The Ranch at Rock Creek

For those of you that know me well, you know that I am extremely proud of my family history on both my Estonian and Irish sides of my family. The Quigley family were among some of the first pioneers of Montana, settling in the Avon area in 1863. As a little girl, I lived at Frontier Town, 15 miles out of Helena, during some of her glory days in the 1980's. Since then, I have lived from Alaska to Nebraska, and then in Wyoming for ten years. After being gone since 1990 and having just moved back to Montana a year and a half ago, I am more proud than EVER to be able to call myself a Montanan and to be home where my roots run deep. The “Treasure State” has countless gems and riches to brag about, and I think that those of us that are lucky enough to get to live here, know that we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

With this all being said, I am very picky about companies and outfits that come into the state and want to represent themselves as “Montanan”.

Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity to stay at The Ranch at Rock Creek for three days. A Virtuoso, Relais & Châteaux, all-inclusive, luxury ranch, located out of the historic and charming mining town of Philipsburg, Montana. Owned and dreamed up by James Manley, the CEO of Atlantic Pacific, a boutique investment bank in Greenwich, CT.  The Ranch at Rock Creek is the culmination of Mr. Manley’s boyhood love of the old west and the dream to own a ranch one day. After searching for twenty years for the perfect location that met all ten of his criteria, an opportunity finally arose in Montana’s “Gold West Country”, and The Ranch at Rock Creek was born in 2010.

It was a beautiful winter drive through Rocky Mountain passes and country roads where everyone you pass, waves at you.  After the two hour car ride from Clancy, through snow and wind, I made it to The Ranch at Rock Creek. The location was prime, the views were idyllic, and from first impression, I am intrigued by the ranch’s cozy setting. 

Entering the Granite Lodge was like going home, and I immediately felt comfortable. Warm, welcoming, and authentic, with a crackling fire in the beautiful stone fireplace, the ambiance of the main room calls to you to grab a book, and curl up on one of the couches or oversized chairs. The dining room was also warm and comforting, especially with a front row seat to another one of the lodges beautiful

fireplaces. The décor was perfect, and the attention to detail was spot on. The best marriage of rustic and authentic meets luxury. Not pretentious at all, but of obvious class and sophistication.

I was warmly welcomed and shown to the “Sharps” room, a lovely King room with a spacious balcony to look out on the courtyard. Beautifully appointed and designed, it was a perfect room for a three day working weekend.

I quickly learned that I was the only unstaffed person at the lodge that weekend. The sales management team had been there for a week of work and fun on the ranch and were leaving the next morning. Other than that, I had the whole resort to myself! Which, being a mother of two rambunctious chatter box boys, that sounded like a quiet piece of heaven and I welcomed it gladly.

I was so happy Mr. Manley accepted my invitation to lunch when I first arrived. A self-proclaimed “number man”, you can see that his mind works like a calculator; very intelligent and precise. An obvious visionary, I was very appreciative of the opportunity to get to chat with Mr. Manley. He dreams in my wheel well, and it is impossible to not catch his enthusiasm for his dream come true.

The weather was pretty cold and blustery, typical of January in The Rocky Mountains. It snowed a lot of the time I was there.  Sometimes it was similar to that of a snow globe, falling like glitter from the sky. Other times it was coming at you sideways, plastering your hair to you face. No matter what it was like, it was always lovely to watch from inside The Granite Lodge. Especially with your back up against a nice toasty fire. 

You expect a certain culinary standard from a Relais & Chateaux property, and The Granite Lodge hit the nail on the head for authentic western gourmet dining. Every meal that I had was SO delicious. Half of the time I was happy to go with whatever the head chef had planned as a special. All of the ingredients were top quality, like they had just been picked yesterday. In fact, I think they had been! I wish I would have gotten better pictures, but the cozy atmosphere of the dining room was softly lit, and didn’t make for the best picture taking. I can assure you it was a foodie paradise and I was spoiled by everything I had. I will dream about these goat cheese appetizers we had the first night. I’m sure they have a fancy name that I should have written down. They absolutely melted in your mouth though.  I also tried jamon iberico ham for the first time. “The fanciest and most delicious ham in the world”, and it was pretty damn amazing.

That afternoon my first round of inspections began at the Rod & Gun Club. An element of The Ranch at Rock Creek (TRRC from here on out), that I don’t think many people REALLY understand, is the fact that TRRC is all-inclusive, meaning that all of your activities, gourmet dining, and premier wine, beer and spirits are included in the price of your stay. The only additional costs would be if you wanted to splurge on a bottle of Cristal, or something else on their impressive reserve list. There are only a few activities that are not included because they are located off property, or outfitted by a third party – like hot air balloon rides, or skiing at Discovery Basin. There is also an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course in Anaconda, if you are a die-hard golfer. I think most people forget about wanting to leave the property after they are spellbound by the many activities and opportunities the ranch allows you to really disconnect from the “real world” and reconnect with nature and your loved ones.

