Averill's Flathead Lake Lodge

Averill’s Flathead Lake Lodge combines two vacations in one: a dude ranch and a lake resort. It sits on the shore of Flathead Lake near Bigfork in northwest Montana, about 30 miles from Glacier Park International Airport and under 40 miles from Glacier National Park. The site began as a boys’ camp in 1932; Les Averill opened it as a guest ranch in 1945, and the Averill family still runs it today.

Weeks run Sunday to Sunday, and the ranch can host up to about 120 guests with more than 100 guest horses. Mornings might be a trail ride or a riding lesson; afternoons are for the water, with sailing, water skiing, wakeboarding, paddleboarding, kayaking, canoeing and boat cruises on the lake. There is also tennis, mountain biking, yoga and clay shooting. Families are the core of the summer season, with a junior wrangler program, a kids’ rodeo, pony rides and an overnight teepee adventure, and babysitting is available on request.

The rate is genuinely inclusive: lodging, meals, snacks and drinks, horseback riding and lessons, guided hiking and biking, water sports and boat cruises, and a ranch shuttle. Off-site extras such as guided fly fishing, golf and whitewater rafting cost more. Guests stay in lodge rooms or cabins.

Published weekly rates are around $4,400 per adult in the lodge and $5,400 in a cabin, with lower rates for children, but check the current year’s prices with the ranch.