Embark on a Montana road trip of epic proportions and indulge your spirit of adventure. From Badlands to Breaks to Beartooth Mountains, this vast region beckons with the promise of discovery. Those who seek out-of-the-way places and less-traveled roads will find incredible recreation, fascinating history and authentic rural communities in these awe-inspiring Montana landscapes that mark two-thirds of the state. Journey from the stark and stunning lands deemed “bad” to the cinematically beautiful places where the mighty Missouri “breaks” to the majestically jagged peaks of the Beartooths — the highest in a state that's known for mountains but that you'll soon discover is so much more.
Traverse Montana's Great Wide Open and find yourself wandering wide-eyed among astonishing rock formations that stand where dinosaurs once roamed. Fishing and swimming in view of the riverside cliffs and canyons that Lewis and Clark observed as they explored the Missouri River. Marveling at the jaw-dropping vistas from an iconic mountain highway. Driving through landscapes the scale and beauty of which you won't soon forget.
Here at Great Wide Open: Badlands to Breaks to Beartooths, we want to help make your dream Montana road trip a reality. On this site, you'll find detailed itineraries, trip planning information and inspiration that'll have you hitting the open road in no time.
These striking landscapes are some of Montana's most distinctive treasures — rich with riveting history, exhilarating recreational opportunities and authentic Western hospitality and character.
Otherworldly terrain characterized by steep slopes, gullies, buttes and fantastically shaped hoodoos and rock formations that, in Montana, are found mostly in the far eastern part of the state.
The ruggedly beautiful cliffs, slopes, canyons and ravines that higher-elevation land “breaks” into where it meets the Missouri River across central and northeastern Montana.
A majestic range of mountains north of Yellowstone National Park that includes Montana's 41 highest peaks and is named for a steep, jagged peak resembling a bear's tooth.
In a place that stretches as far and wide as the big sky itself, how do you determine where to go and what to see? Use our eight itineraries, which weave through the spellbinding Badlands, Breaks and Beartooths, for a road trip experience that highlights the open-road journey as much as the remarkable destinations.
Big Sky Country? Try Big Drive Country! For those road trippers seeking an unforgettable travel experience as expansive as the skies over Montana, this grand tour is for you.
Over the course of five days, travel from Montana’s northern reaches, where the enchanting breaks of the Missouri River cut through wide-open high plains, to the south, where the iconic Beartooth Mountains straddle the border with Wyoming.
The Badlands Loop packs a lot of punch into three short-and-sweet days of travel in the remote northeast corner of Montana.
Ideal as a summer road trip, this three-day journey showcases the rugged Beartooth Mountains (and the Absaroka Range beside them) as the unforgettable scenic centerpiece. The range includes Granite Peak and rocks that are nearly 4 billion years old.
Travel across Montana from its far eastern badlands edge straight to its heart in the prairie and on to the incredible protected river breaks terrain of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in this five-day tour.
The Beartooths to Badlands Loop skirts the dramatic peaks of the Beartooth Mountains, crosses plains as vast as the big sky and reaches to the precipices of the badlands stretching across the eastern part of Montana.
Exhilarating, unique recreation and captivating history flow together in this four-day road trip where the Missouri River — the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument stretch of it specifically — makes up the centerpiece of the route.
Hit the wide-open road and wind your way from majestic mountains to astonishing badlands and back again, taking remote U.S. Highway 12 across a boundless prairie landscape to complete this six-day loop itinerary.
Check out our travel advice, information on getting here and a rundown of recreate responsibly principles to help you plan a road trip that's smooth, safe, enjoyable — and utterly unforgettable.
Get Trip TipsRodeos, parades, art festivals, food festivals, music festivals — there's always something fun happening. Take a look at regional event calendars to see what events coincide with your travel plans.
See EventsGreat Wide Open: Badlands to Breaks to Beartooths is a collaborative travel promotion project of four Montana tourism regions: Central Montana, Montana's Missouri River Country, Montana's Yellowstone Country and Visit Southeast Montana.
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