Big Sky, Montana’s largest ski resort, is on Lone Mountain about one hour north of West Yellowstone. The slopes of Lone Mountain have been grazed since the 1890s, and dude ranches began to spring up a few years later.

When native son Chet Huntley retired from the newscasting business, he started up Big Sky Resort in what he figured was the ideal spot to blend development with the natural environment; though at the base of the lifts, the Huntley Lodge and its swarming parking lot now teeter on the edge of overwhelming nature.

Development here has not led to wide use of street addresses. Instead, businesses are located by the “village” they occupy: The Huntley Lodge and ski lifts are in the development known as Mountain Village; Meadow Village is toward the base of the mountain; the West Fork–Town Center area is in between, about 2.5 miles from Highway 191 and six miles from Mountain Village.

While in Big Sky, you may hear about the Yellowstone Club, but unless you’re one of the elite, you won’t see it. Billing itself as the world’s only private ski and golf community, it’s so exclusive that outsiders can’t even browse its website, much less its grounds.

Soldiers Chapel commemorates Montana’s native sons who died in the infantry in World War II. The log chapel is on Highway 191 near Big Sky. Sunday services are held here.