Gardiner, MT

Downtown cafe, bakery, and lounge that bakes its own pastries daily and pours espresso alongside a from-scratch lunch and dinner menu with vegan and gluten-free options. One of the few Gardiner kitchens that stays open year-round rather than shutting down for winter.

The only restaurant deck in Gardiner hanging right over the Yellowstone River, with a Western menu of bison burgers, elk nachos, and chicken fried steak. Full bar with Montana craft drafts and a late-evening crowd of locals and guides.

Gardiner's longest-running business, slinging burgers since 1961, with an elk burger that USA Today singled out as one of Montana's best. Counter-service drive-in with big game patties and hand-spun shakes.

Family-run breakfast-and-lunch counter using Montana ingredients, known for chicken fried steak and a Mediterranean omelet. The kind of place where the same family is cooking and running the front.

Downtown coffee shop and bookstore in one, known for strong coffee and oversized breakfast burritos, with shelves of used books you can grab for the road. Vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian options actually appear on the menu here.

Roadside food truck just south of the entrance turning out Asian-influenced rice bowls, ramen, and noodle bowls alongside burgers and taco specials. Picnic-table seating with a straight-on view of the mountains.

Family-run log-cabin grill in the heart of downtown serving Southern-style barbecue, ribs, brisket, and pulled pork alongside burgers and steaks. Guns on the walls and homemade sides like slaw, baked beans, and potato salad.

Downtown Gardiner pizza joint that's a reliable casual dinner after a long day in the park. Thin-crust pies with local beers on tap, plus salads and appetizers in a no-fuss room.

A point-to-point trail that follows the north side of the Yellowstone River, starting inside the park and descending most of the way before dropping into Gardiner in the last half mile. Long, dry, and exposed, with river views and steady wildlife.

An easygoing roughly 8-mile route through rolling foothills and yellow-green grasslands in the park's northern range, ending with glimpses of the river as it nears Gardiner. Now usually walked from the Blacktail trailhead since the old north-entrance access washed out in the 2022 floods.

A roughly 4-mile trail between the Lava Creek picnic area and Mammoth, passing Undine Falls and tracing the Gardner River canyon. One of the first trails in the area to melt out each spring because of its low elevation.

Just past the park boundary off Old Yellowstone Trail, a dirt-road climb that gains serious elevation toward the north ridge of Electric Peak. Open country popular with hikers and bikers, and a known winter wildlife corridor.

A short, mostly flat 0.8-mile walk through meadow and sage to the base of 79-foot Wraith Falls on Lupine Creek, a few miles east of Mammoth. Easy enough for any group and open year-round.

A moderate 4.6-mile out-and-back climbing about 1,300 feet to a former fire-lookout summit south of Mammoth, with views over Swan Lake Flat, the Gallatin Range, and the Yellowstone River valley. One of the earliest peaks in the area to melt out each year.

Riverside outfitter on the banks of the Yellowstone running whitewater trips, scenic floats, horseback rides, fly fishing, and guided wildlife tours into the park. The half-day is 8 miles, the full day 18.

A long-running outfitter running the Yellowstone River out of its Gardiner office, with whitewater, ziplining, fly fishing, and river tubing. The zipline tour sits on a historic ranch in the Cinnabar Basin right against the park boundary.

The first raft company in Gardiner, founded in the 1980s and the only outfit fully permitted in both the park and national forest. It still runs guided whitewater and scenic trips on the Yellowstone, plus kayaking and horseback rides.

Guided runs through 18-plus miles of Class I to III rapids on the Yellowstone, hemmed in by the Absaroka and Gallatin ranges, plus inflatable kayaks, mountain biking, horseback rides, and a climbing wall. Wildlife sightings of osprey, elk, and moose come with the scenery.

Gardiner-based guide service that runs small-group wildlife tours into the park's northern range, where the wolves, bears, and bison are. Naturalist guides pick you up in town, set up spotting scopes, and coordinate by radio to track animals.

A commercial hot-spring resort about eight miles north of town at the south end of Paradise Valley, with flow-through, chlorine-free pools fed by mineral water. The reliable soak now that the park's old Boiling River is closed.

The 50-foot basalt arch at the original north entrance, dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 and inscribed 'For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.' Cars still drive through it on the way into the park, and it sits right at the edge of town.

Five miles up the hill from town, travertine terraces built by hot water bubbling through limestone, constantly shifting as springs go dry and new ones break out. The lower boardwalk and the upper terrace drive cover different sections.

The park's archive and museum collection building on the edge of Gardiner, holding millions of objects, photographs, and documents from Yellowstone's history. It runs free behind-the-scenes tours one morning a week that get you into the collections you would never otherwise see.

The mid-size mountain river that drops out of the park and meets the Yellowstone right at the edge of town. Below Osprey Falls it stays open to fishing year-round, one of only two such stretches in the park, and it runs a mixed bag of trout and whitefish.