Five of the Most Popular Montana Memorial Day Destinations?

If you’re talking Memorial Day Weekend in Montana, there are a handful of places that basically become the state’s unofficial kickoff to summer headquarters.

Some are packed with tourists, some are full of locals hauling campers and side-by-sides, and all of them start getting busy right around Thursday afternoon, heading into the holiday weekend. Listed below are probably the five biggest Memorial Day Weekend locations in Montana.

Read More: Montana Memorial Day - Honoring Sacrifice & Supporting Troops

Glacier National Park

This is probably the heavyweight champion of Memorial Day tourism in Montana. Even though Going-to-the-Sun Road isn’t fully open yet (typically not until late June or early July), people still flood the area for hiking, biking, rafting, Whitefish nightlife, and early-season camping.

Yellowstone National Park

Memorial Day Weekend is essentially the start of Yellowstone’s summer rush. Wildlife viewing is incredible in late May, and waterfalls are roaring. Montana entrances at Gardiner and West Yellowstone can get especially busy. If you're heading to YNP on Memorial Weekend, bring warm clothing.

Flathead Lake

Despite the water temperature of the lake hovering around 35 degrees this time of year, boats come out. Docks go in. Flathead becomes a massive playground for camping, fishing, lake days, and cabin weekends. It’s also a popular overflow destination for Glacier visitors.

Whitefish

Whitefish absolutely explodes over Memorial Day Weekend. Between Glacier traffic, bachelor parties, mountain biking, breweries, lake recreation, and downtown events, the town feels like summer officially arrived overnight. If you haven't booked your accommodations weeks ago, you're probably SOL.

Fort Peck Lake

Eastern Montana’s Memorial Day capital. While western Montana gets the national park crowds, Fort Peck fills up with anglers, campers, boaters, and families looking for that first true lake weekend of the year. If you grew up in eastern Montana, there’s a decent chance Memorial Day meant “head to the lake.”

Honorable mentions:

• Big Sky
• Seeley Lake
• Hebgen Lake
• Beartooth Pass/Red Lodge/Cooke City
• Canyon Ferry Lake
• Missouri Breaks

Montanans basically treat Memorial Day Weekend as the soft opening of summer. Regardless of the very real possibility of unpleasant weather, campgrounds, trailheads, and parking lots at popular areas will be bustling.