Fall 2026 - Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, 9.8.2026 - 10.5.2026, Part 1: American Prairie, The Little Rocky Mountains
Another incredible trip has been completed. The Fall 2026 trip was very different in so many ways. We have spent a lot of time in the desert southwest so it was time explore something new. The first three destinations on our trip were places we had never been to and for that matter, no one we knew had ever been. We also revisited some familiar ground yet we find new things to see on every visit. Being the constant researcher that I am, I constructed a route that would take us across northern Montana, into the western side of North Dakota, then down to South Dakota and wrap things up in Wyoming. We would travel over 3,200 miles in the Navibahn and many more miles in the Jeep.
The Fall 2026 route
The origins of this trip started back in 2022 when we saw a 60 Minutes segment on a place called American Prairie (americanprairie.org). The idea behind American Prairie was so fascinating that we had to see this area with our own eyes. Basically, American Prairie is a private, non-profit conservation project aiming to purchase land and connect it to public lands to create a 3.2. million acre preserve. Over the decades they hope to restore the original ecosystem with buffalo, wolves, grizzly bears, pronghorn and many other animals. There are only a couple of places left on earth that can support a grassland ecosystem and so far none of these places are protected.
So the day after Labor Day, September 8, Bridgit and I hitched up the wagon and headed out to experience the great prairie. Our first night was along I-90 in Montana. The next day we drove past Missoula and turned north onto Montana 200, following the Blackfoot River north to I-15 and down to Great Falls. From there we headed to Lewistown and then up 191 to Antelope Creek Campground, which is located near the Upper Missouri Breaks on one of the properties owned by American Prairie.
The campground fits the image. It is sparse, with only electric hookups and lots of space between sites. Elbow room is a good term for what the prairie has to offer and Antelope Creek gave plenty of that. Prairie dogs were everywhere among the gently rolling hills. The campground has a pond and a two mile loop trail around the perimeter which we never found time to hike.
Across from the Fat Hippie in Lincoln, Montana we stopped for breakfast
Site map of Antelope Creek Campground. We were in #1.
Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam…
Less than a mile past Antelope Creek is a dirt road that drives through the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge. In good conditions, any car can navigate this road. We didn’t see any wildlife but it was a pretty drive through rolling hills dotted with trees. Eventually it dropped down to the Missouri River and an area called the Slippery Ann Elk Viewing Area.
The Missouri River where it cuts through the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge
For being so out there, this is an extremely popular place to go. Dozens of cars park along three levels across the road, pull out their chairs, binoculars and beers and wait. Shortly before dusk, the sound of elk bugling can be heard and then dozens of elk emerge from the trees by the river into the open meadows by the road. During the fall rut, the bulls with gigantic racks will duke it out for the right to mate with the females. After checking out all three parking spots, we opted to park down on the road for the closest spot to the action.
We waited around two hours and just before dark, sure enough, we heard some elk bugling. Then about twenty elk appeared back in the treeline. We never saw any bulls and none of the elk ever came out into the open meadows. Total bust. I guess we would have had more success a couple of weeks later but when it was too dark for photos we left and drove back to camp.
Camping on the great prairie is a different kind of vacation. It’s not dramatic in the sense of a Yosemite, Grand Canyon or Bryce. It is a lonely, quiet place and it forces you to slow down and appreciate the vastness of it all. It was a new moon so I got up in the middle of the night and went outside to see billions of stars, totally unhampered by any light pollution. The Milky Way was a glowing arc as it stretched from horizon to horizon.
Several hours later, I got up for the day at six-fifteen and by six-thirty the entire Montana sky was ablaze in one of the most incredible sunrises I’ve ever experienced.
Montana sunrise
Montana sunrise
Montana sunrise
It’s easy to think of the prairie as just a huge flat expanse of grass and rattlesnakes. To be sure, there is plenty of that, but there is so much more to see and experience if you take the time. Antelope Creek Campground is in the prairie, yet it is surrounded by five satellite mountain ranges. These anomalies are easily two hundred fifty miles east of the rockies and rise up from the prairie grasses to heights of over eight thousand feet in some spots.
