Northwest Big Sky Close Corner Of Montana Has Plenty To See And Do

I had a hankering for some wide-open highways, some good hikes, some juicy hamburgers and some horseback rides.

So naturally, I thought of Montana.

Normally, I’d make tracks for Glacier National Park, but this was the week before Labor Day. I knew the park - especially its famous Going-to-the-Sun Road - would be crowded and noisy. So I focused instead on the Whitefish region, and discovered that there’s plenty to do inside northwest Montana but outside the park.

My family’s first stop on a week-long vacation was at Star Meadows Ranch, about 23 miles northwest of Whitefish. This is a well-known local landmark - from the sky or on a map, its enormous meadows resemble a star - that changed hands last year.

Its centerpiece is a big, homey three-story lodge. The first floor is mostly dining room and kitchen, with a big pot of coffee always perking and homemade cookies for snacking. The second floor features two big rooms overlooking the ranch with comfortable chairs and sofas and a VCR with lots of movies (but otherwise no TV), a small playroom for kids and a library with books and binoculars.

Up top are the guest rooms, which are comfortable but plain, with the only bathroom down the hall - a major drawback.

The ranch offers canoeing (we were too late in the year and ran out of creek rather quickly), but the emphasis is on horseback riding. You can ride two or three times a day, at no extra charge, escorted by wranglers who obviously enjoy their work. The ranch is surrounded by forested hills, so there’s a nice variety of views, from gentle meadows to mountain vistas.

Riding lessons are also available. My almost-7 daughter enjoyed learning to ride by herself, though she was a bit young to handle the reins successfully. And my 4-year-old daughter loved sitting bareback on a horse for a few minutes.

Meals are served family-style, with big portions (and seconds, if you want). The food is plain, good, high-calorie cooking (and the deep-fried chicken and mashed potatoes with cream gravy are to die for).

If you want to work off those calories, there’s also a horseshoe pit (I lost - badly - to a visiting city slicker from Los Angeles). But most people will want to sit on the front deck and enjoy the setting sun.

In winter, the ranch becomes a popular destination for cross-country skiers, with the groomed trails open to all comers for a small fee.

It’s a nice place to stay, but a bit unpolished. No one person seemed in charge of guest activities, creating the sensation of “now what do we do?” But the experience is thoroughly authentic.

A few miles to the north is Loon’s Echo Resort, hidden away in the Stillwater State Forest on the western flanks of the Whitefish Range. The resort, next to Fish Lake, was homesteaded in 1915 and features several rustic cabins built by various owners over the years.

There’s also a new main lodge, completed this year, but I don’t particularly recommend it. It’s a beautiful, expensive building, but with some drawbacks.

The first-floor room where we stayed was directly adjacent to the front deck, lobby and restaurant entrance - noisy, especially with music that played incessantly from hidden speakers. The room was nicely decorated, but short on furniture - no counter in the bathroom, nowhere but the floor to put suitcases. At least we had a bathroom; some of the other rooms have “Montana style” bathrooms down the hall.

The lodge has an enormous TV room - humans in it feel like pygmies - with a state-of-the art audio/video setup. But the remote control for operating the satellite dish and the printed satellite programming guide were usually missing, meaning you had to ask somebody for both.

The outdoor hot tub overlooking a nearby pond was pleasant, but an indoor lap pool was of dubious value to guests and accessible enough to worry parents of young children. Downstairs was a more human-sized reading area and a kid’s playroom, but both were too chilly for comfort on our visit.

The restaurant aims for fine dining and the meals we sampled were very good, but it’s not cheap. Also, if you want lunch, the only option is a skimpy bag lunch that costs $5 a head and took the kitchen more than an hour to produce, while we waited.

Although the owners, Ed and Gayle Hynes, are friendly and eager to oblige, the overall effect is almost like being an intruder in somebody else’s dream house.

But the Loon’s Echo cabins are very pleasant, though rustic - a throwback to an old-style vacation. They directly overlook Fish Lake, where the highlight of our stay was taking out a couple of canoes one evening, enjoying the glow of a bonfire on the beach, watching beavers swimming near the shore, seeing the occasional fish rising for a fly, and listening to the eerie cry of - yes - loons nearby.

This resort is a good base camp for hiking, fishing and (in winter) snowmobiling. High-clearance vehicles can head east over logging roads to reach Glacier National Park (but make sure you’ve got a good map and a sense of direction; Forest Service road signs tend to disappear around here).

