Undervaluing creeks seems a perennially popular ailment among fly fishers. Leave ’em to their losses, I say: All the more water and fish for me. Clearly, I don’t suffer from their dysfunction of insight. My first fly-caught fish, a subcompact coastal cutthroat trout, happened on......
Standing at my window on New Year’s Day — holding a steaming cup and watching the snow in the sliver of light cut by a streetlight across the way — I feel like I’m in one of those holiday coffee commercials. Christmas has come and......
In the fall of 1991, I received a call from Robert Redford’s personal assistant: “Bob is extremely grateful for what you did for him yesterday and asked if he could return the favor,” she said. Seriously? I thought. Robert Redford is granting me a favor?......
Tucked into the cozy down sleeping bag in my vintage 1977 Toyota Chinook micro-camper, I yawned, rolled over, and pondered morning coffee. My awakening consciousness was startled by loud clawing outside the camper. I looked out the open window. A grizzly bear’s moist snout was......
It’s a cold, rainy off-season night in Jackson, Wyoming. There aren’t many tourists around town, and a lot of businesses are closed for a few-week break, but when I walk into the Silver Dollar Bar & Grill at The Wort Hotel, I’m enveloped by warmth......
Although it was late June, the thermometer in my brother’s truck read 32 degrees Fahrenheit when we reached the trailhead around 8 o’clock in the morning. Such cold on a summer day could have dampened our spirits, but we were excited to see no other......
Under a vast and infinite sky, north-central Montana stretches out before me like another world. It is a place swept clean by time itself — an ancient seabed where the waves have long since gone, leaving only an ocean of grass and wind. Traveling across......
Pale Morning Dun in June streamwater run Clouds pass above the gorge darkpined, steepsided down the rocksmooth flow and valleyshadows shifting turn darkwater bright as gold Pale Morning Dun the Rainbows wait deep down in darkgreen pool beside the slick beyond the rock greyspeckled flags......
After enjoying a lavish multi-course dinner at his favorite French restaurant in San Francisco, an establishment so luxurious that “you need a wallet full of credit cards to eat there,” Russell Chatham admitted that his banker had finally reached his breaking point. “He wanted to......
It’s a bright summer day in the late 1910s. As Claire Boltwood drives up the steep hill from the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park to Mammoth Hot Springs, she has to pull over to cool the boiling radiator of her 70-horsepower Gomez-Deperdussin roadster. Her......
Thwack, whizz, thwack. As Ben Miller’s sopping wet, paint-soaked “fly” hits the plexiglass, sound becomes a backdrop to his movements. His eyes squint to measure the sun’s position; he notices the flora and fauna. His painting feels intuitive, as if all of Miller’s years of......
Summertime foot traffic blooms in the historic downtown district of Sheridan, Wyoming. Known for its rodeo culture, idyllic atmosphere, street dances, and proximity to the Bighorn Mountains, Sheridan has quietly secured its reputation as a popular mountain town with true Western flair. I’m visiting on......
An icy splash of gritty snowmelt hits my lips as I push off into the Yellowstone River from Mallard’s Rest for the first time this season. The crisp breeze of late May chills the back of my neck while the sun beats down on my......
The land’s storied history where the John Dodge neighborhood is located between Wilson and Jackson, Wyoming — once the home of colorful John Dodge’s Wilderness Ranch — is analogous to the rich architectural history of a home within the area, which was recently purchased by......
The food at Teton Valley Lodge has to be phenomenal. Anything less and guests would stay out fly fishing until nightfall. Based near Driggs, Idaho, the lodge’s guides assist guests on three Blue Ribbon fisheries — the South Fork and Henry’s Fork of the Snake......
In Montana, fishing is about more than what’s on the end of the line. It’s about community and a shared love for the delicate beauty and awe-inspiring natural wonders that are so plentiful in Big Sky Country. And, while fishing is a deeply personal pursuit......
In the farming and ranching community, succession is rarely discussed until it has to be. The reasons are understandable — pride, uncertainty, fear of conflict — yet these conversations have never been more important. As aging farmers and ranchers face rising land values, increased production......
