Rural MONTANA: Backroads Towns Far Off The Interstate

I visited these rural Montana towns: White Sulphur Springs & Townsend.
Travel Vlog 321

[@rangers7259]

As a Brit, I’ve learned more about your great nation by watching your videos than from any other source… outstanding KZbin channel…🇺🇸🇬🇧👍

[@rhondatanner1157]

Love that castle building

[@rhondatanner1157]

Look at that sky

[@ghostlyimageoffear6210]

I met a Brit in the tiny town of Ovando, MT some years back. I asked him if he was from Liverpool because he sounded just like the Beatles. He was so fun and friendly and exuberant, he put outgoing Americans to shame. He was hosted by former American neighbors who used to live in England and they were on their way to Yellowstone. We were in the only general store in town which had photographs of grizzlies who stalk through at night. Short time later a camper in that town was dragged out of her tent and mauled to death by a grizzly.

[@apocyldoomer]

Greetings from across the pond!

[@markv22711]

Awesome content 🍰🍰💯🔥

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Thank you 🤗

[@josephrobi6806]

My phone volume was off lol😅

[@lauriehill9933]

Living in Montana is not for the faint of heart. You must have a pioneer spirit be self reliant and not expect amenities like you find in bigger cities. Most of these small towns you have to travel a fair distance for supplies and in the winter that can be tricky. I raised 4 children in a small town in Montana so the advice is solid. My sons graduating class was 22 kids and the whole town turned out to wish them all well. After the kids graduate, they move away There are just no opportunities to keep them around

[@MGQ888]

You got that right. We homesteaded in Montana. We started in 1991 and left in 2002. Our place was off grid and we lived like pioneers along with a couple of other families up a single track gulch. I wouldn't trade those years and experiences for anything. You learn a lot about yourself when the modern world is not on your doorstep.

[@randallvoth8810]

I just went to a graduation in Montana and the graduating class was a whopping 5!

[@erincaywood7596]

@@randallvoth8810that’s pretty common 😂

[@jb117354]

It's always relaxing watching these videos. I must say I enjoy the rural town tours over larger cities. Thanks for keeping videos approximately 20 minutes. Don't have the time to watch hour long videos and I thank you for that. Quality Content here.

[@lisalarouge6309]

FYI, Meagher county is pronounced “Mahr”. It’s Irish.

[@RupanagudiRaviShankar]

From India: Despite getting a student visa in 1983; could not make it to the US due to family reasons. even assuming I did come over, I am certain I would have at best seen few towns [ maybe ] of this vast country. but now sitting somewhere thousands mile away, thanks to this channel i am seeing most of the US towns and motorways. thanks to both of you.

[@robertwatkins364]

From Townsend Montana, you are about 35 miles from Three Forks Montana close to I 90. That area is where the Jefferson, Madison, and Galliton, rivers come together to form the Missouri River. You would be literally at the head waters of the longest river in the U.S.

[@ghostlyimageoffear6210]

Lewis & Clark, and Gallatin City!

[@patm5594]

Those must be the last 2 towns in America without a Dollar General...lol

[@ninja_revert]

Quite a few towns in NJ don't have any Dollar Generals

[@annenyman678]

Here in Deerfield MA we don’t have one because the town fought them off!

[@RichardFelstead1949]

I enjoy "Small Town USA" videos. Greetings from Australia.

[@wmwho]

Townsend and White Sulphur Springs are both great examples of Mid-Sized towns in Montana. If you want small size, head about 15 miles south to Toston...that is a great example of a Small Town in Montana. This was a great video taking me back home (literally). Thank you

[@kevinspilker6622]

There's no experience quite like going through the utterly spiritually beautiful Glacier Park and suddenly finding yourself in.....Browning. Browning is a hard, hard place. There are lots of good people that live there, but the problems they face in that community are staggering. A spouse of a family member worked as an emergency room in their ER, and on the weekends, Browning's ER would be indiscernible from any of our nation's largest cities. Gunshot wounds, car accidents, overdoses, assaults, etc. She eventually moved to Seattle and found working as an ER nurse a relief compared to Browning. If you guys get a chance again, taking Highway 2 through Glacier is a bucket list experience. As is visiting Browning. For the opposite reasons.

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

We will do that.

[@kevinspilker6622]

@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip and if you happen to head back on i90, Wallace, Idaho is a really, really cool town. The Silver Valley of Idaho was once one of the richest regions in the world. It was kind of the last holdout of the robber barons and the old west. After an apocalyptic fire that helped establish the forest service, Wallace rebuilt.

