Lone Mountain Ranch, Gallatin Gateway

The property and cabins are spacious and beautiful. The dinners are 5 star with an extensive wine list. The breakfast and lunch buffet become boring after 2 days. It was worth the 1 ½ mile walk to the closest town for a change in menu. Please notice the word “walk” the lodge doesn’t offer a shuttle service. I would highly recommend a car. The kids program is A+. The horse back ridding is just OK! Everyone has to do an assessment of their ridding experience. If you don’t pass, one can take a group lesson to be advanced to “Trotting.” My experience was horrible. My group all advanced. I was not comfortable with the trotting ride and wanted to do a walking trail ride. I was asked to get off the horse and walk back to the lodge from the arena, alone. I didn’t ride again after that 2nd day experience. The other people in my group had trouble getting the ridding times that best suited them and their other plan/ paid activities. The hotel, restaurant and barn staff are very polite. We did learn later that they gossip among themselves about the guests, our group of 14 people in particular. The massage therapist is A++++++, I highly recommend spending the $70.00 for the service. The bar is closed all day and night on Monday and Saturday. If you visit the lodge, bring a few books to read. You will have plenty of time to complete all of them.

The Lone Mountain Ranch is the best place to stay in the big sky area. The rooms, are cabins, and they range in size from tiny, to huge. The best thing about the ranch is it's massive amount of cross-country ski trails, ranging in length up to 21km. The food is wonderful. Breakfast is a buffet with an ommelette bar, lunch is a buffet as well, and then dinner is a menu service, except for one night of family style dining. For skiers/snowboarders, the hotel provides free sack lunch items (sandwich fixins', snack bars, juice, etx) and there is a shuttle bus to the mountain. The ranch also provides a shuttle from the Bozeman airport (about an hour and 15 minutes). Everything was great.