The Dutton Ranch in Yellowstone is a real place, and yes, you can stay there. Let us tell you how!
Stephen Colbert said that watching Succession is like “Schaden-Porn” because it shows the really dysfunctional but visually stunning lives of a superrich New York media baron and his kids with daddy issues. Paramount’s Yellowstone is a lot like that, but it’s about a superrich Montana cattle baron and his own set of very unstable adult children.
Their problems may be silly and, as a result, make for great TV—yesterday, Paramount aired the first episode of the super-sized fifth season of Yellowstone—but all of those superficial trappings of extreme wealth sure do look like a lot of fun. John Dutton, like Logan Roy, likes to travel by whirlybirds and worries about his crumbling empire from the comfort of his lair, which is a really big house on a huge ranch. It is dimly lit and made of wood.
Even though no one would want to be in John’s position, with greedy property developers and murderous rivals always on his heels, it’s hard to resist the allure of a luxurious western lodge surrounded by nothing but wild horses and views that are so beautiful they look like they were made in a computer, but they weren’t. It’s easy to see why John is willing to go to such lengths to protect everything. You would, right?
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The fact that Yellowstone’s Dutton Ranch isn’t a set on the Paramount lot in L.A. but a real, working ranch in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley just keeps the dream alive. Not to mention that you can stay there and wake up to the same wide-open skies, rolling hills, and snow-capped mountains that John, Beth, Rip, and the others see every morning.
The Chief Joseph Ranch, which is what the Dutton Ranch is officially called, is on a trail that Lewis and Clark used. It was settled in 1880. After 34 years, a federal judge named Howard Clark Hollister and a glass magnate named William Ford bought the 2,500-acre property.
They hired the architectural firm, Bates & Gamble, to build the main 6,000-square-foot lodge, which was shown on screen as John’s house, and they brought in the largest herd of Holstein cattle west of the Mississippi.
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Yellowstone producers called its current owners out of the blue and asked if their home could be used as a set for the show. When the show isn’t filming, the property in Darby, Montana is both a guest ranch and a working ranch. Yellowstone fans will recognize two cabins on the property: Lee’s cabin from season 1 and Rip’s (and later Kayce’s) cabin from seasons 1 and 2.
The main lodge is a private home, which is too bad, but tours of the ranch and sets are included with each reservation. Both can sleep up to 8 people. Prices start at $1,200 per night for 4 guests and go up by $50 per person after that. There are no meals included, but each cabin has a full kitchen and a grill outside. Even though there are grocery stores in town, why not do like a real rancher and go fishing in the Bitterroot River for dinner? When in Rome…
