Travel from Hardin to Missoula, Montana

We drove our coach 399 miles, about seven hours of driving, from Hardin, Montana to Missoula, Montana. Having recently been on the east coast at the time, driving seven hours within one state was a bit of a change!

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Route map

An interactive map:

Approaching the exit gate from the RV park:

Exit gate

It was supposed to open automatically, but didn’t, so we had to call for help to open it:

Exit gate

Refinery in Billings:

Refinery in Billings

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Pink truck with Hello Kitty:

Pink truck with Hello Kitty

Rest area:

Rest area

“Rattlesnakes have been observed; please stay on sidewalks”:

Rattlesnakes have been observed; please stay on sidewalks

Paladin asleep in his dash bed while driving down the freeway, for quite a while:

Paladin asleep in his dash bed while driving down the freeway

Yellowstone River:

Yellowstone River

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

We saw this car spin out; probably lost control going too fast around curves:

Car spun out

Truck parking area:

Truck parking area

Road works:

Road works

Sunflowers:

Sunflowers

Rail bridge over Madison River:

Rail bridge over Madison River

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Closed rest area:

Closed rest area

Our Lady of the Rockies” statue in Butte, Montana:

Statue

Clark Fork:

Clark Fork

Horse in the water:

Horse

Arriving at our destination, Jim & Mary’s RV Park:

Jim & Mary's RV Park

Office

Our site

Using a filter canister to help sanitize the coach water systems

Since we drink the water in our fresh water tank, it is important to keep it clean. In addition to five filters, that we replace every three months, every six months we use bleach to sanitize the tank and pipes in our coach. This involves diluting 12 ounces of bleach in the water tank (about half full), running it through the pipes until we can smell the bleach, then filling the water tank and leaving it overnight, and finally flushing it out with a couple of dump/fill cycles.

Previously, we tried adding the bleach via a small inline container hooked to the hose, but it was too small for the amount of bleach required. We also tried mixing the bleach in a bucket and pouring it in the gravity fill for our tank, but that wasn’t ideal either.

But I came up with another idea: I purchased a filter system with a clear canister, and put the bleach in that, without the filter itself, and connected it to my hoses (with quick connectors, naturally). It’s bigger than needed, but better too big than too small. And is much easier to add the bleach without risking spilling any:

Filter canister

Filter canister

Filter canister

That was much easier!

Love’s RV Stop – Hardin, Montana

We stayed at a Love’s RV Stop in Hardin, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

An easy one-night stop; our first stay at a Love’s RV Stop.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-07-31
  • Check out: 2024-08-01
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temp 89°F, low 59°F
  • Negligible wind, gusts to 11 MPH

Noise:

  • Some road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • No immediate neighbor noise, but noise from the adjacent Loves truck stop

Site:

  • #40, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • Fairly level site; a little high in the back; used air leveling, since only one night
  • Gravel driveway about 65 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • 14 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Picnic table on grass
  • No trees
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 65 PSI water, very conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 50 Mbps down, 14 Mbps up, 160 ms ping
  • Verizon: 10 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Truck stop next door

Our review on Campground Reviews:

You can check out, but you can never leave

This was our first stay at a Love’s RV Stop, and it will not be our last. It was convenient on/off the interstate and the self-service check-in went without an issue. As some other folks have mentioned, the sewer hookup is a bit far back (we had to use 3x 10-foot hoses, which is more than most people would have), but the other utilities were convenient and worked well. The only issue we had was when we went to leave. The automatic exit gate refused to acknowledge our presence, and since we had our tow vehicle hooked up, we couldn’t back up and try it again unless we unhooked, which is a bit of a hassle. However, I called the help number, and someone came right over to let us out. He also mentioned that they were working on this issue, so it may not still be a concern. We camped at Love’s RV Stop – Hardin MT 679 in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Excellent Indian Tacos at Custer Battlefield Trading Post & Cafe, across the street from Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, which is also worth visiting….

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

I didn’t hook up the sewer until the next morning. Some reviews complained that it was too far back on the site, and yes, it is a bit; I needed three 10 foot sewer hoses, which is more than the usual one or two (and more than many people would have), but certainly not the worst I’ve ever experienced:

Sewer pipes

The other utilities; the electric had to be enabled via a link we received via email:

Electrical

A notice on the faucet:

Water notice

Utilities

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

One major hassle: we exited just fine in our truck, but when we tried to leave with our coach, the exit gate wouldn’t open:

Exit gate

We called the Love’s store (using the number in the text we received to check in), and someone came over on a golf cart to open it for us. He said that the sensor under the concrete is calibrated badly, so if you go too slow it doesn’t trigger. He said they’ll have someone recalibrate it soon. It’s a brand-new park, so I’m willing to cut them some slack for teething issues. Still, super annoying for us, since we can’t reverse to try again with our truck hooked up; we would have had to untoad and re-toad.

