Ranch Life

Historically, ropes on a Montana ranch are lariats and lassos, the tools of the cowboy trade. In 2014, we expanded the concept of “roping skills” at The Ranch at Rock Creek by building a year-round ropes course, […]

Join us as we follow our new colleagues—the bees—through their second year homesteading in the Rock Creek Valley. The story is in reverse chronological order so scroll down to start from the beginning, or read more about […]

The Honey Flows with the First Snows Join us as we follow our colleagues—the bees—through their third year homesteading in the Rock Creek Valley.  Read more about their first year and second year on The Ranch.   by Kelsey Bruns, Beekeeper, Master […]

Behind the Lens During a Summer Stay Photo courtesy of Benjamin Morgan. We often host photographers looking to capture migrating wildlife, iconic ranch scenes and high country views. We delight in seeing our wild landscape from different […]

Third Annual Granite County Festival of Trees While we are just finished decking our halls for the upcoming holiday celebrations, we’ve been in the Christmas spirit for over a month. The sun sets before the Gala Auction. Look closely […]

The words “experiential travel” sound a lot more mature and serious than they need to be. The experience of traveling to The Ranch at Rock Creek should be an escape from normal routine. It should be at times […]

Before the summer season gets underway, we want to take some time to thank our guests. We greatly appreciate the extra time and effort our guest reviewers put into sharing their personal experiences with the global […]

Ranch Life Behind-The-Scenes A job at The Ranch at Rock Creek is not your average 9-to-5 job. In fact, it’s far from the average hospitality job. Last year, we wrote about the unique careers we […]

The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree can be traced back to 15th century Germany. For many, it is the epitome of family, history and Christmas. In addition to those meanings, we also adore it as a […]

Mercantile Style: Local Luxuries One of the reasons we’re committed to expanding the frontiers of experiential travel is that a story really is the best souvenir. But often, our guests want a memento to commemorate their bucket […]

We’re happy to share with you not just our 10th Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star award but the Greener Pastures initiative that has sought to rehome horses that are no longer able to live on The […]

Mercantile Style In the first hundred years of Montana’s history, ranchers, cowboys and miners had only one place to go for dry goods—the Mercantile. A Western “Merc” was a general store, part refueling station, part […]

Join us this week for a very special guest blogger, Cherie Hedenskog. Cherie visited The Ranch when she was five and shared her experience with her class by writing a book this past year. As […]

Luxury in the Wild The Ranch at Rock Creek stays true to our frontier roots, welcoming guests to private accommodations across our 6,600 acres. With a maximum occupancy of 125 across 29 accommodations each guest […]

Geology of the Rock Creek Valley The land on which The Ranch at Rock Creek sits is part of the Rocky Mountain range, which stretches from New Mexico to Canada. The Sapphire, John Long and […]

The Ranch at Rock Creek Earns 9th Consecutive 5-Star Award Living out in the wild, it’s easy to disconnect from the buzz of modern life. But every year when we learn we’ve won another Forbes […]

22 Ways We’re Reducing Our Environmental Impact As a destination rooted in the landscape, there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t consider the importance of the natural world that surrounds us. Each […]

The Ranch at Rock Creek on Calm Narrated in a gentle, unhurried pace, Calm’s sleep stories are meditative tales designed to usher you into dreamland. Thanks to a collaboration with writer Dibs Baer, you can visit […]

Fly fishing doesn’t stop for winter. In fact, Inside Hook recently published the story, “Why You Should Go Fishing on Your Next Ski Trip.

Since The Ranch at Rock Creek opened as a guest ranch in 2010, we have become increasingly invested in the Granite County, Montana

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Beyond the necessary business aspects of marking cattle, brandings are big springtime social events on Montana’s ranch lands. The valley snow has melted and green grass permeates the rolling hills of Big Sky Country. When neighbors […]

Unplugging During an Unprecedented Year in Travel By Jon Martin, General Manager at The Ranch at Rock Creek Thanksgiving is not a day of rest in the hospitality industry. This is when we work harder; […]

Trails, Trailers and Tales When I was growing up, the beginning of July meant the end of a 45-mile cattle drive that stretched from my family’s ranch to the mountains near what is now The […]

In our 11 years as a guest ranch, we’ve never had a bigger celebration for Earth Day than we’ve had this week. This year we’ve found more ways to say thanks to nature, which has […]

In our 11 years as a guest ranch, we’ve never had a bigger celebration for Earth Day than we’ve had this week. This year we’ve found more ways to say thanks to nature, which has […]

On the Bright Side 2021 is looking brighter. The first reason is we’ve just earned our 8th consecutive Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star award! We are proud of that achievement in a normal year, but during […]

In 2017, The Ranch started its Master Naturalist program to better explain the beauty of our exceptionally diverse eco-system. In 2018, it expanded to include National Geographic’s Year of the Bird, and in 2019 we’ve […]

Family Ties This Father’s Day we’re celebrating the Ranch dads that have chosen to live, work and raise their kids in the wide open spaces of Granite County. Families are an essential part of the […]

