Bear Creek Guest Ranch
Please Call or Email to Inquire about availability: 406-226-4489 or bill7777@hotmail.com
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Our world is always changing, but not so much here at Bear Creek Ranch! We do have some limited wi-fi access but no cell phone service. How do you like that? You may see elk or deer, or even an occasional bear, on the property from your cabin window. And you will see a bunch of horses! Horses are a huge part of our identity, our being, our lives. We really hope you can join us in that enjoyment, whether it be on a day-long ride, cattle drive, or simply caring for them in our barn or corral.
We’ll take care of the details – you can just show up and enjoy yourself. When you arrive at the ranch for your Montana horseback riding adventure, you will feel welcome and right at home. We offer full day horseback rides and do so in small groups and have four week-long horseback riding adventures, Riding the Four Winds and Off the Beaten Path in addition to cattle drives in the Fall and Spring, something for horseback riders of all levels! Those week-long trips are described if you click on them below. Love to have you join us.
Each horseback riding vacation event specializes in something different but they all have adventure and fun in common. These horseback vacations are like nothing else you have ever experienced and you will have amazing memories and stories to take home with you. Along with learned knowledge and a new found appreciation for the western way of life!
Come and immerse yourself in the Montana way of life and share in a bit of real American history. This part of the country truly sets Northwestern Montana apart from any place you have ever or will ever visit. From our week-long horseback vacations to cattle drives to horseback day trips, see why the people who have visited Bear Creek Ranch return again and again!
“We do everything that we can to maintain the authentic Western way of life, even in the ever-changing, fast-paced world of the present. When life slows down, you slow down – cell phones are forgotten. The sky is bigger, the plains more vast, the mountains are higher and the air is more clear. And you’ll appreciate it all!”
See Our Recently Added Special Vacation to the 2023 Schedule!
We’ve been known to do some pretty good cattle drives in the Spring, sometimes pushing more than a thousand head into the “Backbone of the Earth,” as the Blackfeet people referred to that grass rich country of the Front Range of the Rockies in and adjacent to Glacier National Park. Some country it is! And if one has the opportunity to move those cattle horseback up into that country, that’s like adding sweet cream to your coffee. It’s even better! We’ll be doing exactly that in late July and early August this coming summer. In the past we’ve done most of our cattle intensive adventure weeks in the Spring or Fall, when the weather is cooler and easier on the livestock. They’re like any critter, including us, as they’ll be in the shade during the day, and waiting for the cool evening and night to move about and feed.
The purpose of the week we have planned is not to move the cattle any long distance. They’re vulnerable to hard activity in warm weather. We’ll be pushing smaller bunches short distances to fresh grass and water, adding salt blocks, branding any late calves, and getting em’ mothered back up. Some of the cattle will have moved on their own to adjoining property and leases and will need to be gathered up and moved as well. By the 1st of August and after sixty days of grazing the herds will need to be given some eyes on observation at a minimum and handled if necessary. That’s where you come in! We’ll have some fun for sure but we’ll need to get the job done. Plan on some long days in the saddle but keep in mind, you’ll be riding in some of the finest country you’ll ever see!
In addition to the work we’ll be doing with the cattle that are away from the closer ranch property we will be spending a day gathering in the low country and vaccinating and branding those cattle. Plan on working on the ground and horseback as the calves are separated into smaller pens where they’ll be headed and heeled both on horseback and with a rope in the hands of guests on the ground. It does take the right horse and rider to rope horseback but If you are so inclined, with practice, you may get lucky! Our week will most likely follow the “ride the higher country” on day one and work the cattle the day after. We’ll be on at least two big ranches during the week so every day will be loaded with new cattle and country.
Like all our adventure trips, our guests will be staying in our cabins at the ranch and we’ll eat all our meals in the main lodge on the property. You will eat “superbly well,” as so many of our past guests will attest to. The morning and evening meals prepared by the ladies at Bear Creek Ranch have become legend. Read those Trip Advisor reviews. We pack lunches in saddle bags and eat a “bit more normally during the lunch hour, with the cows!
I want to emphasize that the “Cowboying the Front Range” week is meant to be fun, sometimes serious, always instructive, and a huge part of the western way of life in Montana. Also, your eyes will never stray far from the mountain peaks, the gentler foothills, and the rolling prairie that you’ll be part of for the week you’re here. I know you won’t learn or experience everything you’ll want to in a week. I didn’t. But you will leave here with some of the greatest memories you’ll ever have.
Time permitting, we’ll be knocking off earlier on Thursday and attending the Brash Rodeo that night. You will love it!
P.S.: The Cowboying the Front Range week begins on a Sunday. Guests who are flying in will be picked up at the Kalispell Airport in the early afternoon. After arriving, everyone will be shown to their cabin and will settle in. We do a welcome clinic in the late afternoon and match up riders to a horse and saddle. Dinner in the lodge is combined with lots of “visiting” and a rundown of Monday’s activities. Sleep well!
15750 US-2, Essex, MT 59916 United States | (406) 226-4489 | bill7777@hotmail.com
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