)
If you are into wildlife, there are quite a few reserves you can hike around to check out deer/antelope, maybe some elk if you are lucky. beware, as soon as October hits, there will be hunters on these reserves.
I myself am about 30 miles from the Sluice Boxes and Belt creek, I enjoy fishing out in those areas quite a bit and there are a few great hikes out there as well. Minimal smoke compared to northwestern Montana at this time.
Montana is so vast, you really could never run out of things to do. Most of the areas I mentioned are campable, I dont think you can camp in Garnet but there are camp sites right down the hill from it anyway.
Probably won't be the best right now considering the fires up in Seeley/Glacier.
I would recommend staying in the belts/helena forest area to cut down on smoke and see a little more scenery. There's Memorial Falls, for a quick and easy day hike, or even blackfoot meadows trail which i beleive is around 8 miles.
If you browse the usda forest service website they have all of the montana trails listed on there as well. If you're into history, you could spend a day in the Garnet area, an old mining ghost town. There are 3 hikes there (1 down to garnet, one down to the tunnels, and another around garnet) which can be a fun one. It's an easy one though (My wife and kids went on this one with me.)
If you are into wildlife, there are quite a few reserves you can hike around to check out deer/antelope, maybe some elk if you are lucky. beware, as soon as October hits, there will be hunters on these reserves.
I myself am about 30 miles from the Sluice Boxes and Belt creek, I enjoy fishing out in those areas quite a bit and there are a few great hikes out there as well. Minimal smoke compared to northwestern Montana at this time.
Montana is so vast, you really could never run out of things to do. Most of the areas I mentioned are campable, I dont think you can camp in Garnet but there are camp sites right down the hill from it anyway.
thank you for the help are these trails hiking only or can I ride my bike on them? Probably coming out that way in October
thank you for the help are these trails hiking only or can I ride my bike on them? Probably coming out that way in October
You may be able to get some biking in on a few of them, but mostly walking. There are a lot of bike trails in and around great falls as well. It's going to be even harder now to find a trail without being smothered by smoke. This has to be one of if not the worst year for fires in my lifetime. There is at least one fire in every forest in montana right now it seems like. The smoke is thick enough here to cover some of the taller buildings in town right now as well. So stay hydrated, be careful whatever you do, and bring a mask just in case you have a hard time where you are at.
07-11-2017, 02:08 PM
) My vote would be somewhere like Helena. Helena is in a valley situated in the middle of the ranges. It's an easy drive to get damn near anywhere out of Helena, and it is rich in history. There are generally a lot of things you can do around there as far as trails and things go. 
