Boutique hotels
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The Ranch at Rock Creek
- Style
- Sundance saloon
- Setting
- Wild Montana countryside
Granite County Overview
Montana
- Countryside
- Ghost towns, skies and mines
- Country life
- Head in the clouds
This is Big Sky Country, where vistas are epic, mountains high, valleys low, and the pioneers struck gold back in the 1800s…
Granite County in south-west Montana is rural and rugged, a place where the favoured mode of transport is the horse, and patches of protected wilderness remain gloriously roadless. The region is as it was when it was first roamed by the Salish, and they left behind evocatively named places: Bitterroot Mountains, Lost River Range (in neighbouring Idaho) and a monument to the Battle of Little Bighorn are all marked on a map. Snow-capped peaks, trout-filled creeks and dense forests make up the spectacular natural beauty, dotted with former mining strongholds and ghost towns. Granite County is between two grand national parks, Glacier and Yellowstone. Montana’s as wild and wonderful as ever, and visitors can experience life as it was for the pioneers – only it’s not such a struggle these days.
Genuinely Granite County
Montana is the treasure state, and it’s sapphire that glints in the eye of Granite County. Root for these precious stones in Rock Creek, or buy a bag at Sapphire Gallery (www.sapphiregallery.com) to sift through and attempt to strike it lucky.
Local Knowledge
- Taxis
- Long rural stretches make having your own wagon a wise move.
- Tipping culture
- 15–20 per cent is standard.
- Siesta and fiesta
- The huge distances in this remote part of the world mean that it’s best to check opening times in advance, especially outside of summer.
- Packing tips
- Cowboy boots, and if you don’t own a pair, you’re in luck – this is the place to buy them.
- Recommended reads
- Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, based on the letters of a frontier-era woman; Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, a tale of a cattle-herding adventure from Texas to Montana; Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One’s Own for an insight into the life of a female pioneer; True West by Michael Barson, for all you need to know about Westerns.
- Cuisine
- Don’t miss elk, venison, buffalo and beef. Cows are also behind some pretty tasty ice-cream; Big Dipper hails from Missoula (www.bigdippericecream.com). Wild huckleberries make their way into various things, including jam and milkshakes. Fishermen will likely stumble on some top-rate trout from the local creeks and rivers.
- Currency
- US dollar ($).
- Time zone
- Mountain Standard Time (GMT-7).
- Dialling codes
- US country code: +1; Granite County: 406.
- Do go/don't go
- All year is an outdoorsy affair, but spring and summer bring with them blooming landscapes and even brighter big skies – come now for horse riding, fishing and hiking. In winter, the region’s ski resorts get busy.
Don't go home without...
…visiting one of the area’s spooky ghost towns, such as Granite, once one of the land’s biggest producers of silver.
