Wibaux to Chief Mountain

Day 12

After a leisurely morning in Polson, perhaps stopping in at the Miracle of America Museum or the Flathead-Polson Historical Museum, head north on U.S. 93 to Lakeside, where you can find The Rack, which is on the left at the intersection with the road up to the Blacktail Mountain Ski Area.

The Rack is two businesses in the same building--Tamarack Brewing and Tamarack Alehouse and Grill. You can enjoy both some mighty fine microbrew and a great lunch at The Rack.

After lunch, drive U.S. 93 six more miles north to the intersection with State Highway 208/82. Turn east (right) here and then, seven miles later, south (right) on State Highway 35. Go eight miles, through Bigfork, to find to your next brewery stop, Flathead Lake Brewing, on your left in Woods Bay.

After a late afternoon visit to the tasting room (where you can also get some tasty pub fare), jump back on State Highway 35 and head north, through Bigfork, staying on State Highway 35 all the way to Kalispell where you can either take U.S. Highway 2/State Highway 40 or U.S. 93 to Whitefish. If you need to stop at some big box stores, take U.S. 93. If you want a faster, nicer drive take U.S. 2 and State Highway 40.

At Whitefish, after checking into your room, before or after dinner, check out Great Northern Brewing, which also has a beer and wine license, so it stays open "until it closes," usually around midnight. You can get a great view of Big Mountain and the Whitefish Mountain Resort from the taproom, which is called Black Star Draught House. You can walk from the taproom to many fine restaurants in historic downtown Whitefish, but in any case, take some time to enjoy the Great Northern because it's your last brewery stop in Montana.