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I am trying to salvage a trip I booked to Montana early next June, but I am going to have to spend less money on hotels (i.e., stay fewer nights) if I do. Note that I am not going to Glacier Park; it's too early in the season. My #1 goal is to visit the capitol in Helena, as I am visiting state capitols and don't have all that many left to go! Since I am not going to rent any cars and buses have limited schedules, I have these questions:
Would a few hours on a weekday morning be enough time to see enough of downtown Whitefish to get the gist & enjoy it, or should I spend more time there and forget seeing Missoula and/or Spokane?
Would it be better to see Missoula than Spokane, or vice versa?
Is most of 1 day enough in Helena?
Is most of 1 day enough in Butte?
Does anyone know what the bus stations in Whitefish, Helena, Butte, Missoula, and Spokane (adjoining Amtrak) are like?
Thanks!!!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Ms. Sojourner, while you may think I would be the last person in this life with whom you have any sort of contact to have had such a quest, that I have set foot on the ground somewhere on each of the fifty States, may come as a surprise.
But I have; and for what it worth, anyone else in my family have simply flown over them.
Hawaii is certainly tenuous, but returning from The Nam during 1968, the flight stopped at PHNL at about 0230hrs (local; 1230hr Zulu) for some two hours and I did get to go outside and stand on Hawaiian soil. Alaska was on a 1983 trip and I can recall actually first standing on the soil outside PANC.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Helena and Butte can both be done in one day. Montana Railink has a good nu mber of trains in Helena and the old NP Depot with steam engine is still there.
Butte the NP Depot still stands as does the Milwaukee Road newer passenger depot now a radio station.
Missoula has both NP and Milw Stations and MRL has a large yard there.
So you could do both Witefish and Missoula in one day with Butte and Helena the next. Don't forget the Milw Little Joe and station in Deer Lodge.
Chris
PS I have ridden a train in all 50 states.
Posts: 711 | From: Santa Ana | Registered: May 2003
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I haven't been in Missoula, Butte, or Spokane long enough to suggest where to go and what to see. Helena is a really nice little city..I enjoyed the town the one time I was there, long ago. I don't know if there is a bus station in Whitefish.
As far as whether or not a few hours in Whitefish is enough, I would say the answer is yes and no.
You can easily walk around Whitefish and see most shops and interesting sites in a few hours. Don't miss the Great Northern RR Museum inside the Amtrak station. You might, however, wish to plan on a full day, in Whitefish, to see things in and around the town. A full day would also allow you to try out one of the Whitefish restaurants, for dinner. Even though you said you don't wish to rent a car, there is a Hertz car rental desk inside the Amtrak station if you change your mind.
Good restuarants are the Whitefish Lake Resturant, McGarry's, Tupelo, and Latitute 48. The latter 2 restaurants are downtown. For breakfast, the Buffalo Cafe. Don't miss the "Sweet Peaks" ice cream parlor on 3rd street.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Originally posted by chrisg: PS I have ridden a train in all 50 states.
Hawaii, South Dakota; hardly about to refute the claim, but how was that done?
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by chrisg: PS I have ridden a train in all 50 states.
Hawaii, South Dakota; hardly about to refute the claim, but how was that done?
Maybe the excursion railroads which are still very much alive and well in both states. The Black Hills Central RR is certainly more fun than Mt. Rushmore.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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In Whitefish, the Rimrock Trailways Bus Depot is the train station, which is also a comfy and roomy place to hang out. Whitefish was originally called Stumptown because the forest was so thick the main street was full of stumps. The very interesting Stumptown Museum is also in the train station http://www.stumptownhistoricalsociety.org
Whitefish is one my favorite Amtrak stations and favorite towns. Like Yukon11, I recommend the Buffalo Cafe for breakfast, only 3 blocks from Amtrak. You can see most of Whitefish in a few hours, but I think you could easily spend a day enjoying the eateries and shops as well as the woodsy historic atmosphere. It is a laid back genuine somewhat pricey tourist town. I think you can also catch a bus up to the adjacent Big Mountain ski area and take the scenic summer chairlift ride for the view.
posted
Also for summer activities, try this: summer
The Walk-in-the-Treetops looks very unique, and the Summer Gondola is what I described in the previous post.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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South Dakota was done on a Milwaukee Road 261 Trip when we went to Sioux Falls to overnight and I did Hawaii on the Hawaiian Railroad Society Train on Oahu.
Chris
Posts: 711 | From: Santa Ana | Registered: May 2003
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Mr. Guenzler, the only claim I can make for South Dakota is over several MILW lines on a Hy-Rail.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Sojourner, I'm more partial to Missoula and Spokane, but largely because my mother's family is from there, and, as a youth, I spent my summers there. Spokane is interesting because it's in the farm belt, and quite different than the western, more high-profile, part of the state. Missoula was the home of my great grandparents whose home is here: http://content.lib.umt.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/pharchives&CISOPTR=3893&CISOBOX=1&REC=1
I remember spending the night there and waking up early to watch the North Coast Limited, complete with vista-domes, slide into the Missoula station.
Posts: 518 | From: Maynard, MA, USA | Registered: Sep 2000
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I have just one bit of intelligence to add and no one else has seemed to address it yet -
In Spokane Amtrak and the bus station are in the same building. It's one of the two old train stations (not sure NP or GN) and the buses arrive and depart on the second floor of the building. Amtrak waiting is on the ground floor but then you walk through a tunnel under the bus arrival/departure area to reach the few remaining railroad tracks.
The place was recently renovated, clean and safe at night when I caught the westbound Portland Builder from there in the wee hours 6 or 7 years ago.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Thanks, all. I decided to skip Spokane for this trip (I'll save it for when I go to Boise). That will give me more time to see Whitefish & also time to see Missoula. That is, unless I have to cancel the trip entirely, which is also a sad possibility. But we'll see what next year brings.
Glad I'm not on the EB for the holidays . . . sounds like the usual nasty December weather in too many parts of North America.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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I've been in all the places you mention, and I think your decision is wise. Missoula is fascinating (it's a mixture of hippies, New Agers, and leftover IWW radical unionists from the 1930s), and there is (or was) a good restaurant in the train station. Butte should not be missed, but it can easily be done in a day.
Spokane is a nice little city, but if you have to skip one...that's the one to skip.
When you get to Boise, you'll find it's a nice small city with beautiful views (been there too), but it's a long way from Spokane.
And Chris, I was on that three-day 261 trip, and I've also, like Mr. Norman, hi-railed considerable trackage in South Dakota. I've been in the Anchorage airport, too, but I have not (yet) been to Hawaii. However, I've got all the other 49 covered, each with at least two visits.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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RResor, There are buses from Salt Lake City, Spokane, and Portland--all pretty long trips, as you say! The bus ride from SLC is a little shorter than Spokane, but I've been there so I'm figuring if I ever go, I'd make a loop--get off in SLC, where bus connection is immediate, then get to Boise, then come home from Spokane and stay there too. But the bus rides do seem pretty exhausting--I'm really not sure I can do more than 5-6 hours on a bus. And mostly the dreaded Greyhound (though there may be one NW Trailways to Spokane). So, we'll see if and when I'm up for it. . . . but it's on the list.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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