Travel The SE Montana Burger Trail

Billings, Mont.-Visit Southeast Montana tourism is inviting people to become "Burger Bosses" by following the Southeast Montana Burger Trail, which spotlights burgers from local restaurants in the region for visitors and residents looking for an authentic taste of Montana.

Through a new mobile passport, Visit Southeast Montana is gamifying the Burger Trail to encourage visitation to rural communities and bring together two of Montana's top industries: agriculture and tourism. By downloading the Southeast Montana Burger Trail passport developed by Bandwango, burger trailblazers can track their progress as they seek out the culinary treasures on the trail. Each passport check-in along the Burger Trail earns entry into a contest for a Yeti cooler. After visiting four stops on the Burger Trail, burger seekers will receive a custom sticker, and eight stops will earn them "Burger Boss" status, which comes with a branded t-shirt.

"The Southeast Montana Burger Trail brings visitors and residents to the tables and barstools of our local cafes and restaurants," said Brenda Maas, marketing director for Visit Southeast Montana. "We're beefing up our marketing efforts to promote the home cooking and award-winning cuisine that's emblematic of our part of the state, all while driving tourism dollars to small communities out here."

In addition to increasing marketing efforts with the passport, new burgers have been added to the trail, such as Bleu's Burger at Vintage & Rustics in Montana on Main Street in Miles City.

"We don't have big names or a large advertising budget," said Brandy Williams, manager of the American Legion Post 28 in Glendive. "The Burger Trail helps us small businesses get noticed. The Legionnaire is our signature burger-the one we started with-and ever since we've been on the Southeast Montana Burger Trail, there have been folks that came in specifically to try it. Some have even become regulars."

The Southeast Montana Burger Trail entices visitors traveling through the Visit Southeast Montana tourism region to stop off the highway and get more familiar with the area's unique communities through the age-old art of storytelling through food.

For example, the Broken Knuckle Burger at the Joseph Café in Forsyth speaks to the community's deep railroading roots, while the Fried Green Tomato & Bacon Burger at the Roy Rodgers Bar in Terry provides an unexpected option with a Western flair. (Ed: Powder River Lanes and their MOAB Burger are also on the list.)

Visit Southeast Montana launched the Burger Trail in April 2022 with more than 20 locations across 13 counties in southeast Montana. Through a grant from the Montana Department of Commerce's Eastern Montana Tourism Partner Initiative and regional tourism marketing funds, the Burger Trail continues to evolve with more locations, an up-to-date website and a downloadable map visitors can use to follow the trail. A new printed map will soon be available at chambers of commerce and visitor information centers in southeast Montana.

Learn more and download the map to plan your route to becoming a Burger Boss at http://www.southeastmontana.com/burgertrail.