 

The Rod & Gun Club is the epicenter of the ranch. It is where guests sign up for all of their recreational ranch activities and will meet their guides every day during their stay. It is a perfect place to gear up with everything you will need for day fly fishing on the river, as well as get outfitted with a whole selection of cowboy boots, snowshoes, and hiking boots. With all-inclusive activities including fishing on the legendary Rock Creek, a blue ribbon trout stream home to six different trout species, or taking part in “The Cowboy Shooting Program”, where guests shoot reactive targets with western-style single action revolvers, as well as a lever action rifles to really feel like they’re living in the old west. There is also a sporting clay program, a 3D Archery course, Paintball, horseback riding, mountain biking, hiking, snowmobiling, snow cat tours, sleigh rides, sledding and ice skating.

There is also a “Little Grizzlies Kid Program” for those guests ages 4-12 years of age. With morning and afternoon activities with themes that feature cowboys and horses, plants and rocks, rivers and ponds, bugs and critters, raptors and birds, the olden days, and wilderness survival. All of this is ALL included in the price of your stay at The Ranch at Rock Creek.

During my stay I got to see most of the homes and cabins. Each accommodation that I inspected was unique, yet authentic. Every room, every turn, every shelf was appointed and decorated expertly. I will even say I had a few deja vu moments, where I was transported in time by the power of smell alone. IT smelled authentic. I could close my eyes and be on the Avon homestead ranch or at one of the cabins at Frontier Town. I also got to see some of the awesome family canvas cabins. Composed of combinations of canvas, wood and stone structures and located right on the bank of Rock Creek, this is glamping at its finest. There was one specific cabin I had really anticipated seeing after hearing quite a few of my wedding industry friends talk about it, including Katalin Green, the founder and editor in chief of Montana Bride magazine.

One of the most romantic glamping options, “The Trapper Cabin”, is tucked away, down a dirt road, just a short 15 minute bike ride from The Granite Lodge. A 600 square foot romantic getaway, constructed of part canvas and part fallen wood from the property. You walk into a beautiful canvas tent, into what is the King bedroom with an inviting sitting area and electric stove. The room was still a very comfortable temperature for a mid-January winter day. And if it wasn’t warm enough, all you had to do was turn on your electric stove and it would be toasty in no time. The cabin carries through a canvas hallway and opens to a kitchen with refrigerator and wine cooler and a beautiful bathroom with a naturally lit tile rain shower. Complete with a private deck, looking out over Rock Creek, and custom cedar soaking tub – it is a lover’s retreat for sure.

That evening I was invited to sit in with Mr. Manley and the sales team for a two hour kitchen lesson taught by the head chef, Josh Drage, on how TRRC sources all of the produce and meats as locally and as organically as possible (one of the nights I had an amazing steak that was from the 4H boy down the road, and it was deeeelicious!). This lesson was followed up with an absolute exquisite 4-course tasting, complete with wine pairings. It was a delicious meal and my company was grand. I really loved having the opportunity to dine with, and get to know the team at TRRC more.

The next day I had breakfast with the sales team before they all headed off in their own directions. You know how sometimes you just “click” with people? Well, we all shared a touching and humorous breakfast chat, and I think we may all be linked for life now. Ha-ha – I really had a great time getting to know them for just the short time I did.

I'll take this time to say how much I sincerely enjoyed everyone at the ranch. I had the opportunity to dine with The GM, Adam Schoen, a couple of times. A Minnesota native with an impressive resume of guiding and working at other luxury resorts from Alaska to Africa. The shooting instructor, Theo Statler, was so sweet as to chain up his jeep and took me up to “The Top of the World” and drove me all around on his playground through the fresh snow we had gotten the night before. It’s obvious this guy is living the dream, and is loving life working at TRRC. I think they all are living the dream. Most of the staff lives on premises at the staff camp, composed of cabins as well as canvas cabins for the summer hires. Someone made the joke that a previous guest had really wanted to go down there one night, and joked that she was going to try to carry a watermelon into camp, making a joke referencing the classic movie “Dirty Dancing”. It felt like the whole team at TRRC came across as a family unit. Everyone helping out anywhere they needed it, and happy to do so. I would be lying if I didn’t say I absolutely left the ranch wishing I could be more involved and a part of TRRC family.

 I was treated to a massage with a Reiki Master and Energy Healer, Ms. Shawna Reisner. The Granite Spa was heavenly, and it was easy to be relaxed with such a gifted and talented therapist. The spa itself was quaint and perfect, and also offered Yoga classes. I think I may have left my body at some point – it was wonderful.

I rounded out my inspections that afternoon and was more and more in love with the ranch as I toured more and more of the accommodations and homes. Every unit was unique and had its own allure. All, once again, expertly appointed, designed and finished with all of the details. I loved them all, and it was hard to say if I could pick out a favorite. I am a sucker for a clawfoot bathtub, and there were so many beautiful bathtubs throughout a lot of the accommodations. Including a two person copper soaking tub in the cabin called Sara Jane.

 In conclusion to this book called a blog: I loved my stay at The Ranch at Rock Creek, and I hope to make it back with my family soon. For anyone considering a visit to Big Sky Country, The Ranch at Rock Creek has my seal of Montana approval!