Big Sky

The town of Big Sky is only 18 miles from Yellowstone National Park, but you don’t have to leave town to try one of the area’s coolest adventures. High Ropes Course at Big Sky Resort not only enhances a group’s team-building skills, but also their self-confidence and problem-solving skills. Attendees can tackle a dozen challenges—including Pirate’s Crossing and Swinging Beams—along the way, suspended 20 to 30 feet in the air (with a guide).

Canyon Adventures can give you a whole different perspective of the Big Sky…and the big mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes. Among other things, they rent groups an ATV that gives a close look at the dramatic vistas. ATV rentals leave from the front door, and take attendees almost literally up into the big skies to Buck Creek Ridge, at 10,000 feet. The views ares so dramatic they make participants want to stay up there for hours.

Billings

Pictograph Cave State Park in Billings provides groups with an opportunity to observe the origins of human habitation in Montana. Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1964, the park has a loop trail that enables visitors to explore pictographs, or rock paintings, that date back more than 2,000 years.

The three main caves—Pictograph, Middle and Ghost cave—were home to generations of prehistoric hunters. Interpretations of the paintings are still subject to debate. The images include a variety of animals and warriors.

The park’s new Visitor Center features interpretive displays and a gift shop.

Photo of Going to the Sun Road in Glacler National Park, Montana

Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park

Timberline Adventures offers a “raft” of hiking, riding and boating trips, including four-day cycling and hiking trips into Glacier and Yellowstone national parks. On these trips, whether long or short, attendees develop new teamwork and decision-making strengths.

One of the cycling tours starts in Missoula and ends in Glacier National Park. Along the way, groups pedal up the famous Going to the Sun Road, and see bighorn sheep and the century-old Many Glacier Hotel before slowing down with a boat ride and an easy hike.

Helena

Macdonald Pass Nordic Trails is just 15 miles west of Helena, but it may as well be a million miles away. There, attendees can try cross-country/Nordic skiing, a horse of a different color altogether. There are 9 miles of Nordic trails, each offering winter wonderland scenery and, often, the chance to ski in solitude in Helena National Forest.

Minnehaha-Irish Mine Snowmobile Trail has 48 miles of groomed trails. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of skimming through the forest there with the wind in your face and the horsepower at your command as you glide through the forest over soft-powder snow. The only sounds are from fellow snowmobilers, sight-unseen, in the distance. The Helena area, in fact, has a few hundred miles of unspoiled, no-tracks-in-the-snow trails for snowmobilers.

Further Reading:

Thrilling Adventures in Big Sky Country
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