Moon Handbooks Montana (Moon Handbooks: Montana, 5th Ed)

Rating:
Summary: A good fill in book
Review: I bought this along with several other books on Montana. Its a good resource and has a lot of information, but I found it was hard to use. It was more like a textbook that required me to dig and take notes. While they did provide a few maps, they were sketchy and really didn't help me find where things were located. This is compared to the Montana Roadside Directory which I found to be nicely laid out, and easy to use. I would still recommend the purchase of this if your planning a trip as a supplement to other information. It was my second favorite book of the several I bought.

Rating:
Summary: Thorough, Unique and Interesting
Review: I would highly recommend any of the Moon Publication Handbooks, the Montana handbook is an excellent example of the accurate, in-depth coverage the Moon Company provides. There are many little things covered in the Moon handbooks that are omitted from the big travel names such as AAA and Frommers. This includes personalized information on ghost towns and local restaurants, and unique details on off the beaten path destinations often omitted from other major travel guides. Keep up the good work Moon!

Rating:
Summary: Not the best, not the worst
Review: Just finished a 6 week trip through 6 states with the family. We used the Moon books in every other state because they were the best we could find. We (my wife and 8 and 10 year-old kids) thought they all had a lot of information, but were helpful only with pointing out highlights of an area. When it came to finding places, it was lacking in details. They all list restaurants, but only a few in the area. In Montana we were fortunate to find another, much more complete and easy to use book (The Ultimate Montana Atlas). The Moon Montana book went pretty much unread as it never seemed to give us the information we were looking for. Were it the only thing we had to use, it would have sufficed. It is small, which is one advantage, but you will need several other books to supplement it (ie maps, hikes, scenic drives, etc.). You get what you pay for with this book. My advice is to spend a few dollars more and get one that has everything in it.

Rating:
Summary: Montana Handbook Gives Great Information
Review: The Montana Handbook gives very insightfull information on Montana. The book is throughly detailed and is far supior to the AAA tourguide. This book gives information on ghost towns that are in areas not well traveled, and is great for people who want to travel the 2 lane highways of America and see something besides Interstate Highways. If only the Idaho Handbook was half as good.