Our Impressions of Billings

Geographically Billings in in the eastern area of Montana on I-90. At a population of 117,000 people Billings is the largest city in Montana. It is a well laid out city and is easy to get around. While many Montana cities have a unique character to them, Billings seemed like it could be a town in many western states. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

We didn’t spend much time in downtown Billings, but we did spend some time in the surrounding areas. For example, the small towns of Red Lodge (population 2,339) and Roberts (population 298).

Attractions

Four Dances Special Recreation Management Area offers many hiking trails and amazing cliffside views of the Yellowstone River. The area is operated by the Bureau of Land Management and is only open to foot traffic.

Pictograph Cave State Park is a National Historic Landmark known for its rock art and artifacts. This 23-acre park features walking trails, a visitor’s center and three caves with pictographs. Excavation began in 1937. It is an interesting place with great views and history.

Pompeys Pillar National Monument is about 30 miles east of Billings in the town of Pompeys Pillar. It is a historical monument managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It dates to the days of the 1806 expedition of Lewis and Clark. Captain William Clark even carved his name into the pillar as a reminder of his trip! This is the ONLY physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark expedition! Climb the Pillar to see where Clark carved his name and for a great view of the surrounding area!

Rimrocks: Billings is known best for its unique rock formations, known as the Rimrocks. These sandstone cliffs line the river valley and run across the north end of town. They’re a popular spot for hiking, picnicking and photography.

Red Lodge is a small town, but an attraction in its own way. It is home to a very popular winter ski area. There is a quaint downtown with many small shops and local restaurants to explore. When we were there, it was a busy place with summer tourists. We are glad we drove the 60 minutes southwest to see this small, unique skiing village.
The drive down was very scenic!

Food and Drink (Billings)

Cajun Phatty’s Seafood & Steakhouse had some good Cajun food. Not as spicy as we are used to in Louisiana, but flavorful. The restaurant was difficult to find! Ten days prior to our arrival they had recently moved to their new larger location in a mall, and the signage from the old restaurant was still up! It speaks to their popularity when the restaurant was still full, even without proper signs!

CJ’s Bar and Grille is a local casual dining restaurant with traditional fare of sandwiches, wraps and burgers. There were many local families eating here. The food was good.

The Chuckwagon is an Amish owned and operated grocery store and Deli in Roberts, MT (about 30 minutes southwest of Billings). Though we didn’t buy a deli sandwich, we did buy two loaves of their jalapeno/cheddar bread! These are giant loaves!! The bread was excellent! Best to eat quickly, no preservatives here!

Home Base: The Campground

For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Except for water, electric and sewer rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!

We stayed on site 2 at Billings Village RV Park in Billings. 30 and 50 amp service were available. The campground was clean and well maintained. The staff was friendly and accommodating to move our site when we were not able to get satellite services through the trees. Our full hook up (water-sewer-electric) site was on level pavement. Our back in site was long enough for our 35’ motorhome, with space to park the Jeep on the passenger side.

There was good cell phone coverage (Verizon) and at the second site a good open southern sky for our satellite (not true at other sites). Easy off and on I-90. Infrequently you will hear a train in the distance.

We would stay here again.

Fun Facts

Billings is the largest city in Montana.

Billings was nicknamed “The Magic City” due to the city’s rapid population growth in the mid to late 1800s.

Billings is home to the tallest load-bearing brick building in the world, the Crowne Plaza. It stands 256 feet. With a floor count of 22 floors above ground level the Crowne Plaza is the tallest hotel in the city and was the tallest in the state from 1980 to 1985.

	Billings Montana
Population:	117,445
Founded:	1882
Elevation:	3,124 ft.
Average income for a single person:	$34,033
Average price of housing:	$449,900
Median age of the population:	37

Website: https://www.billingsmt.gov/

Summary

Billings is a nice sized town with most things we were looking for. There were many local shops and restaurants as well as chain restaurants and big box stores. There is a lot of history in the area, and it was nice to see people out enjoying all that Billings has to offer.

Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads

It’s a lifestyle

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No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement. AI has not been used to create any of the content in this blog or website. All of the photos in this blog and website were taken by Dave or Kathryn Harrington.