Travel Trilogy

Written By: Deena Bouknight | Issue: August - 2022

Last year, national parks and forests strained withincreased visitor numbers, and expectations are highagain this year – despite gas prices.Driving east to west in the span of four days this spring was anexperience both anticipated excitedly and contemplated keenly.My future husband, taking a seasonal forest ranger position atMontana’s Custer-Gallatin National Park (Earthquake Lake),desired that I accompany him on the journey. Wanderlustpiqued, so we planned to stop at as many historic sites andpoints of interest as possible, staying each evening in a restored1969 Shasta camper.I purchased a printed – in the USA, even – Atlas and beganmapping out the trip the old-fashioned way.St. Louis was the first destination from the Western NorthCarolina starting point, and part of a day was set aside forexperiencing the extraordinary architectural and engineeringfeat that is the 630-wide and tall stainless steel GatewayArch; we also visited Grant Farm, in walking distance of theGrant Site, now houses Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales andother animals.But it was the drive from Denver to Billings, Montana, thattruly delivered.For anyone not interested in the mostly mundane excursionacross the flat prairies of Missouri and Kansas, an option isto fly into Denver and rent a car to travel up Hwy. 287, whichskirts the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest that extendsfrom Colorado into Wyoming. Views from the car are of jaggedcliffs and peaks that are part of the Rocky Mountains. Stop andhike one of the 360 trails within the 2.9 million-acre forest.About halfway of the 10.5-hour trip to Billings is Casper,Wyoming, with amazing landscapes to explore, such asCasperMountain, theNorth Platte River,and Edness Kimball WilkinsState Park. Just past Casper, up Hwy. 25, is the Big HornNational Forest and Crow Tribal Territory.Finally, before entering Billings, the Little Bighorn BattlefieldNational Monument does not disappoint. Not only can one standon the open hills and view 360-degrees the famous battlefield– where Lt. Col. George Custer and about 200 cavalrymen wereattacked byas many as 3,000Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapahowarriors – but the sweeping views are of picturesque prairies(complete with prairie dogs), wild horses, buttes and bluffs, andthe Little Bighorn River. Visitors can drive or walk the fourmiles of historically marked paths for an immersion experienceinto an American turning point.Fly out of Billings, but not before enjoying the awe-inspiringBeartooth Front Scenic Drive and Absarokee Loop ScenicDrive, where the Rocky Mountain peaks are white-cappedmuch of the year.

by Deena Bouknight