Fall in Paradise

Following the Yellowstone River in Montana is an expanse of earth bestowed "Paradise Valley"—perhaps it's the majestic mountain ranges that set apart the east and the west or the natural hot springs that bubble up from underground, or maybe it's the green wildflower meadows. Autumn is the season that locals live for, when mountain-sides dance with the brilliant hue of golden cottonwoods, ranch gardens supply entire meals, and anglers are met with a plentiful catch in the area's pristine waters.

Photo Credit: Paradise Valley, Park County, Montana(Gordon Wiltsie)

Top Scenic Drives: The Rugged Peaks of the Beartooth

The Beartooth Highway isn't just visually stunning. It's an athletically challenging juggernaut through the rugged peaks and furrowed gorges of the Beartooth Mountains, named Na Piet Say (the bear's tooth) by Crow Indians. The 60-mile stretch of the Beartooth Highway begins in the former coal-mining town of Red Lodge, Montana. On the way out of Red Lodge, roads head up mountain switchbacks through high alpine tundra, car windows bordered by the forested slopes of the Custer, Shoshone, and Gallatin national forests. Combined, they comprise more than 1,000 lakes, vast fields of mountain wildflowers, and extensive coniferous forests.

Photo Credit: Beartooth Highway, Montana (Lacy Morris)

Montana Classics: Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park contains 700 miles of maintained trails, which lead deep into one of the nation's largest intact ecosystems. With the amazing landscape of forests, alpine meadows, and lakes, you may not even notice the 70 species of mammals and 260 species of birds that call the park home.

Photo credit: Glacier National Park: Photodisc/Getty

Bozeman Trip Idea: Skiing and Snowboarding at Big Sky, Montana

Located near Yellowstone, Big Sky may be the country's best-kept snow-covered secret—the perfect melding of chill attitudes, epic scenery, big-time snowpack (400-plus inches annually), and truly great skiing and snowboarding. The lift lines here are ridiculously short, if they exist at all, and the trails run from well-groomed, breezy corduroy to narrow hairpin chutes.

Photo credit: Big Sky, Montana (courtesy, Big Sky Resort)