An easy one-night stop; we would be happy to stay here again, especially for a one-night stay. And hopefully they’ll fix the exit gate before that!

Travel from Custer, South Dakota to Hardin, Montana

We drove our coach 308 miles, about five hours of driving, from Custer, South Dakota to Hardin, Montana.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:

Route map

An interactive map:

Our truck was rather dusty from a dirt road in Custer State Park:

Dusty truck

Kinda looks like it’s snowing:

Dusty truck

Interesting rocks on the highway out of the park:

Rocks

Bismarck Lake:

Bismarck Lake

An RV park we might stay at next year:

RV park

More interesting rocks:

Rocks

Buffalo art in Custer:

Buffalo art in Custer

Buffalo art in Custer

Purple Pie Place in Custer, which we enjoyed on our previous visit:

Purple Pie Place

Narrow Winding Road, No Shoulders:

Narrow Winding Road, No Shoulders

Bighorn Sheep Crossing:

Bighorn Sheep Crossing

Entering Jewel Cave National Monument:

Entering Jewel Cave National Monument

Curves:

Curves

US-16:

US-16

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

59.898 gallons of diesel for $200:

59.898 gallons of diesel for $200

Hills:

Hills

Nice overpass:

Nice overpass

Rest area:

Rest area

Welcome to Montana:

Welcome to Montana

Our destination, a Love’s RV Stop:

Love's RV Stop

Love's RV Stop

Love's RV Stop

Shower shelf bar

A handy tweak: to be able to leave bottles on the upper shelf in our shower, even when traveling, we added a self-adhesive shower shelf bar (Amazon link):

Shower shelf bar

A closer look:

Shower shelf bar

It works really well. One less thing to have to worry about on travel days!

Mount Coolidge, Wind Cave National Park, Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park

A scenic drive up Mount Coolidge in Custer State Park, then anti-clockwise through Wind Cave National Park (which is still not available for cave tours), and back through Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park, with lots of bison seen.

A fire lookout at the top of Mount Coolidge, at 6,020 feet elevation:

Fire lookout

Fire lookout

Views:

Road

View

Bison in Wind Cave National Park:

Bison in Wind Cave National Park

Pigtail loop in Wind Cave National Park:

Pigtail loop in Wind Cave National Park

One lane bridge in Wind Cave National Park:

One way bridge in Wind Cave National Park

More bison in Wind Cave National Park:

Bison in Wind Cave National Park

Out of the park, along a dirt road:

Dirt road

To an entrance back into Wind Cave National Park:

Dirt road entrance to Wind Cave National Park

Dirt road

Then joining Custer State Park’s Wildlife Loop:

Wildlife Loop

Bison Center:

Bison Center

Bison Center

A map showing where the wildlife was at the time. We told the ranger that the burros were actually in the corrals in front of the Bison Center (the fence was open, so they wandered in to eat the tasty food):

Bison Center

Wild burros and fans:

Burros

Following that map, we found a large herd of bison:

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison having a dust bath

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

Nice.

Iron Mountain Road, Needles Highway, Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park

We enjoyed a super scenic drive though Custer State Park, along Iron Mountain Road and Needles Highway, with multiple narrow tunnels, fun twisty roads, and impressive views. Then went along the Wildlife Loop.

The map from their website; click or tap to see larger:

Map

An interactive map of our route; we started at the Legion Lake Campground, heading northeast towards the Norbeck Overlook waypoint along the Iron Mountain Road, continuing anti-clockwise to Sylvan Lake, where we had lunch and a walk, then through the middle and clockwise around the Wildlife Loop, back to the campground:

A narrow and low tunnel:

Narrow and short tunnel

Two narrow and low tunnels:

Two narrow and short tunnels

The second tunnel emerges to a bridge and corkscrew:

Tunnel to bridge and corkscrew

Another narrow tunnel:

Narrow and short tunnel

This one has a peek of Mount Rushmore:

Mount Rushmore

We went past Mount Rushmore on the route (been there before; not worth stopping again):

Mount Rushmore

The first tunnel on the Needles Highway:

Narrow and short tunnel

A selfie at Sylvan Lake:

Selfie at Sylvan Lake

We strolled along the lakeside after lunch; one of our favorite places:

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Needle’s Eye:

Needle's Eye

Needle’s Eye tunnel:

Narrow and short tunnel

More interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Narrow and short tunnel

Wildlife:

Deer

Turkeys

Deer

Prairie Dogs

Prairie Dogs

Bison

Sunset

Bison