In an effort to raise awareness for the importance of wetlands in the Montana ecosystem, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MT FWP) is now accepting submissions for the 2026 Montana Migratory Bird Stamp contest through February 27. This contest, now in its third year, allows......
In a joint video production between Wyoming PBS and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, historians Paul Hutton and Peter Cozzens discuss their new books exploring the unique history of the American West. Available on the Wyoming PBS YouTube channel, the series marks the......
100 Years of Dude Ranching: Celebrating the Centennial of the Dude Ranchers’ Association Written by Lynn Downey and photographed by Scott T. Baxter, with a foreword by Bob Boze Bell In commemoration of the centennial of the Dude Ranchers’ Association (DRA), the Ranch Preservation Foundation......
If you had told Heath Gunns in 2008 that he would eventually run a nonprofit organization for veterans, he would have called you crazy. After 15 years as a consultant for a hunting organization that catered to disabled veterans, Gunns launched Spoken Outdoors in 2023,......
Fishing has always been a part of my life. As a kid, I fished most weekends with my dad. I walked by our rods and gear every time I entered the house from the garage. We tied flies and kept a bin for worms, dirt,......
If there were ever a flavor that could define a place, Missoula, Montana might be best captured in a cup of tea — specifically, a cup of Evening in Missoula. Add hot water to the herbal blend from Montana Tea & Spice Trading, and the......
On the coldest of winter days, when the Montana sky is at its crispiest, palest blue, there’s nothing better than setting out for a morning of cross-country skiing. Maybe that sentiment doesn’t immediately resonate with you. At face value, strapping on a pair of skinny......
If you’ve driven many of Montana’s 13,000 highway miles, you’ve experienced the pit-of-the-stomach dread that one of those mule deer grazing the shoulder will lunge into your lane or that an unseen elk or moose will sprint across the road, forcing you into a dangerous......
On July 25, 1877, a band of weary Nez Perce began to descend the Bitterroot Mountains into Montana. As the subtitle of this piece suggests, I’ve chosen to focus on the Montana leg of the Nez Perce flight toward Canada for several reasons: I live......
At 14 months old, Harpy makes her way over upended picnic tables, through tires, and across a wooden ladder suspended 8 feet in the air. Her blond jackrabbit legs slip out from underneath her, first one, then the other. She freezes long enough for the......
In Montana, ice climbing has a bit of a medieval-cult feel. Those who belong are fiendishly devoted; those who’ve never tried it wonder why anyone would fall into its grip. Hanging off frozen icicles, with razor-sharp daggers that might bite more than the ice if......
Both sky & mountain wearing the same coat today Faces lost in breath Yellow leaves drifting on soon to be frozen pond Ships at sea of clouds Slipping on the ice Old man wonders: Is this my last time hearing birds? Snow-deepened night sky Each......
Matt Pavelich has done something wondrous in The Harrows: A Novel of the American Century (Bar R Books, $24.95). This five-generation story of the Harrow family rolls off the pages with such liquid grace and poetic clarity that one feels a new Montana classic has......
Lisa Simon, owner of Radius Gallery in Missoula, Montana, still remembers her earliest encounters with Stella Nall, whose Native name is Bisháakinnesh. “She had such clarity of who she was and what kind of art she was creating,” Simon recalls. “Even though she is so......
In the late 1970s, when Mike Papke was 5 years old, his older brothers took him to Bridger Bowl Ski Area just outside of Bozeman, Montana and went straight to the top of the Bronco run — an area notorious for large, knee-bashing moguls. They......
Each February, Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his burrow in small-town Pennsylvania to tell the American public whether they can look forward to six more weeks of winter. In Montana, cold-weather conditions can last for eight months, and the rule of thumb is to not plant......
In October 1973, I traveled to Butte, Montana for The New York Times to photograph its copper miners. Known as “the richest hill on earth,” Butte once supplied over a third of the world’s copper. Miners — Old Stock Americans, Finns, Cornish, Welsh, Chinese, Italians,......
