Tetons, Yellowstone and the Bitterroot

By car through Wyoming and Montana in summer, from the Tetons to the Bitterroot in Montana's far west. A private night with an astronomer under some of the darkest skies on Earth in Grand Teton National Park, a day with a Yellowstone Forever educator in the park's northern wildlife country, and a cattle drive with the wranglers of a Bitterroot ranch.

Length: 10 nights
Pace: Three stays
Style: Wildlife, national parks, ranch, summer
Route: Jackson Hole to Big Sky to The Bitterroot Valley

Jackson HoleFour nights
Big SkyThree nights
The Bitterroot ValleyThree nights

A fire pit and sheepskin-draped chairs on a terrace, the snowy slopes and the tram beyond. — Photo: Caldera House

Days 1 to 5 · four nights

Jackson Hole

A car from Jackson Hole airport to Teton Village. A guided wildlife drive through Grand Teton National Park by way of the National Elk Refuge, seven miles of whitewater on the Snake River, or on request a private afternoon float down it with a naturalist that ends in dinner by the river, and a day to yourself or the via ferrata above the valley from the gondola. One morning can be spent watching a master horse whisperer work with troubled horses in centuries-old ways, then riding out to a picnic lunch. The rodeo runs at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a guide who takes you behind the scenes and seats you behind the cowboys and bulls, and one night brings a private stargazing tour in the park with an astronomer and telescopes; Teton County was the world's first International Dark Sky Community.

Where you stay

Caldera House

Caldera House stands in Teton Village a few steps from the Jackson Hole tram, with eight suites of two or four bedrooms. There is a heated outdoor plunge pool and a cedar sauna, Corsa for dinner and Southcable Café for something simpler, and Grand Teton National Park is a short drive away.

A steaming hot spring in bands of orange and turquoise below a forested ridge.

Days 5 to 8 · three nights

Big Sky

North through Yellowstone by way of Old Faithful, Midway Geyser Basin and Norris. A full day with a private Yellowstone Forever educator in the wildlife country of northern Yellowstone, with spotting scopes and a locally sourced lunch, and a day at leisure, perhaps fly fishing or rafting the Gallatin.

Where you stay

One&Only Moonlight Basin

One&Only Moonlight Basin sits among the mountains and meadows of Big Sky, with rooms, suites and standalone alpine cabins set in the forest. Akira Back cooks Japanese dishes, Wildwood draws on local ranches and rivers, and the resort runs guided rides into the backcountry, hiking and fat-tire biking.

Round hay bales and an old wooden barn in a green field below a mountain range.

Days 8 to 11 · three nights

The Bitterroot Valley

West across Montana to Darby, for three days of ranch life with every meal included, before flying home from Missoula. From June to September, a full day herding cattle with the wranglers, four to eight riders at a time once you have ridden on the ranch, and from June to mid-August a ride along the trail Lewis and Clark crossed, an hour and a quarter away in Idaho, to a picnic looking over the Continental Divide.

Where you stay

Triple Creek Ranch

Triple Creek Ranch is an all-inclusive, adults-only ranch of private log cabins among the pines on the southern side of Trapper Peak, the highest mountain in the Bitterroot Range. Menus change daily, and the ranch arranges horseback riding, fly fishing and guided yoga.

Arranged on request

Stargazing with an astronomer

A private tour deep inside Grand Teton National Park with an astronomer and telescopes, in the world's first International Dark Sky Community.

Behind the scenes at the rodeo

At the Jackson Hole Rodeo on Wednesday and Saturday nights, a private guide takes you behind the scenes and seats you directly behind the cowboys and bulls.

Yellowstone with an educator

A private day led by a Yellowstone Forever educator, built around wildlife, geysers or hiking, from May to October and December to February.

A Bitterroot cattle drive

A full day herding cattle with the wranglers of Triple Creek Ranch, for four to eight riders, from June to September.

The Lewis and Clark trail

A ride along a trail Lewis and Clark travelled, to a picnic with a view of the Continental Divide, from June to mid-August.

A horse whisperer in Jackson

A morning watching a master horse whisperer work with troubled horses using centuries-old methods, followed by a ride and a picnic lunch. On request.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A field seminar at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, reached only through Yellowstone Forever programmes, with scientists, artists or Indigenous knowledge keepers.
Horseback riding, fishing or zip lining at Big Sky.
A day fly fishing on the Bitterroot River.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.