"How do I get off this horse?" a Mountain Sky guest asked the wrangler.
"Not like him," she answered.
Unfortunately, I was the him being pointed at after coming back to earth with a particularly hard landing during an unforgettable trip to the upscale Montana dude ranch just down the trail from Yellowstone.
Far more comfortable in a golf cart than on horseback, I was happy to have successfully completed an awe-inspiring ride that took us across a shallow river and up a mountain rise to an incredible vista overlooking the 11,000-acre property. Once back at the ranch, with newfound confidence, I channeled my inner Kevin Costner and hopped out of the saddle, somehow forgetting the distance from horseback to hardpan.
Luckily, there's nowhere better to rest a bruised ego and bruised heels than atop a stool in a saloon.
For an elevated travel experience that offers something for everyone, it's only the fellowship at Mountain Sky Guest Ranch that is non-negotiable. Guests eat together, drink together, learn together, go on adventures together. And even our group of khaki-wearing golf writers were quickly and graciously welcomed into the convivial atmosphere.
After years of visiting as a guest, American businessman Arthur Blank purchased the ranch in 2001. When the Atlanta Falcons owner and Home Depot co-founder visits these days he is no exception to the camaraderie, sometimes serving dessert to guests and continuing to enjoy the spirit of the place he fell in love with. |
Besides the robust riding program and stable of exquisite horses, Mountain Sky offers a wide range of activities including clay shooting, archery, fly fishing, white water rafting, obstacle courses, hiking, as well as a full spa and, of course, the reason we were invited, golf.
Every evening, guests gather around the signup board and plan their next day's adventures, often trying to round up their new pals to join them. Our group had to turn down a few requests as we had our sights set on 18 holes at the ranch's Rising Sun Golf Course.
One might expect the golf course to be an afterthought at a ranch with so many more rugged outdoor activities on the menu, but you quickly discover that nothing is an afterthought at Mountain Sky. We are met by the course superintendent who tells us a bit about his impressively small team that keeps this Johnny Miller-designed course in pristine condition. The passion and pride of the entire Mountain Sky staff is a testament to what Blank has built here. Rising Sun is Montana's first golf course to be a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary by Audubon International.
There is a wonderful driving range, a short game area, as well as on-site instruction. I was met on the driving range with a full set of the latest and greatest Callaway clubs. After all, if you're going to play golf at a Montana dude ranch you might as well use clubs even better than your set at home.
With the golf course being exclusively for guests, another thing you'll quickly discover is that there is a good chance when you arrive at the first tee you will have the entire course to yourself. Any avid golfer appreciates the utter bliss of standing on a wonderful golf course and not seeing another group anywhere on the horizon. Often that is a bit of a Catch-22 because an empty golf course isn't usually great for business, but at Rising Sun it's a feature, not a bug, of the experience.
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As a personal playground for guests at Mountain Sky, the course and its Paradise Valley views of the Absaroka and Gallatin mountain ranges are hard to believe. The exclusivity of Rising Sun means you're unlikely to find someone who has ever seen, let alone played, the course.
That's about to change in 2026.
Auster at Dome Mountain, the latest addition to the Blank family's Montana properties, is set to open this fall. A short drive from Mountain Sky, the 6,000-acre Dome Mountain site will feature 20 year-round cabins, a main lodge, a casual restaurant and bar, a retail market, a pool and large outdoor activity area.
Importantly, unlike Mountain Sky which books reservations by the week, Auster at Dome Mountain features overnight accommodations. And much more importantly for golfers, visitors will also have access to book tee times. This will allow many more people to experience the wonder of Rising Sun Golf Course, while keeping the serenity of the experience largely untouched. It also means if you're planning a trip to nearby Yellowstone National Park, you can make a side trip to Dome Mountain and Rising Sun if the full dude ranch experience isn't for you, or is outside the scope of your trip.
Back at Mountain Sky we eventually had to say goodbye to all the new friends we made on our short trip. As a golf writer it was certainly unlike any trip that had come before. In this day and age when our first instinct is to pull out our phone to document everything and everywhere we've been, Mountain Sky suppresses that urge despite being among the most visually stunning places you can imagine.
Of course, the lack of WiFi anywhere outside the main lodge helps you disconnect, but it's more than that. It seems silly now, but after a few days here it almost makes sense that doctors a century ago would think to prescribe a trip back to nature for ailing patients.
Bucket list trips to Pebble Beach or Bandon Dunes or Pinehurst are certainly chicken soup for your golfing soul, but Mountain Sky also helps with the rest. |
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