Red Lodge, Montana, named most charming small town in the country
‘We are still a community first of all, and that’s what we try to hang on to, that small town, family-friendly feel,’ the executive director of the Red Lodge Chamber of Commerce said.
If you’re planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park anytime soon, you may kick yourself if you don’t make a stop in Red Lodge, recently named the most charming town in the United States.
With a population of a little over 2,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Red Lodge was named No. 1 on a list of 10 small towns by InsureMyTrip, a travel insurance company based in Rhode Island.
InsureMyTrip made its choice by looking at how peaceful and spacious the town feels, the number of festivals it hosts, its safety, the ratings given to local restaurants and cafes, and the quality of the hotels. All of the towns on the list have populations of between 1,000 and 6,000.
Red Lodge is located in the Beartooth Mountains, encircled by Custer Gallatin National Forest.
Sherry Weamer is the executive director of the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce. She’s lived in the town for 35 years.
“We are still a community first of all, and that’s what we try to hang on to, that small town, family-friendly feel,” Weamer told the Montana Independent.
Weamer said the town works hard to raise money each year for the flower baskets that hang from the light poles downtown in spring and summer. She said, “The American flag flying up and down Main Street just shows that we care about our town.”
Red Lodge sits at the starting point of Beartooth Highway, designated an “All-American Road” by the American Highway Association. It is a scenic route that stretches about 60 miles from Montana to Yellowstone National Park and was once referred to by the late journalist and author Charles Kuralt as the most beautiful roadway in America.
Aside from one Subway sandwich shop, Weamer said all of the shops in town are independently owned. Red Lodge has one elementary school, one middle school, and one newly built high school, home of the Red Lodge Rams sports teams.
Red Lodge is also home to the historic Pollard Hotel, established in 1893. According to the hotel’s website, It hosted William Jennings Bryan, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Calamity Jane.
For work, Weamer says, some residents commute to Billings, which is about 60 miles away. Other residents work at the local Beartooth Billings Clinic and the Red Lodge ski resort.
Weamer said what she thinks makes the town great are its welcoming feel and the diversity of visitors to the area.
“It’s such a neat variety of people,” Weamer said. “You’ve got your ranchers and your ag[ricultural] folks. And then we welcome the motorcyclists when they travel through on the way to Sturgis. And then we do a lot of racing, from running, mountain biking, all that, car shows. So it’s a really neat variety of people, and they all come together and have fun.”
On InsureMyTrip’s list, Red Lodge is followed by Cannon Beach, Oregon; Cape May, New Jersey; Sun Valley, Idaho; Panguitch, Utah; Welch, West Virginia; McCall, Idaho; Deadwood, South Dakota; Ferndale, California; and Sisters, Oregon.
