We made day trips to Glacier National park, the National Bison Range, Big Mountain Ski area, Kalispell, Whitefish, and Polson. We took a lot of videotape and many photographs of the beautiful lakes, mountains, gorgeous fall foliage, and the wildlife.
The highlight of the trip was the day trip to the National Bison Range. It is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and we were prepared to see many types of wildlife, but were totally unprepared for the breathtaking beauty of the snowcapped Mission Mountains. It was a very foggy day when we drove from Columbia Falls, and we weren't able to see much outside. As we entered the National Bison Range, we could see prairie grasslands and a few rolling hills. As we left the Visitor's Center, we took the Red Sleep Mountain Drive, a one way self-guided tour through the areas where buffalo, elk, deer, and other wildlife were most likely to be seen. We saw many animals, including mule deer, white-tail deer, pronghorn antelope, and elk. We made many stops for photographs.
About an hour into our journey, we rounded a curve and were treated to our first good view of the Mission Mountains. The fog was hanging down below the mountain peaks, and added an unusual beauty to them. We took many pictures at that location and sat and looked in wonder at the beauty before us. We are so very lucky to have such sites to experience!${QuickSuggestions} Columbia Falls has a population of around 3500. We were pleased to find that it has a nice library that is equipped with computers and Internet access. We were able to use one to access our email on several occasions while we were in Columbia Falls. It was nice to be able to keep up with what was happening at home and to send messages to family.
We found several very good restaurants in the area and enjoyed them, but our favorite was the Nite Owl Cafe. The food served in the cafe is good old down-home cooking and they serve so many customers that we ended up eating at the counter on two occasions. Those folks really know how to cook and also bake very delicious pies. If we journey to Columbia Falls again in the future, we will definitely eat at the Nite Owl several times.${BestWay} There is a lot of Montana out there and you definitely need a car to see much of it. There are tour companies in the area who drive vans into Glacier National Park and other area destinations, but driving your own automobile allows you to stop when you see scenery or wildlife that you feel you must photograph.
From journal A WONDERFUL FALL VACATION IN MONTANA