[@randallvoth8810]

If you do that trip, a good little town to finish with would be Choteau. Population is about 1750 and they have lots of interesting things to see...

[@NickManCuso59]

If you're thinking of moving here think again. Sometimes during the winter months it can get brutally cold . 40 -50 below zero is not unusual !

[@GrabLifeByTheStones.]

I am fine with that.

[@williamwilkins3084]

Yep. I'll stay away - I wouldn't even be able to get my car started when it's that cold! Or even get in it to try and do so since the door would be so froze shut!

[@NickManCuso59]

@@williamwilkins3084 Smart man, but you'd be surprised what you can endure when your survival depends on it ! 🥶☠️

[@williamwilkins3084]

@@NickManCuso59 I guess survival would be only for the fittest up there! It's not easy to survive the weather here in Nebraska!

[@MTknitter22]

Every place has its weather challenges. There are areas of MT such as Kalispell where winter is not bad at all. A number of Texans are in Montana and they love the ranching life there - my son lives amongst them. Texans & Montanans have a lot in common - a hardiness it takes to deal with 🥶 or 🥵🥵🥵

[@johnfitzpatrick2469]

G,day Nic and Joe from Sydney Australia. I'm enjoying the look at MT Big sky. Q1. Is it better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all? Q2. Are church doors locked because the holiness is only inside? 🌏🇦🇺

[@NBZW]

I the late 90’s, we traveled a number of back country roads in Montana, one that really stood out went out of Columbus. The place had a closed bank with a calendar from 1929 on the wall, a number of other closed buildings had all the windows intact as did the bank... I’m assuming the town was in the vicinity of Rapelje, the elevator had the name of a major brewing company.

[@ghostlyimageoffear6210]

Incredible.

[@KB-lz3gq]

These towns look pretty cheerless and I am betting that mood doesn't lift much even in Summer months

[@ZackBlaise]

that deck at 6:47 not only looks bad, but really dangerous

[@Eunice377]

Always thrilled for a new upoad! Thanks for the tour in rural Montana.

[@cokesquirrel]

Wow I really miss driving across the country. That is a beautiful town thanks for sharing the video

[@LarryHeagren]

You lost me with the snow fences along the highway. To live in Montana you need to deal with some very deep snow. The area is very beautiful but there is a reason these places are more affordable --- SNOW!! It is an over rated substance that isn't fun when you are older.

[@SuperChicken666]

The house, just before the castle, at 0500 looks to me to be in the style of Early Adams Family. Love it.😊

[@pstan5899]

7:17 2 old Great Northern Pullman's with lousy local repaint, still classics, one boxcar, date unknown

[@armandogutierrez5212]

Thank you for all the driving you do.

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

My pleasure!

[@grape196]

From Russia with love! 🙃👀💌🇺🇸 Thank you for sharing! 👏 God Bless you! ❤️

[@teresap268]

First Dollar General in Montana, was Oct 2023 in Columbia Falls

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Interesting.

[@snowblind.]

The first in Washington state was July 2023 in Wilbur

[@ghostlyimageoffear6210]

I have a book about a Emmanuel Taylor Gordon, who grew up a hundred years ago in White Sulphur Springs, a black man, who worked briefly on Ringling's (yes, of circus fame) railroad and then part of the Harlem Renaissance. Been to Townsend and Ringling and south and east on Convict Road, but not to White Sulphur Springs.

[@alexandralovesgoats3360]

I love White Sulpher Springs. The downtown and country side are both understated and nice. The quiet appeals to me. The castle is stunning! I love the crunch your tires make on the gravel roads. Awesome mountains. Townsend is a nice town. I like the fairytale house too.

[@MetaLeir93]

Entertaining, informative and refreshing. I never saw somebody give so much time and exposure to forgotten towns in the USA. Watching this it feels like you really wanted to know what was going on in these towns, you didn't just do it for the youtube money. But I do hope you get your dues from this channel in terms of $. You're showing people how to pay attention to the little things in life

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Wow, thank you!

[@ES-mc3cc]

It would be nice to spend part of the summer in that third town. But after 45 years in the Midwest, I don't want to see snow again! I'm doing fine in Florida!

[@briannave7326]

I am from Iowa and used to feed cattle and bought feeder calves from the Miles City, Montana area.

[@JP-Au-Schulz]

It’s “Big Sky Country” for a reason. Large state really empty of population, slow life style there too. At one point on the interstate, saw a sign that state next gas station was somewhat like 300 miles away. Crazy. Nothing against Montana, just not for me. Great video!