Family Ties This Father’s Day we’re celebrating the Ranch dads that have chosen to live, work and raise their kids in the wide open spaces of Granite County. Families are an essential part of the […]

As we approach 10 years as a property, sustainability is on our minds. We occupy a remote corner of the world, and keeping consistently high standards in the sticks, so to speak, is a challenge. […]

We love having a hand in life-changing moments – whether it’s riding a horse for the first time or saying, “I do” surrounded by falling aspen leaves. This past holiday season, we had a chance […]

Behind-the-Scenes with Lead Archery Guide Quinn Wilson One could say Quinn Wilson’s passion is archery, but that would be an understatement. Quinn Wilson instructing on a course he designed. Quinn’s first experience with a bow […]

More Than a Snapshot Travel and photography go hand in hand like big skies and majestic mountains. (As any Ansel Adams fan can attest.) Since the advent of smart phones, almost everyone can capture the […]

Five for Five Five is our lucky number! We’ve just received the Forbes Five-Star award for the fifth consecutive year. Forbes Travel Guide offers the only independent global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants and […]

Giving Thanks Before thanks have even been given in the traditional American way, we’re giving thanks to our community through a local tradition. This Friday and Saturday, we will host the 4th annual Granite County […]

Join us as we follow our new colleagues—the bees—as they homestead in the Rock Creek Valley.    Chapter 1, Spring: Welcoming Bees to Rock Creek by Kelsey Bruns, Beekeeper, Master Naturalist and Little Grizzlies Kids […]

Since The Ranch at Rock Creek opened in 2010, we’ve centered our guest experience around the Montana traditions of outdoor adventure and family ranching. Guests discover a still-pristine natural world through a spirit of play. What […]

A Doggone Good Time at The Ranch at Rock Creek Striving for Pet-Friendly Perfection This week we welcome Zeus, an imposing and good-natured Leonberger dog, and his better (human) half, Katie Jackson. A native of rural […]

The Ranch Receives Fourth Consecutive Five-Star Rating We are thrilled to announce that we’ve just received the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star award for the fourth straight year! We’ve been the world’s only Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star ranch, […]

As the seasons change and the holidays approach, we are reminded that a photograph of the exact same spot in the summer looks entirely different in the spring, fall and winter. But, things don’t only […]

Finding a Family’s Happy Place There’s no denying that the Internet has streamlined travel research and booking. Despite the amount of information at our fingertips, many leisure travelers desire a chance to unplug, decompress and reconnect with nature. […]

After Memorial Day weekend, guests start seeing a Saturday barn dance on our list of weekly activities, along with the Friday breakfast ride, Tuesday rodeo and Sunday Wells Fargo stagecoach rides. They are now a feature of our […]

The Ranch Retains Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Status We’re thrilled to announce that we have garnered the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star award for the third year in a row!

The 2015 Granite County Festival of Trees This year, we started celebrating Christmas early. With Thanksgiving still on the horizon, we had the opportunity to welcome the Granite County community to The Ranch at Rock Creek […]

A staff member and talented photographer, Robert Cole, spent his summer at The Ranch documenting our weekly ranch rodeo at Camp Roosevelt Arena. Robert traveled from Northern California to work in Montana this summer. Although he has […]

Summer Cowboy Breakfast at The Ranch at Rock Creek If you’ve never been given the nearly impossible task of trying to book an ideal family vacation, then we envy you. It’s hard to please everyone, especially when […]

Huckleberry Bear Traps in the Great Room Montanans take pleasure in foraging for seasonal ingredients. Guests who visited us in the spring might have enjoyed cuisine filled with flavorful morel mushrooms, gathered in the local forest. Now, […]

Montana Fly Fishing During “The Hatch” We’re biding our time in the Rod & Gun Club, because the spring melt has begun in the lower elevations. We know that with the end of spring runoff […]

The Ranch Wins 2nd Forbes Travel-Guide Five-Star Honor The skies have been clear for stargazing lately, but the most exciting constellation we’re seeing today is from one of the world’s most trusted travel authorities. Forbes Travel […]

We started out our New Year’s Eve celebration with a drink named, The Resolution, so it’s only fitting that we sit down to write our resolutions for the year. With a sky this big, we always […]

November is a perfect time to check your clothing and tack to see if they’re toasty enough for winter adventure. In similar fashion, The Ranch at Rock Creek’s Mercantile has been stocking clothing for winter. In our first volume […]

If you are searching for fall vacation ideas, our Ranch at Rock Creek staff is a living, galloping guidebook of Montana experiences. They are our knowledgeable instructors, our wildlife scouts and our adventurers thanks to personal […]

An Event Barn in Big Sky Country Although the sky in Montana takes center stage, barns are an essential part of the western horizon. Barns dot the countryside in shades of weathered gray and red. Some […]

Photo by Michael Chilcoat Photography Philipsburg, Montana’s Hidden Gem To our delight, but certainly not to our surprise, our hometown community– Philipsburg –recently received a Montana Tourism Award at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism and […]