slopeflyer.com

Slope Flying near Red Lodge, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana is known as the Gateway to Yellowstone Park and is the northern town at the beginning the beautiful Bear Tooth Highway. It is a true western town where hospitality is still in vogue and has grown up as a mining town, center of area commerce and now a still not too crowded resort town with great attractions in both summer and winter.


The day I flew there the wind was about 15mph, straight in. I flew my Airtech Pixel several times and had some excellent flights. The good slope lift was augmented by HUGE thermals. I gained several hundred feet in a few seconds at times. It seemed that if I stayed in close to the ridge the slope lift was fairly consistent and if I ranged out I could hook the giant thermals. There was no problem doing all the aerobatics I wanted and the only thing that cut the flying short was not wanting to push my family’s patience. They are very understanding and I want to keep it that way!

Take Montana RT 308 east out of Red Lodge, MT towards Bear Creek and about 3 miles from town there is a really nice slope flying spot at the scenic turn out. The slope faces east and is several hundred feet high. Way down in the valley is the town of Bear Creek, 5 or 6 miles away. This is a park and fly spot and the landing area is decent.

BTW, my wife, Wendy, took the accompanying pictures. Thanks, dear!

Note that there is a scenic overlook that looks over Red Lodge closer to town than the 3-mile turnout. I did not try it but it looks good too. I believe it faces west.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll To Top
Skip to toolbar