[@barkerjames1980]

Meagher County- pronounced as 'Marr'.

[@joeespo177]

White Sulphur Springs like it could be a nice place to live. Most notable to me were the rail cars with no graffiti on them. Very rare in today's world. You could show your kids what trains used to look like.

[@chambaa1000]

It has high crime for such a small town

[@donaldsteese5362]

We spend a couple months a year in a town of about 1700; big by rural Montana standards. Extreme northeast part of the state in prairie country. Love it there!! No Dollar General but there is a Family Dollar, which is a division of Dollar Tree.

[@cecoya]

Some nice small towns for sure. Both are beautiful as well. No WalMarts, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, or Family Dollar either. Nice!!! Have a great day

[@breannathompson9094]

i love montana, the only thing stopping me is the competition for jobs in these little towns... i dont wanna take a job from a person who was born and raised there tbh there are so little opportunities for younger folk, thats why its a retirement zone lol.

[@dalepxp8963]

It’s vastly spread out and you pay a lot of money for those views. I think too much. Can you imagine how much it would cost to build a new home there? The gasoline is very expensive. So, everything else is as well. It is below zero, or right at zero for many months every year. Hard to get to know people, and they are grumpy, depressed like. It’s depressing to live in the cold with people that really don’t want to get to know you.

[@1951Roy]

I'm thinking if the city approved a Dollar General it might put all the Mom and Pops out of business.

[@josephrobi6806]

I am looking with my family to be living there. Thanks for those datas

[@earlwheelock7844]

I have been there, you do NOT want to retire there, as the winters there are LOOOOONG and extremly COLD and the wind howls A

[@randallvoth8810]

Haha! That's when you go take in the hot springs and thaw out. Surprised they missed that one, since that is what the town is named for.

[@earlwheelock7844]

@@randallvoth8810 I forgot about them, I sure been thru them often enough times, ( on US20 driving a semi ) I wonder if Thermopolis is in the Wind river reservation, if so I cant live there as I am not an NA!!, also wonder if you could get free or reduced price HOT WATER!! TO HEAT YUR HOUSE IN THE LOOONG COOOLD winters, if I remember right, its a beutiful town!!.

[@allenrmontana]

It was good to see you do White Sulpher and Townsend. They are basic Montana towns, they have what you need to survive, and a lot of agriculture. Dollar General has not spread up here very much, we have one in the Flathead now but it is brand new. Myrna Loy was born in Radersburg, just a little south of Townsend. I appreciate you doing normal cities here, and not the resort areas. These are what regular Montana towns look like, not what you see on "Yellowstone". I appreciate the job you did here.

[@elainepittman8773]

So glad you spoke to the doggies!

[@jburnett8152]

They wanted to know if he could throw a ball. 😅

[@TinkerTailor4303]

They looked like they really wanted to visit!🤗

[@lindsaybrown7357]

They looked like Blue Heelers.

[@icandrum4u]

income is good, but the cost of living is not good for most / RENT is high

[@nancysimpson4246]

I enjoy your videos. I always learn something no matter what video I listen to I always learn something. Thank you so much.❤

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Thank you, Nancy!

[@nancykruger1392]

Dirk Benedict is from White Sulphur Springs. He is best known for playing the characters Lieutenant Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica film and television series and Templeton "Faceman" Peck in The A-Team television series.

[@RandyFelts2121]

Thanks for the tour Joe.

[@eddiesofast]

You missed Dillon , a beautiful town of 4800 in south western Montana , Beaverhead County. Home of university of Montana Western . Great fishing , mountain s and recreation abound.

[@ghostlyimageoffear6210]

And if one goes to Dillon, they must spend the 20 miles to get to the ghost town of Bannack!

[@MonteD1]

I owned the house Patrick Duffy grew up in in the 90s. There are Family Dollars, not Dollar Generals in Montana

[@grahamhorne6956]

Greetings from England. Montana certainly is the state. I'm a bit long in the tooth now but being a keen wild camper if ever I had got to the US Montana certainly is the state that appeals. Your travelogues are very good. Well done.

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Thank you, Graham!

[@johnnycashh7148]

Off the beaten path...I believe Patrick Duffy's parents were murdered in their family owned bar 30+ yrs ago if I remember correctly.

[@sundown3823]

The town was, Boulder, Mt.:)

[@roncall6245]

That median home value sounds pre-pandemic... nothing close to that price currently available.

[@godoypr2010]

The X-Files. You know there are people, but they just don't show up anywhere!