If you do plan to hike, make sure to stop by the ranger station on the northwest outskirts of Whitefish. They’ve got a free map showing local trails - particularly useful since most hiking books focus on the park. My family and I especially enjoyed two easy hikes next to unspoiled Tally Lake, including a gentle 1.2-mile trail to an overlook at the north end.

If you really want some altitude, try the Danny On Memorial Trail, which begins near the 7,000-foot summit of the Big Mountain Ski and Summer Resort. Named for a longtime Forest Service employee who died in a 1979 ski accident, the trail begins at the top of the chairlift and meanders 1.9 miles along a ridge to Flower Point, which features a spectacular view of the region.

You can walk all the way down to the base, 5.8 miles, and we did, but our knees were hurting by the end. Some people recommend walking up instead of down; your reward is a free 13-minute ride down on the ski lift or gondola (going up, the lift is $9 for adults, $7 for seniors or kids 7-18).

Big Mountain, in fact, is a nice place to stay any time of year. We rented a modern townhouse, with full kitchen (including dishwasher) and two upstairs bedrooms, for $140 a night.

Horseback and pony rides are available, there are tennis courts and several restaurants, and Whitefish is only a 15-minute drive away. The resort also offers a wagon ride and chuckwagon dinner, but it was canceled on our night due to a shortage of customers (understandable) without notifying us until we showed up (inexcusable).

And if all else fails, you can always head for Glacier National Park, its entrance only about 40 miles from Whitefish. We took a raft ride along the middle fork of the Flathead River, which marks the park’s southern boundary. The water was low, which meant the rapids were quite tame - but exciting enough for my daughters, who loved the bouncy sections and wanted more of them.

Our trip was with Montana Raft Co., one of several rafting companies. Our guide was pleasant, but we ended the three-hour trip both hungry and thirsty - a snack, or even something to drink, would have been appreciated.

The park itself has pretty much wound down for winter by now, with only a few campgrounds open. But there’s still plenty to do in the Whitefish area, and skiing and snowmobiling are only a couple of months away.

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: IF YOU GO Getting there: Whitefish is about a five- to seven-hour drive from Spokane, depending on your route and the weather. Motorists should be prepared for the possibility of snow anytime after mid-September. Amtrak’s Empire Builder train, from Seattle to Chicago, also makes a stop in Whitefish. The current round-trip fare from Spokane or Sandpoint is $72 (call a travel agent or (800) USA-RAIL). Kalispell, 15 miles southwest of Whitefish, also has an airport with scheduled flights by several airlines. Where to stay, and eat: Whitefish and vicinity offers a wide range of accommodations, from budget motels to deluxe resorts. There’s also a broad selection of restaurants. Many of them, however, are also bars, where parents might not wish to take children. For information on food and lodging, contact the Flathead Convention and Visitor Association, (800) 543-3105 or (406) 756-9091. For information about local hiking, contact the Tally Lake Ranger Station, (406) 862-2508. Tourism operators mentioned in this story: Montana Raft Co., offers a variety of whitewater and scenic floats, hike and rafting trips, and overnight adventures in the Glacier National Park area. Call (800) 521-RAFT or (406) 387-5555. Another company with similar offerings is Glacier Raft Co., (800) 332-9995 or (406) 888-5454. Star Meadows Ranch owns or leases 10,000 acres of land at the northwest corner of Flathead National Forest. The ranch features horseback riding and lessons; cross-country skiing in winter, and canoeing. Off-season (outside summer) rates are $690 per week or $120 per day for adults, which include all meals and ranch activities. Cheaper teepees also are available. Call (800) 949-4169 or (406) 758-4169. Loon’s Echo Resort has four cabins and one lodge. There’s a private trout pond, canoes, and a barn suitable for family reunions or other group events. Snowmobiling is popular in winter. Call (800) 956-6632 or (406) 882-4791. The Big Mountain Ski and Summer resort offers gondola and chairlift rides, a variety of restaurants (including one at the top of the ski lift), horseback riding, tennis, hiking, mountain biking, summer concerts and a fly casting school. Overnight lodgings in autumn or spring range from $50 to $225 per night, depending on the accommodations. Downhill skiing begins around Thanksgiving. For more information, call (800) 858-4143 or (406) 862-1960.