Next stop on the itinerary was a new state for both of us – Montana! We spent our first few days in Livingston at Rock Canyon RV Park. The weather was a little rainy while we were there so we didn’t really do a whole except get caught up on laundry. We did make a day trip to Bozeman to make a Costco and Target run, and while Deas got a haircut I wandered around and took some pictures.
After Livingston we spent a long weekend in Helena. We got a great spot facing right towards the water at the Devil’s Elbow Campground, a BLM site about 20 minutes outside of Helena.
We wandered around downtown and saw a bunch of historic old buildings, including the capital and a beautiful old Catholic church.
Just outside of downtown, we stumbled upon some old lime kilns.
After Helena we wanted to head towards Missoula, but were looking for a midway stop on the way there. Deas read an article that the #2 most popular campsite in the state of Montana was just south of Philipsburg, so we decided to head there. The campground was called Philipsburg Bay, but when we got there we were a little underwhelmed. The sites were large and paved, but the scenery was nothing spectacular, so I’m not sure why it was rated so high. Right down the street though was another campground called Piney Campground, and this campground was much nicer. We scored a great spot right on the water and enjoyed a couple of days just hanging out enjoying the view right outside or door.
The town of Philipsburg is a charming old mining town, and we really fell in love with it. When we were exploring it, we discovered a self-service RV park right in town. It only has 3 sites, but it’s full hook-up, has 50 amp…and it’s only $25 a night! It was empty when we drove by, so the next morning we packed up and moved the RV there. The park is called Pintler Peaks RV Park – it doesn’t have a website, and isn’t on RVparkreviews.com, but it was quite a nice little find and we enjoyed our stay there.
Philipsburg has a great little downtown and we enjoyed just wandering the streets. There were many historic buildings, funky street signs, and old houses – some updated, and some in various states of disrepair.
If you like cute small towns, you’ll love Philipsburg. We met so many friendly locals hanging out at the Philipsburg Brewery that we felt like we had friends by the time we left. We’ll definitely be back.
On a different, non-RVing note, a couple of years ago Deas and I were on an episode of House Hunters. I just happened to notice last week that our episode will be airing again this weekend. So if you’re interested, tune in to HGTV on Saturday July 12 at 3:00 Eastern!
Nealys on Wheels 
What a gorgeous area! Thanks for taking us there. I love it when you happen on these awesome places entirely by chance!
It was such a great find…hated that we only had a few days there!
Lovely paintwork on the house and Main Street. So vibrant!
There were lots of pretty painted buildings there…so charming!
John is going to love this – he spent much of his childhood in that area and since I have never been back there with him, I am enjoying seeing the area he loved so much. How did you get your pics to look like postcards??? Your photo have been spectacular and you may have found a new profession as a nature photographer!
Thank you so much! I’ve really been working hard this year to improve my photography, and I got a nice new camera recently also. I hope John enjoys seeing the pictures too!
We loved every bit of Montana that we explored during our two years in Yellowstone…such gorgeous country! Thanks for taking us there with your post. Stunning photos! 🙂
Thanks! Montana is definitely turning out to be one of our favorite states. Beautiful scenery, and everyone here is so nice!
We love it and hope to get back there next year.
I agree with Barbara…..photos are spectacular. Your hard work is paying off. Hopefully I’ll remember to watch House Hunters this Saturday. I used to watch it regularly when we lived in our sticks n bricks. We intend to explore some areas along the Gulf this winter because of shows I’ve watched. We do R/E investing here and there and after a year off I’m getting a little antsy to jump back in.
Thank you so much! I hope you are planning to come through Grayton Beach – we’ll be there for the winter ourselves starting in September. We’ve actually now sold the house from House Hunters as of a few weeks ago. We do RE investing also and know that area well, so if you do decide to do anything down there we’ll be happy to share info with you.
We are headed to Montana soon. Thanks for the awesome photos and info on the town of Philipsburg. We will have to pay this place a little visit. I love the photo of the window “with the painting inside it!” You captured a good view there.
Thanks! We’ll be in Montana for 2-3 more weeks…so if you make it out here by then let us know!
It doesn’t look like we will get there that soon. I am aiming for mid August to be on the east side of Glacier. We will then go into Alberta around September 1 for about a month. Where are you headed after Montana?
We’ll be on the west side of Glacier until 7/26, then we’ll be in Banff until 8/4. We’ll probably go to Waterton Lakes after that, and then we want to spend some time on the east side of Glacier. So it might work out for us to meet there then!
Yes, we just might meet up!!
We just watched you on House Hunters…how totally cool!! I loved the first house but the third one did make more sense. You got a great deal!! Hope it has all worked out since the purchase:)
It worked out very well…we just sold it a few weeks ago and we’re pretty happy with that. 🙂 I hope it works out for us to meet up – we’ll stay in touch as it gets closer!
Love the small town. Definitely going to add your finds to my list. What an great concept, a mini rv park.
Yes, that RV park was awesome! I have no idea whether or not it ever fills up, but if we ever go back that will be our first choice of place to stay!
Hi guys, We’re a little late with this suggestion, but we hope you were able to visit Big Sky Brewing in Missoula. They make my “favorite-name-for-a-beer”: Moose Drool!
Cheers, Kim & Don – Harvest Hosts
We did visit Big Sky – in fact I’m just writing a post about our time in Missoula. We didn’t stay there though – we wanted to stay a week and figured we’d probably wear out our welcome if we tried to stay there a week. 🙂
We too made a visit to Phillipsburg and their charming Brewery and we are also near Glacier NP now and who know we may bump into each other on the trail…
Glad you got to visit Philipsburg! We love that place. Would love to meet up while we’re both in Glacier – I just sent you a message on RVillage.