Meet Me in Montana

If you prefer a bit of actual winter in wintertime, the Ranch at Rock Creek offers cool comforts — and audacious adventures.

The Ranch at Rock Creek (8)

Those who’ve never had the opportunity to visit a luxury ranch-style resort might imagine the experience to be a bit like that of Billy Crystal in City Slickers — fancy people in an environment somewhat foreign to them, stumbling into zany misadventures, toggling between pure delight and unbridled terror.


Warming up in the lodgeWarming up in the lodge

And those people would be right, sort of. At least about the zany misadventures. Western Montana’s Ranch at Rock Creek outside Philipsburg — where accommodations range from large leather-and-old-wood-bedecked homes with multiple bedrooms to rustic-chic hotel-style guestrooms and rugged “glamping” cabins with canvas roofs — is nothing if not a smorgasbord of fabulous adventures, most of them orchestrated by a large staff of guides.

After a breakfast of cheese grits, sautéed kale, poached eggs and stacks of thick-cut bacon, near a blazing hearth in the lodge dining room, and amid the strains of an ardently county playlist that highlights Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man,” guests head out into 6,600 acres of ranchlands. The snowcapped mountains and fields are all swirled with switchbacks, crisscrossed with jackleg fences, and bisected by elegantly winding rivers and roaring creeks.

Ice skating on the propertyIce skating on the property

The choices of activities are many. Besides some yearlong staples such as shooting ranges of various sorts, archery, fly-fishing, demanding hikes (watch out for the grumpy mama moose who thinks she owns the place) and quirkier options like a photography class, a ropes course and even paintball, there are winter-only choices to thrill. Those include ice fishing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and, best of all, horseback riding through snowy meadows, with the faintly herbal smell of juniper and sagebrush — and maybe just a hint of gunpowder — cutting the very cold, very clean air. Oh, and there’s snowga, which, of course, is yoga in the snow; long johns are recommended.

Cocktails in the saloonCocktails in the saloon

But the most memorable misadventures might be the unplanned ones, like watching Flint the mascot Black Lab fight with shiny river rocks, which he collects and barks at vigorously for purposes known only to him. Or dancing with strangers to live bluegrass at the weekend barn dance. Or ogling the handsome New Yorkers on a bachelor-party trip who’ve partially stripped to sing “Rock Me Mama Like a Wagon Wheel” at karaoke in the saloon after too many whiskey shots with pickle-juice chasers, a.k.a. picklebacks. City slickers, indeed.

Food+Travel
Fall Philanthropy Report: Urban Harvest Farmers Market Helps ‘Transform Food Accessibility’

What year was your organization launched? Urban Harvest’s Saturday Farmers Market started in 2004 with just seven vendors, providing an outlet for local farms, community and backyard gardeners to sell fresh produce harvested directly from their soils. Now in its 20th year, the market has grown to be one of the largest markets in Texas, supporting over 100 local farmers, ranchers, and food artisans all from within 180 miles of Houston. The market draws 3,000 customers every Saturday morning and includes many original vendors like Animal Farm, Atkinson Farms, and Wood Duck Farm.

Keep Reading Show less

Bashar and Brigitte Kalai, and Alicia and Lance Smith

ONE OF HOUSTON'S most beloved charitable galas made a comeback, as the newly renamed “Voices for Hope” in support of Avenue 360 Health and Wellness and its nearly 40-year-old Omega House hospice for HIV patients bowed at River Oaks Country Club.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties

Michelle and Jonathan Zadok (photo by Jacob Power)

WITH A COWBOY theme and terrific country band — think big hats and big hearts, said organizers — the Crime Stoppers gala was a huge hit and moving evening.

Keep Reading Show less