Yes, you can smoke at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) in the designated curbside areas on the first level, immediately outside the terminal doors. The airport’s own FAQ puts it plainly: smoking is permitted only in those curbside areas, and there are no smoking areas past the security checkpoint. A departing smoker therefore uses the curb first and clears TSA screening afterwards — a quick round trip at an airport this compact.
How Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport Is Laid Out
BZN has one terminal on two working levels. The Ticketing Level is the ground floor and the first level: airline check-in counters at the west end, baggage claim and the rental-car counters in the center and east, the Copper Horse Bistro before security, and a single frontage where the Departures and Arrivals doors both open onto the same curb, with the bus lane and covered parking beyond it.
Escalators and lifts run up to the Concourse Level, which holds the security checkpoint and all twelve gates. Past the checkpoint the building splits in two: Concourse A runs to the right with gates A1 to A5, Concourse B runs to the left with gates B1 to B7.
Eight airlines serve Bozeman — Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, Sun Country and United — with nonstop service to more than 20 US cities. BZN is Montana’s busiest airport and the year-round gateway to Yellowstone National Park: it handled a record 2,809,419 passengers in 2025, up 6.3 percent on the 2,642,707 of 2024.
That growth is why the terminal is a building site. The East Terminal Expansion Project, under construction since 2024 and targeted for completion in 2030, will enlarge Concourse A with bigger hold rooms and more food and retail, take the gate count from 12 to 15, add a baggage claim with three high-capacity carousels and put a second security checkpoint at the east end. Expect partitioned-off work areas around the east end of the terminal in the meantime, and a temporary dip in usable gates as boarding bridges come out of service — gates A2 and A3 have been merged into one joint hold room during the works.
Where to Smoke Outside the Terminal
Smoking at BZN is a first-level, curbside activity. Come down from the concourses or out of baggage claim, step through the doors, and move clear of the doorways and the marked pedestrian crossings that lead to the bus lane and the parking structure. The frontage is long and mostly covered by the terminal overhang near the doors, which matters more here than at most airports.
Bozeman sits at 4,473 feet in the Gallatin Valley, and the weather is genuinely part of the plan. January mornings run well below freezing with wind coming down the valley and snow on the curb; July afternoons are dry, bright and pleasant. There is no heated shelter outside, so a winter cigarette at BZN is a brisk one — worth putting your coat back on for rather than dashing out in a fleece.
Keep the smoking to the curb itself. The airfield, the fuel farm and the rental-car service areas are off limits, and Montana’s dry summers bring real fire restrictions to the valley, so a properly extinguished butt in a receptacle is the only acceptable finish.
Concourse A
Smoking: Outdoors only — ride the escalator down to the first level and use the curb. After security: The gates are smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
Concourse A holds gates A1 to A5, to the right as you come off the checkpoint, and is the wing most affected by the expansion works. The Copper Horse Restaurant is the sit-down option on this side, with a Montana Gift Corral and grab-and-go coffee nearby at the head of the concourse. From the far end at gate A5 the walk back to the escalator takes only a couple of minutes.
Concourse B
Smoking: Outdoors only — ride the escalator down to the first level and use the curb. After security: The gates are smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
Concourse B runs left off the checkpoint with gates B1 to B7, the longer of the two wings. The BZN Market sits between gates B2 and B3 with hot and cold to-go food, a coffee bar and retail; Ross Peak Grill does stone-fired pizza and drinks further down, alongside N.S. Provisions, a coffee and grab-and-go counter, the Mother’s Room and the service animal relief area. Either concourse funnels back to the same escalator, so which gate you are flying from makes no practical difference to a smoking break.
After Security
Every smoking spot at BZN is before the checkpoint. To smoke once you are airside you have to leave the secure area completely: down the escalator, out through the first-level doors to the curb, and then back through the single TSA checkpoint. The distances are trivial at this airport; the screening queue is the variable. Budget 30 to 40 minutes for the whole trip, and add to that on a Saturday in July or during the ski-season morning bank, when BZN’s checkpoint carries loads well beyond what a terminal this size was built for.
The pre-security Copper Horse Bistro on the ticketing level makes the wait easier to plan around — you can eat and drink landside, step out to the curb, and only then commit to the queue.
If Bozeman is one leg of a longer trip, most itineraries route through Denver or Salt Lake City, and our guide to smoking during layovers explains how to judge whether a connection leaves you room to get outside and back. The Denver International Airport page and the Salt Lake City airport page cover the rules at those two hubs, both of which are outdoor-only as well.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
BZN publishes no separate e-cigarette policy, and in practice vaping follows cigarettes: the designated curbside areas on the first level are the place for it, and the terminal building and both concourses are vape-free throughout. TSA allows vape devices and spare lithium batteries in carry-on baggage only — never in a checked bag — and using an e-cigarette on board an aircraft is prohibited by federal rule.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal interior | No | Smoke-free from ticketing through to the gates |
| Concourse A (A1–A5) | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear security |
| Concourse B (B1–B7) | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear security |
| First-level curbside areas | Yes | The airport’s designated smoking areas, outside the terminal doors |
| Restaurants and bars | No | All indoor areas smoke-free |
| Vaping / e-cigarettes | Outdoor only | Same rules as cigarettes |
For USA airport smoking rules, state vape rules, lighter rules at TSA, and other federal/state info, see our USA smoking guide.