[@margaretthatcher6828]

Welcome to Montana...we hope you had a great time.

[@hilarybramley7529]

Another one of your wonderful videos! Great idea to incorporate the visual graphics for the statistics.

[@mariesheppard3750]

Thanks for the ride today

[@poowg2657]

White Sulphur Springs was the very end of a Milwaukee Road Branch served by the local railroad you mentioned. It was mostly a grain hauler with trucks doing all of the heavy hauling today. Another great tour, thanks much!

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Thanks for the info!

[@MilePost106]

I hauled grain through here back in the mid 1990’s and loved it! There’s a Hutterite colony on the outside of town I went to and knew some of the people there and a couple of their boys moved here to Minnesota just west of me about that time. They are still here to this day. You are following my trail when I left White Sulphur Springs and went on to Townsend to load grain.

[@nadie2795]

Montana is NOT an EVehicle-Friendly state, thankfully

[@kathyburgess9536]

It is so beautiful there. My sister lived in Sundance Wyoming for years and it was a treat to visit them.

[@usmcmos0317]

Great video Joe. Now this is beautiful to me. Love Montana and the area. But man these folks are way tougher than me. LoL cause me and all my metal parts holding me together couldn’t handle the winters there. I’m still a hit weather desert guy. LoL and from what few times I was through the state every thing is way out there. LoL but I sure love the privacy it has and beautiful landscape every where. Both those towns are plenty big enough for me. Now just to have a place 10-20 miles out be fine for me. And a house bout like that small log cabin would be just fine. Actually it’s probably a little bit bigger than the little house I’m living in. 13:52 So me and my best buddy my dog have all the room we need. Great job as usual safe travels my friend. Keep filming and I’ll keep watching

[@sandrahansen83]

I have been to Billings Montana where we had a chuck wagon dinner just outside the city. It was very entertaining. Melbourne Australia

[@jburnett8152]

Montana is beautiful. I couldn't do the winters though. I always thought it would be cool to renovate a train car into a tiny home. Today is the first day we are starting to feel some heat. 😩

[@bayoumanbryan]

ive thought about the same thing. some of those old rail cars were really awesome on the inside

[@coreysmith8560]

Montana state looks beautiful. The log cabins are cozy looking.

[@dixierebel1860]

Rural MT. What a great place!

[@annenyman678]

That must be a hard place for kids to grow up in with very little to do.

[@dfree1here]

Don’t think I’d want to live here😮

[@JosiahKillion]

My uncle used to run the deli there at the Townsend grocery. Great video.

[@looooooch]

Damn, USA es beautiful. I hope visit someday

[@richardwatson8219]

Thanks Joe and Nic for your video's, most enjoyable. Noticed in this video how the Silver birches are barely in leaf in early May, here in New Zealand start turning green in the first weeks of spring, two months before Montana.

[@buzzsah]

Not crazy about it. No for me.

[@gaius_enceladus]

NZer here - I love Montana! I went through it on a road trip with my Canadian uncle in 2002. Lovely place! I don't remember going through White Sulphur Springs but it looks like my kind of place! Nice and quiet, in the middle of some great scenery. Looks like a good place for hiking.

[@icandrum4u]

If you make it to Eastern Montana hit me up. I can show you places, and ghost towns etc.

[@joebehrdenver]

Black Hills native here: Every town seems to have a Stockmens' Bar. :) Thanks as always for the great content. MT is lovely and also not for the faint of heart!

[@michaelwoods9669]

God i miss this state, the weather, fresh air.. moving back asap.

[@stevenmoser7233]

Love your back road town vlogs the best. I'm truly thankful for the videos because it's very interesting to see places through another's eyes.

[@Shawnroberts1980]

Really enjoy these videos. Especially the remote, small towns. I will open google maps on another monitor and follow along with you from town to town. Keep up the great work!

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

I like that!

[@o8thman812]

Frank Zappa sings they grow dental floss in Montana. Shame we didn’t see any…

[@zauq5010]

Cat spotted in the 1st town 7:55 sitting at the door.

[@PCBill0622]

It’s called the Big Sky for good reason.

[@Victory1981]

Beautiful backdrops! Rock on

[@Yawndave]

A couple of nice looking towns in the northern Great Plains -- as you say, there's some beautiful country up there. I like the "dogs-looking-out-the window" sticker on the 2 Basset Brewery Truck at 3:59 and the Dancing Ants photo-stand in at 9:49 (for the Red Ants Pants Music Festival it seems 🙂 ) Maybe someday you can check out the "other" White Sulfur Springs in West Virginia and treat yourselves to a night at the Greenbrier.

