BOZEMAN // Area Intro & Highlights

BOZEMAN

Nestled in the Gallatin Valley with mountain ranges rising in every direction, Bozeman offers both the peak-filled beauty Montana is famous for and the energy and innovation of a forward-thinking university town.

Outdoor recreation abounds, from stand-up paddleboarding and camping on the stunning Hyalite Reservoir to skiing the cold smoke powder at the community-owned Bridger Bowl Ski Area. With so many mountains, endless summer hiking trails weave through the surrounding national forests. For even more options, head just an hour down the road to the varied and wonderful landscape of Yellowstone National Park.

Walking down bustling Main Street, it’s hard to imagine the days when Bozeman was little more than a stopover en route to the Virginia City gold rush. The burgeoning craft brewery scene and wide array of local businesses lend a funky, independent vibe to this former frontier town. Montana State University’s 16,800 students are part of what make it Montana’s thriving tech hub—a third of the businesses in the Montana High Tech Business Alliance call Bozeman home— and it has earned the honor of the nation’s strongest “micropolitan” economy for the third year in a row.

A STRONG MICROPOLITAN ECONOMY AMID PEAK-FILLED NATURAL BEAUTY

RIDE ‘EM HIGH

THRILLS AND SPILLS AT MONTANA’S RODEOS

Whether you were born into a pair of cowboy boots or you can’t tell a header from a heeler, a rodeo is still a great way to enjoy a long summer evening. (In case you’re curious: in the team roping event, a header lassos the steer’s head and the heeler ropes the legs.) The crowd comes together as one, cheering for every bareback rider and barrel racer to do their very best in a community-minded testament to Montana’s legacy of cowboy culture.

The Bozeman Stampede is one of the fastest growing rodeos in the state. A winner of the Northern Rodeo Association Rodeo of the Year, it features all the fan-favorite rodeo events, including bull riding and steer wrestling, and benefits local youth rodeo organizations as well as the Montana State University rodeo team. Outside of town, the greater Bozeman area has a long, outstanding rodeo heritage, with the Livingston Roundup now in its 95th year. In Big Sky, bull riders have chosen the Big Sky PBR Rodeo as the Event of the Year for eight straight years. The Three Forks and Ennis rodeos date back to the 1940s and ‘50s, respectively, and are still an excitement-packed weekend as these great small towns show off the best of their Montana heritage. Grab your favorite boots and get ready to cheer those bull riders on to an eight second ride!

FUR, FEATHERS, AND HOOKS

THE ART OF TYING FLIES

If fishing were easy, they’d call it catching. Convincing a brown trout or a cutthroat that the hook on the end of your line is actually a delicious, buggy treat is no small feat—it requires both knowing where and how to cast your line and what to put on the end of it. Enter the art of tying flies.

For centuries, fishermen have been attaching bits of this and that to their hooks, attempting to imitate whatever the fish seem to be hungry for. Today’s fly tying is a beautiful blend of science and art: fishermen research what the fish are eating and when, then head to their workbenches and pull from drawers full of fur, yarn, and feathers to wrap a convincing replica around a hook. With the addition of synthetic materials, some fly tyers now also design their flies to move a certain way in the river in addition to looking like a trout’s favorite snack.

Blue-ribbon fly fishing abounds in the rivers around Bozeman: the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Jefferson, and Madison rivers are all the stuff of fly fishermen’s dreams. The town’s fly shops are packed with flies, supplies, and experts, whether you’re looking to buy woolly buggers by the dozen or tie your own supply of elk hair caddis.