TROUT CREEK, Mont.

“DO you have hairy feet?” asks Steve Michaels, proprietor of the Hobbit House, when a reporter calls about his pet project. “Bilbo Baggins gets off on hairy feet. Hobbits have hairy feet. They also have hairy bellies. They eat about six times a day.”

If you are a J. R. R. Tolkien fan, this information is old news. But if your reaction is closer to “Hobbit? Short, some kind of elf, annoying. Bilbo? Bilious? Rocky Balboa?” it is a new world.

And thanks to Mr. Michaels, you can spend the night in it. No need to bring slippers: a big hairy pair await you. Also a wizard’s hat, belonging to someone named Gandalf. How to get there? It’s a long, long journey, because wherever you live, it is not close.

Glorious August, the time for road trips. While it may seem that roadside America has been taken over by motel chains, one as sterile and uninspired as the next, this is not true: there are lots of rich and varied places to stay out there.