Big Timber
Flanked by the beautiful backdrop of the Crazy Mountains and offering some of the finest blue-ribbon trout fishing in Montana, it's no wonder Big Timber—the gateway to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness—boasts celebrity status. Gene Autry owned a ranch just north of town and provided stock for the local rodeos. Scenes from Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It and The Horse Whisperer were filmed here, and the award-winning documentary Sweetgrass was also filmed in the area.
Big Timber is bordered on the north and east by prairie, and on the south and west by mountains, and charms with numerous outdoor activities and guided services, including ranch vacations, hiking, river floats, hunting, fishing, golf and the historical Big Timber Rodeo.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Big Timber’s Grand Hotel Bed & Breakfast is the town’s most iconic lodging spot. Stay the night in turn-of-the-century decorated room, enjoy some of Montana’s best cuisine (locally raised beef and seafood flown in daily!), and top off the night with a cocktail at the Grand Hotel Saloon.
Get a historical look at Sweet Grass Country at the Crazy Mountain Museum. Explore the Cobblestone City—a detailed miniature diorama of Big Timber circa 1907—and a permanent rodeo that display features the Cremer Rodeo of the 1930s. Museum visitors also enjoy the museum’s replica Norwegian stabbur, a tipi and a one-room schoolhouse.
