At The Resort at Paws Up in Montana, the nation’s finest chefs cook amid breathtaking scenery.

GIDDY UP

As exquisite a blend of rusticity and luxury as may be found anywhere, The Resort at Paws Up has become a destination for many fun things since its inception in 2005—weddings, fly-fishing, cattle driving and lively family bonding among them. But this 37,000-acre property, 35 minutes outside Missoula, Mont., is rapidly becoming best known as a place to eat. Recent visitors have included Wayne Mueller of the legendary Louie Mueller Barbecue in Texas; Chicago’s Charlie McKenna, a leading light of neo-southern cuisine; and Brooke Williamson, a Top Chef star out of Los Angeles. This year the resort started a series called Cookbook Live, wherein big-time chefs visit and spend a few days showing you, up close, how they make their magic. Check the schedule and make a reservation; after a day on horseback, followed by a hot stone massage with rocks pulled from the Blackfoot River, you’re bound to have an appetite. Rates from $1,215 per night, pawsup.com

The dining pavilion at the resort’s Cliffside Camp overlooks the confluence of the Blackfoot River and Elk Creek.