Big Sky Country Draws Senior Travelers

Montana is a state unlike any other. Seniors, if you’ve been there you understand why it’s called “Big Sky” country. I will never forget how and why my family first camped out on the Flathead River near Glacier National Park. I was leading a group of high school students to France. We were under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and I was explaining to the group all about the Arch that Napoleon had constructed in honor of his many victories.

When I concluded a couple walked up and told me how much they appreciated my comments. We visited a bit and I discovered that they were from West Glacier, Montana. I told them that we were planning a camping trip to that area with our little fold-down Coleman camper and they invited us to camp out in their back yard, on the bank of the Flathead River. What an experience! Tubing in the river, watching a huge herd of elk crossing a nearby golf course and the highlight, driving through the “Going to the Sun Road” in Glacier National Park called the “Crown of the Continent.”

Author John Steinbeck called Montana “a great splash of grandeur”. Senior travelers will find Glacier loaded with splashes of pristine forests, alpine meadows, rugged mountains, and spectacular lakes. With over 700 miles of trails, Glacier is a hiker’s paradise for adventurous senior visitors seeking wilderness and solitude.

Big Sky represents the untamed, the wild, the natural and Glacier and Yellowstone make great starting points. Between the parks lie mountains that don’t have names yet, in ranges you’ve never heard of. Scattered in their valleys, you’ll find small towns full of friendly locals sharing the unexpected and even maybe their huckleberry pie.

Seniors Experience One of America’s Unspoiled Treasures

In Montana I’ve discovered that it’s a great place to slow down and enjoy the grandeur of nature and the American West. With just one million residents spread out over more than 38-million hectares (an area larger than Germany), it is one of America’s greatest unspoiled treasures of scenic lands and wildlife. And a mix of modern and traditional cultures make it the ideal place to experience the history of the frontier and authentic small-town American life.

I recall on another trip when I was recruiting for a private school where I worked in Minnesota I came over a hill and right there in the middle of the road was an antelope. Fortunately I saw him in time and did not make him a “hood ornament.”

Natural beauty stretches across the state, rewarding senior visitors who venture off the beaten path with 24 mountain ranges, millions of hectares of public lands and wilderness preserves, alpine lakes, wide open plains, natural hot springs and famous fly-fishing streams.  Enjoy Big Sky Country like I have. jeb