I have two week off at the end of April this year (2025) and I am about certain I want to spend that time on a road trip in Montana. Considering flying into Bozeman and renting a Minivan (or SUV if the consensus is itās necessary). The plan is to spend the majority of the time car camping in the numerous national forests and wading any and all fishy waters. I will gladly drive to anywhere within 5 hours and plan on getting hotel rooms if the weather gets bad or Iām just tired of sleeping in th car.
While attempting to do research it has been overwhelming. Having only been to Yellowstone as a teen I know very little about the area. It seems most of the famous rivers (Yellowstone, Madison, Gallatin etc) are all very large and more geared toward floating. I will be exclusively wading and would happily take any recommendations on rivers or streams to check out (generally not interested in lakes). I guess Iām just looking for general areas that have wadable waters so I donāt waste my time driving to places that are too large.
From my research it seems like most of the national forests and BLM land allow dispersed camping which I will definitely be taking advantage of. Any recommendations on places I may be able to set up camp and walk to some wadable waters?
Really interested in doing this bucket list trip but feeling overwhelmed. Any and all tips are greatly appreciated.
Posted by BrushMore1853
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Also considering hiring a guide for a day or two but that is still up in the air.