The Outdoors

As startling as they can be, bats are some of the coolest, most helpful-to-humans animals in Montana. That's a good thing because we have a wide variety of the flying mammals...but can you guess how many species call Montana home?

Island life is not what comes to mind when thinking about Montana. We've got some terrific lakes, reservoirs, and rivers...but islands? Indeed, and some of them are breathtaking.

Well that escalated quickly. Nobody ever said Montana weather was boring. Some mountains in southwest Montana may get hammered this weekend with 10 to 20 inches of snow piling up by Sunday afternoon.

A long, warm autumn comes with some risk as over 1/3 of Montana is under a Fire Weather Watch on Thursday.

The only concern is cloudy skies but the Orionid meteor shower is SUPPOSED to be a good one this year, and it's got a fantastic story about what causes it.

As dramatic and stunning as Montana's mountain ranges are, can you believe that NOT ONE of Montana's highest peaks falls into the Top 100 tallest peaks in the lower United States?

The Bozeman area should be in for a real treat tonight, October 9th. Weather looks good for what should be a really big, orange hued full moon.

You could make an excellent disc golf road trip across all of Montana. The map of courses in Montana has grown quite a bit over the years and you've got a surprising number of options.

It's actually rare to get a Montana autumn that lasts longer than a week or two. It's a shame fall isn't longer around here because we get some amazing colors that take zero effort to find.

Tulips are my favorite bulbs but the deer will feast on them in any non-fenced area of my yard. I made that mistake the first year I moved into my house, planting dozens of lovely tulips. Perhaps 4 of them survived the deer buffet.

The coolest thing that happens at Bridger Bowl all year doesn't happen on the slopes - it happens in the air above the Ridge. Raptors of all kinds make their fall migration right over our head and it is NOT to be missed.

It's a great choice from Travel and Leisure, but how can you pick ONE trail in Montana and call it the "best hike" in the entire state?