It’s hard for travelers heading west along US-2 to believe that, despite having covered over 1,000 miles of undulating Great Plains, they have yet to reach the mountains. It isn’t until Cut Bank (pop. 3,105) that the see-forever glaciation looks like it might be waning. You crest a hill and suddenly there they are: the rugged Rocky Mountains. Popularly known as the coldest city in the United States, as measured at the local U.S. Weather Service monitoring station, Cut Bank is a friendly and pretty enough place, bisected neatly by US-2 and the railroad tracks.
Downtown, on US-2, the Golden Harvest Cafe (406/873-4010), at 13 W. Main Street, is great for rubbing shoulders with the locals at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The best spots are a little east: The Point Drive-In (406/873-2431), 1119 E. Main Street, is a classic roadster drive-up, while across the highway a 27-foot-tall penguin stands next to the Glacier Gateway Inn (406/873-5544 or 800/851-5541) at 1130 E. Main Street, the town’s nicest motel.
