TRIPLE CREEK RANCH REDEFINES THE GUEST RANCH EXPERIENCE
Montana’s legendary Triple Creek Ranch, a Relais & Chateaux mountain sanctuary with five-star food, wine, and service, is the best of the American West. In 2023, this spectacular guest ranch will celebrate its 30th anniversary. When Craig and Barbara Barrett bought Triple Creek Ranch in the Bitterroot Mountain range of western Montana 30 years ago, their goals were straightforward. They set out to create the most luxurious adults-only ranch getaway in the world. They wanted a place that they could enjoy and share with friends, as well as preserve Triple Creek Ranch as an iconic treasure of the American West. Under their stewardship, Triple Creek Ranch has repeatedly won the world’s top hospitality awards and was named the World’s Best Hotel by Travel + Leisure in 2014.
Riders at Triple Creek ranch. Courtesy Triple Creek Ranch.
Triple Creek Ranch lies in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. A member of Relais & Châteaux, Triple Creek is for adult guests and has 23 luxurious western-style log cabins with wood-burning fireplaces. The Barretts deliberately kept the property small in scale, making each cabin a unique and private retreat. Their astounding museum-quality collection of Western Art can be found throughout the ranch.
Wine tasting at Triple Creek Ranch. Courtesy Triple Creek Ranch.
Famed for its inventive cuisine, award-winning wine cellar, and stellar service, the dining room is helmed by Chef Jacob Leatherman, who creates a new menu each evening and has cooked at New York’s James Beard House. Triple Creek’s wine cellar has garnered multiple Wine Spectator Awards. Guests can often opt for wine tasting or a spirits tasting, or even a Culinary Plating Class. The dining experience can also be elevated with the Chef’s Table Dining Experience.
Vintner Events have long been a hallmark of Triple Creek Ranch. These long weekend celebrations are typically held in conjunction with such vintners as Chappellet Winery, Hill Family Estates, J. Bookwalter Wines, Chateau Montelena, and Schramsberg & Davies Vineyards.
Fly fishing on the Bitterroot River. Courtesy Triple Creek Ranch.
FISHING, HORSEBACK RIDING, AND MUCH MORE
Triple Creek is an Orvis-endorsed fly fishing lodge and resort. The Bitterroot River is one of the beautiful ribbons of water in the West, filled with trophy rainbow trout and western slope cutthroats. The best way to fish is a driftboat, manned by a guide from Fly Fishing Always. These ORVIS endorsed guides are experts on the hatches and proper flies to use. In order to protect and preserve the stream-bred trout of the Bitterroot’s blue-ribbon waters, all fishing is catch and release. Triple Creek offers fly casting lessons as well as self-guided fly fishing.
Riders at CB Ranch. Courtesy Triple Creek Ranch.
Other outdoor activities range from horseback riding, a Lewis & Clark Trail Ride, guided nature and birding outings, and cattle drives. Further afield, white water rafting, scenic flights and helicopter tours, scenic river floats. There’s also hiking and beginner mountain biking, ATV adventures, Geocaching, Five Stand & Trap Shooting, and even Sapphire Panning.
Dogsledding at Triple Creek Ranch. Courtesy Triple Creek Ranch.
WINTER MEANS SKIING, SNOWSHOEING AND DOGSLEDDING
Cross-country skiing, alpine skiing at Lost Trail Powder Mountain, and self-guided snowshoeing are among the winter sports. Dog Sledding is one of the highlights, a chance to ride through the woods behind a team, or even drive your own team of trained huskies through the Montana wilderness, aided by a professional musher.
Yoga class at Triple Creek ranch. Courtesy Triple Creek Ranch.
QUIETER PURSUITS
Triple Creek Ranch is renowned for it Stave Puzzle Weekends. There are also Artisanal Soap and Candle Making classes and the Double H Hat Making Workshop in nearby Darby. Yoga & Guided Meditation are offered in a serene corner of the Ranch. Triple Creek Ranch has become well-known for its Artist in Residence programs and its Artist Workshop Weekends, featuring artists like Joe Kronenberg, Michelle Usibelli and Sally Vanoy.
Artist Sally Vanoy. Courtesy Triple Creek Ranch.
OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Triple Creek is no ordinary ranch and the Barretts are no ordinary couple. Barbara Barrett was the former Secretary of the US Air Force, a trained astronaut and a former U.S. Ambassador to Finland. Her accomplishments are lengthy, and also include her roles as former chair of the Aerospace Corporation and a member on the boards of California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, RAND Corporation, Smithsonian Institution, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, and Lasker Foundation.
Craig Barrett is the retired CEO of Intel and an avid angler.
Whether it’s an afternoon spent watching wildlife, setting a personal fly fishing record or spending a day horseback riding, Triple Creek tries to match the experience to the interest and desires of their guests. It can be a hideaway but it also offers high energy and high action for those who want it.
Visit Triple Creek Ranch for details.
Triple Creek Ranch
5551 West Fork Road
Darby, Montana 59829
800-654-2943