The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘This is one of the largest but least populated states in the US, so it appeals to those hoping for a bit of peace’
Ah, Montana – the place where billionaires go to “rough it” in their limited-edition Wrangler jeans. It’s not difficult to see the appeal – home to the Rocky Mountains, parts of Yellowstone and all of Glacier National Park, it offers a crazy mix of ruggedly beautiful wide-open prairie, vast cattle ranches, turquoise lakes, jagged mountains and plunging canyons.
It is also one of the largest but least populated states in the US, so it appeals to those hoping for a bit of peace (like the 13,000 Californians who decamped there during the pandemic). It seems owning a piece of the wild American West is the ultimate status symbol, with Montana long attracting the likes of David Letterman and Michael Keaton.
The membership list of the super-exclusive Yellowstone Club (which includes Bill Gates, Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, for example) is always an interesting gauge of the ongoing popularity of the state, which seems to be on the up. The club is a private residential enclave, ski and golf resort just west of Big Sky, in Madison County, which costs $400,000 (£315,804) to join
Montana, United States
and $40,000 (£31,580) a year thereafter.
If you are intrigued to see what all the fuss is about but a membership of Yellowstone isn’t quite on budget, consider a stay at the Lone Mountain Ranch, a homestead since 1915. It was taken over by boutique hotel company Auric Road nine years ago and is now a fabulously rustic-chic 25-cabin guest ranch. Or hang on until 2025 and check into One&Only Moonlight Basin, the international hotel group’s first US property (plus ski lodge and spa) – in Big Sky.
How to do it
Stays at Lone Mountain Ranch (001 1 800 514 4644; lonemountainranch. com) cost from £440 per night. Fly from London to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport with FinnAir or Virgin Atlantic from £630.
Francesca Syz is the consultant travel editor on Telegraph Luxury and loves wild, craggy places. She spent childhood summers in a rustic cabin in the Adirondacks with her American dad.