Rainbow Ranch Lodge

Patrick Hurd talks about his wine cellar in the way most parents talk about their children—if he carried a snapshot of his favorite Italian red in his wallet, not one who knows him would be at all surprised. It has been his goal since becoming proprietor of the historic Rainbow Ranch Lodge in 1995 that the wining-an-dining experience be on par with New York’s finest, and you’d be hard pressed to find a former patron who’d say their chimichurri-rubbed buffalo ribeye was anything less than sublime.

If that isn’t reason enough to travel to Big Sky, there’s the lodge itself, where guest-room decks are a fly-rod’s toss from the trout-heavy Gallatin River. Though the property abuts the highway, you’d never know it as you lie in your cushy lodgepole bed with a fire blazing and the window cracked just enough to let in the sound of rushing water. Bottom line: Patrick has every reason to be a proud papa.

At the Lodge: Lodge history dates back to 1919, when the Lemon family bought the land in a failed attempt to start a cattle ranch. Their next venture, the Halfway Inn (so named because it’s halfway between Bozeman and West Yellowstone), proved much more successful. The lodge changed hands, and names, a few times before getting a major overhaul from the current owners in 1995. But old lodge photographs, a faded ranch sign from the 1930s, and original Western artwork carry the spirit of the lodge’s early days. Rooms have river rock fireplaces and chopped wood on their riverfront decks. Anachronistic amenities like satellite TV and VCR are thoughtfully hidden inside antique reproduction furniture. Outside, there’s a gazebo grill and covered deck, the site of barbecues and weddings during the summer. A 12-person outdoor hot tub in front of a tall river rock fireplace has allowed may a guest to soak comfortably with a glass of wine during a nighttime dusting of snow.

The Sports: On-Site Full Moon Outfitters offers two-hour to all-day guided horseback trips for $60 to $138. Riders leave directly from the lodge, which happens to sit at the edge of a million acres of national forest. (“It’s basically a backyard that, luckily, we don’t have to pick up the mortgage on,” says Patrick.) But equestrians don’t have all the fun. Hiking and biking trails in the Gallatin Mountains and Lee Metcalf Wilderness run deep into the heavily wooded backcountry, where wild geraniums, columbine, and berries color the meadows in spring and summer. The trout fishing on the nearby Madison, Yellowstone, and Missouri Rivers would be worth a day trip, except that there’s no reason venture that far—the Gallatin River (of A River Runs Through It fame) is a few steps from the lodge’s back door. Come ski season, Rainbow Ranch shuttles guest the 15 miles to Big Sky Resort and its 3,600 acres of crowd-free skiable terrain. Cross-country skiers and snowshoers can hit the trails without getting in a car. All the above activities can be organized through the lodge. Last and probably not lease, there’s the quirky addition of a sand volleyball court between the lodge and the river, for anyone who’s so inclined.