Just north of where we were camped rise the Little Rocky Mountains. This small range is a cluster of buttes with an area of only 296 square miles. Its highest peak is 5,720’. On the western edge lies the town of Hays and the southeastern edge has a small town called Zortman. An interesting side note. A woman we know from our music community grew up in Zortman when the church was the only building in town with electricity and running water!
Map of the five satellite ranges around Antelope Creek which is just north of the Missouri River below the Little Rocky Mountains
After the epic sunrise, we hopped in the Jeep and drove twenty-three miles up to Hays. Turning off the highway, we made our way through Hays and entered Mission Canyon. It was an abrupt change from the prairie to a deep canyon in the mountains. The high, colorful walls of the canyon were very close together and a creek ran alongside the road which turned to dirt. Just after entering the canyon we came to an alcove behind a natural rock bridge worth stopping for.
The alcove behind the natural bridge
Looking out from inside the alcove
Bridgit for scale
Continuing down the road, we stopped at the trailhead for Hole in the Wall. The trailhead sign had seen better days but that made it all the more interesting!
Battered trail sign
Canyon walls above the trailhead
I stumbled across this hike in my research about the general area and it sounded great. We started out climbing about 700’ in .4 miles to a natural rock bridge. The rock in Mission Canyon is interesting because it’s limestone as opposed to granite. I think it’s very porous which lends to more holes and natural bridges, all the weird things I like.
The Hole In The Wall from below
Looking back through the Hole In The Wall
We scrambled up through the Hole In The Wall and then topped out on the rim above Mission Canyon. From here the trail leveled out and we followed the rim another .6 miles to a rocky point that looked up and down Mission Canyon from above.
Looking up Mission Canyon
Cool rocks across the canyon
After soaking up some views, we now backtracked on an old abandoned Jeep track. We followed this track as we gradually climbed Mission Ridge. Passing the spot we had come up, we continued to gently climb through green forest covered with golden leaves on all the low bushes. We dropped down a small hill to an open area and then began to climb steeply. The road fizzled out here but we kept climbing to a high, open point at the end of Mission Ridge. Topping out we had great views of the Little Rocky Mountains all around us except for to the west where we could see all the way down to the town of Hays and beyond out into the prairie. It was plenty warm but fairly blustery. 35 mph gusts were predicted but I don’t think they were that strong.
Our goal is in sight
The Little Rocky Mountains
Looking down to Hays and out to the prairie
The whole hike was 4.8 miles and 1,022’ of elevation gain and of course we had it all to ourselves.
Rather than go back the way we came, we drove north out of Hays so we could circumnavigate the Little Rocky Mountains. As we drove across the northern flank of the range we could see that the entire range was made up of limestone cliffs and buttes. Pretty cool place. We went through Lodgepole and worked our way down back to 191 and then drove up to Zortman just to check it out. It’s a tiny little town flanked by big cliffs. The setting is nice but there’s not much to the town.
It rained overnight and hard for while the next morning. We had hoped to drive way out to some of the other properties owned by American Prairie. We wanted to hike in a section called Blue Ridge and also go to the only other campground owned by American Prairie called Buffalo Camp. This is where the growing herd usually hangs out but the rain had made the roads too dicey to drive on. Instead, we drove an hour and a half back down to Lewistown which is where the American Prairie National Discovery Center is located. We spent a couple of hours there and found the place to be quite interesting.
Because we didn’t really know how much there would be to do for this leg of our journey, we had only budgeted three nights. I think that was a good amount of time. With better weather, it would also have been fun to drive along the Upper Missouri Breaks but that also would be difficult after a rain. So we got in what we could and the second leg of our journey was calling us.
American Prairie National Discovery Center in downtown Lewistown
One of the many cool displays
After three days on the prairie we were starting to get horny