[@TinkerTailor4303]

How did you see that sticker at 3:59 so fast??!

[@Yawndave]

@@TinkerTailor4303 Heh...well, like our host, I enjoy walking around downtown areas with an eye out for interesting "stuff". I can't say how many times I've paused and rewound videos to check out a random article in Joey's city rambles.

[@siphomogale779]

Great quiet rural town👌👌

[@robertwatkins364]

If you really want to take in the sights go back to Helena, then north on 280 I think, it has been many years for me. Look for, the gates of the mountains river tour. You will experience some of God's best work! You will never forget it.

[@Christina-ge3xr]

I find these small towns very appealing. The only thing I find concerning is the availability of health services. Larger cities tend to have more options. It’s a trade off I guess. Thanks for the tour 😊.

[@icandrum4u]

Lincoln Montana is a pretty drive about an hour or so from Helena. It has a beef jerky factory, and is the location of the Ted Kacynski's cabin and the post office he mailed things from. Watch for wildlife on the roads lol....

[@johnellington1932]

Over 100 year bar in Hamilton, MT

[@kybruce1]

I remember one of my daughter's friends in high school would spend summers with grandparents in Montana. She said was a three hour drive to nearest Walmart. Pretty remote

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Yep. The nearest Walmart is far away.

[@sherriganske4292]

Illinois looks cluttered compared to montana

[@melvinmulder7750]

I wonder what is the story of the sheep wagon in the side yard of the big stone castle-looking house.

[@randallvoth8810]

They have a carriage house full of buggies and wagons. Probably it's turn in the sunshine? The area was sheep country way back when.

[@Neilsowards]

It seemed there were few trees in the residential areas. Maybe too dry? Or too cold? In White Sulphur Springs I mean. Looked like more trees in Townsend.

[@SKumar-kp7fq]

This is entirely an new perspective of the US for me, i did get to stay in US for 2 years but expect for some big cities on the east coast i never had a chance to see the real country side. I would always wonder how rural America looked like and lived. Thanks to these videos of yours i am re-living it, It would be more interesting if you could also include the employment opportunities people in this small towns avail of, Thanks.

[@ssourick]

Dogs are good too.

[@rikspector]

Joe and NIc, I like Townsend, but do you see all those peaked roofed houses?. I don't think I would like their winters. Empty rugged state, but Glacier Park is awesome. Some of the best backpacking I ever did. Cheers, Rik Spector

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

It gets very cold there. :)

[@danmoritz3319]

Are you going to Harlem, Montana ? What an inappropriate name for a place, huh, considering its polar opposite namesake in New York ? From a highly distinctive satellite view, it looks like it sits in a greener, narrow ribbon of river valley with farms and ranches in the midst of a vast, much drier north central Montana high plains. It's near a Native American reservation so has a higher percentage of that ethnicity. From social media posts, I've seen, it looks like the character of the people are a little on the "rougher, wild and woolly" ranching and rodeo" style of living. It's a part of Montana far fewer travel to.

[@bluehusky2154]

Welcome to Montana! I think you'd like exploring the small towns out in the eastern half of the state, definitely come by Miles City sometime, my hometown.

[@WhittyPics]

I bet it gets too cold in the winter for me . That looks like one of those towns that everybody knows one another? Looks like pretty scenery.

[@JoeandNicsRoadTrip]

Yes, it gets VERY cold there.

[@umrmech84]

For a small rural town in Montana, White Sulphur Springs sure has a LOT of ice machines! Very unusual. Townsend too. Along with an outhouse!

[@handsomeX]

Beat me to it 😂

[@bayoumanbryan]

Probably to ice down all of the wildlife harvested for food. deer, elk, moose, dall sheep, mountain goats probably even bear

[@randallvoth8810]

There is a ton of recreation in the area. Everyone needs ice!

[@johnjaco5544]

Most people can't accept 8 months of winter per year. Montana has a very high rate in property tax.

[@michaelgallone7409]

No they don't liver lips

[@randallvoth8810]

Yeah, they do. They don't have a sales tax so the property owners finance a big share of the state government.

[@michaelgallone7409]

Uh no We don't

[@davidellis5141]

The building at 5:15 is amazing !

[@apocyldoomer]

@ 10:11, now that’s the simple log cabin I would just love as a 2nd getaway home, I’m the Mountains tucked away in the woods, I’m a simple man, but, this will never happen for me… bummer!

[@thecook8964]

Looks boring...