Few images evoke the despair of the Great Depression more poignantly than photographs of the enormous dust storms that defined the Dust Bowl era. Frequently described as “black blizzards,” these airborne tsunamis were primarily caused by successive droughts, the most significant of which occurred in......
ARCHITECTURE | KA ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION | LOHSS CONSTRUCTION LANDSCAPING | SOLSTICE LANDSCAPING Vicki Podberesky and Peter Lauzon’s home is nestled into an aspen forest like a proverbial fairy tale — a cozy cabin, whose lighted interiors beckon visitors to come in out of the cold,......
For anyone walking into Feast, the first impression might be grace and style, with a dash of comfort and a contemporary twist. The decor is upscale but not uppity. You can still wear jeans, but you don’t have to. The restaurant’s name itself conjures the......
This winter, Big Sky Resort unveils Kircliff, an alpine summit observatory perched at 11,166 feet on Lone Peak. The enclosure is cantilevered off the mountain’s edge, offering sweeping 360-degree views across three states and two national parks so viewers can truly appreciate the grandeur of......
Something magical happens every winter in Ketchum, Idaho, and it’s not the world-class skiing on Bald Mountain. Every winter for over 20 years, as skiers are making hero turns on the corduroy slopes, another winter attraction has been gaining momentum. Welcome to Atkinson Park, home......
It’s not necessarily the diminutive intimacy of the venue. And it isn’t always about the presence on the stage. While the melodic storytelling matters, it’s not the entire picture either. Live From The Divide (LFTD) in Bozeman, Montana is a testament to the transformative power......
Editor’s Note: Barbara Rowley, writer and longtime resident of Big Sky, Montana, explores the story of a place deeply rooted in outdoor splendor in her 2024 title, Big Sky: Montana (Assouline). The book delves into the history of Big Sky Resort, revealing how the ski......
White Bear Moccasins Shauna White Bear’s moccasins blend traditional Indigenous craftsmanship with contemporary flair. The durable mocs are crafted from bison leather and customized based on the wearer’s taste with fur, decorative rivets, and lace. White Bear, who lives in Bozeman, Montana, is an enrolled......
Outdoor winter pastimes have a way of looking a lot like a love of suffering: the cold of melted snow on icy fingertips; the sting of subzero air on delicate nostrils; the muscle burn of trudging through deep, heavy snow. I think about winter fly......
Nestled between the Snowy Range and the Sierra Madre Mountains, the hamlet of Saratoga, Wyoming is full of historical nods. Hotel Wolf, which opened in 1893, anchors downtown. Guide shops, restaurants, and art galleries line Bridge Avenue. The North Platte River divides the town, whose......
We should bother with keeping sage grouse in the West because they are a measure of how the environment is doing,” says Martin Townsend, the conservation director for the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance. “If sage grouse go downhill, we have a large-scale problem.” Less than a......
John Colter [c. 1775–1812] is among Montana’s most legendary mountain men. His iconic status is predicated on extraordinary feats of fortitude that occurred between the summer of 1806 and the spring of 1810, marking the beginning and end of his career as a trapper in......
My angling career began when I was a kid in rural Upstate New York, catching pan-sized native brook trout. (As a measuring tool, the pan didn’t have to be very big.) Around the time I was 9 years old, I began transitioning from worms to......
Guardians on a hill Ever a watchful eye. Spraying branches to fill An ever-enveloping sky. What history have they seen with many a passers-by? Cruelness of the white sheen Finally releasing buds of spring. Industrious inhabitants of fur Stocking up in hidden holes. The giants......
Some themes may be too big for one story. Love, the overarching theme of Shann Ray’s Where Blackbirds Fly (University of Nebraska Press, $27.95), is explored throughout the five novellas that make this novel. This is because love, in Ray’s handling of it, contains much......
Let’s face it, Old Faithful, Great Fountain Geyser, Norris Geyser Basin, and the various Yellowstone fumaroles don’t get a lot of attention when they’re in the steam phase, which comes after all the “oohs” and “ahhs” and visual thrills of an eruption. Sitting by myself,......