After visiting Bozeman and Glacier National Park, we headed south to Big Sky, Montana. Our visit coincided with our quest to see Yellowstone National Park. My parents joined us for the week, and we stayed in their two bedroom timeshare at Bluegreen Lake Condominiums at Big Sky.
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Big Sky Accommodations
There was even a family of adorable foxes that wandered the property.
There were very few crowds in town, as it was between summer season and ski season. We meandered through the shops and the kids let off some steam.
Ousel Falls Trail
One afternoon we set out to hike the path to Ousel Falls, smack dab in the middle of bear country. There were actually no bears sighted (thank goodness!), but lots of warning signs posted. We equipped ourselves with a bear bell, bear spray, and obnoxiously loud voices, just to be on the safe side!
West Yellowstone
We spent another day visiting West Yellowstone from Big Sky. West Yellowstone was a very touristy area with lots of shops and restaurants. We attended the IMAX movie “Yellowstone.”
Immediately next door to the movie theater was the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. This is a great little museum dedicated to the animals that are native to the area. We were able to observe bears up close.
It was here that the boys participated in an awesome program called Keeper Kids. They attended a 30 minute class to learn all about bears and particularly what they eat. Then, the bears were moved to their inside habitat. The zoo keepers took the kids inside the bears outdoor habitat, each equipped with a bucket of food!
The participating children were instructed about how and where to hide the bear food. They encouraged the kids to bury the food. In their natural environments, bears will dig for their food under logs and inside plants and bushes. Another reason to bury the food is because the relentless ravens would otherwise steal the food right out from under them.
Once the kids left the habitat, we anxiously watched as the bears were released back into their habitat and searched for the hidden food. This was a great experience for the boys and I highly recommend this program!
There are some additional programs that they offer for kids of different ages. For information about the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, click here. Visit Keeper Kids to get more details about this and other programs offered.
| TRAVEL PLANNING RESOURCES |
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| Accommodations: I generally use EXPEDIA or BOOKING.COM to search and book my hotels. Occasionally, I will use VRBO. |
| Top Rated Tours: I’ve had great success using both TRIPADVISOR and VIATOR for booking city and walking tours. |
| Car Rentals: RENTALCARS.COM comes highly rated. I’ve also used EXPEDIA to book my car rentals. (If you own a COSTCO membership, they have amazing rates as well!) |
| Flights: I always begin with SKYSCANNER for flight searches. Then I use EXPEDIA or book directly through the airlines. |
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