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The Most Private and Exclusive Guest Experience in Montana

The Resort at Paws Up offers the most private and exclusive guest experience in Montana. There is no main lodge. There are no room numbers or hallways. Instead, our guests can stay in a luxury ranch home or glamping tent, nestled within a forest of tall timbers that overlook rolling meadows, majestic rivers, pastoral creeks and panoramic mountainscapes.

Paws Up offers 28  Montana vacation homes, each impeccably appointed in an unrivaled tapestry of rustic elegance and each located on its own private lot.  The expansive Wilderness Estates are perfect for Montana family reunions and groups. The Big Timber Homes and Meadow Homes make an ideal refuge for smaller families and couples on a quest for privacy. For a true Montana experience, stay in our historic Morris Ranch House or Blackfoot River Lodge – idyllically situated on the banks of the legendary Blackfoot River. All accommodations blend western-chic decor with a litany of amenities including kitchens, hot tubs, personal transportation, flat-screen TVs with DVD players, high-speed wireless Internet, laundry and more.

Luxury Ranch home

Luxury ranch home

Montana vacation home

Morris Ranch House

Blackfoot River Lodge

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Top 10 Coolest Glamping® Honeymoons

A great article by Uschi & Kay about the glamping trend and the coolest glamping honeymoon destinations.  They included Paws Up in their list.  Here’s what they had to say.

Location: Greenough, MT
Price: From $1075/per night (includes all meals)

As one of America’s top glamping resorts, I couldn’t do a glamping round up without including Paws Up, now could I?  If you want a luxurious glamping experience in the truest sense of the word then Paws Up is the place for you. With a camp butler, heated washroom floors, and king sized feather beds, this is glamorous camping at its finest. And to make the experience at Paws Up truly decadent, a visit to the tented Spa Town is a must.

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Adventure served just the way we like it…

Gordon J.B. MacGeachy

“The first time I heard about Paws Up, it was from a client back in 2006 and she wasn’t someone who would ever be interested in anything that looked like camping. She was very wealthy, controlling, and wanted to celebrate the fact that she had just got her two sons and grandchildren “back” after successfully managing two divorces and getting rid of the daughter-in-laws that she just couldn’t stand. Not being one to argue we sent them to Paws Up, and although I thought she would hate it, she absolutely loved it, and told me that she couldn’t wait for her sons to marry again so she she could plan another two divorces..!”

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Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet…

Mother Nature can’t slow down the construction at Cliffside Camp, our newest and most luxurious glamping® experience opening in June.  This spectacular view is from the front deck of one of two “honeymoon tents” that will be available at Cliffside Camp.  Sweetening the view is our lovely reservations team (from left): Jessica, Sheena, Tira and Nicole.  Each stands at the ready to tell you more about Cliffside Camp and to help you plan the vacation of a lifetime at Montana’s premier luxury ranch resort.

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Capturing Your Memories at Paws Up

Once the excitement of your Montana vacation has faded and you have returned to your regular life, having a portfolio of your travel photographs are a good way of bringing back the good memories.  Here are a few ways to improve the quality of your photographs:

Go for the Close Up
The fact is that so many potentially great shots can be ruined simply because so many superfluous elements have been included.  By eliminating any unnecessary content the impact of the shot you are looking for will be greatly increased.

Take Care with Landmarks
If your intention is to show your someone standing with an important landmark then you don’t want them to be literally overshadowed by it. The best idea is to focus on the individual, make sure you have them as you want them and then simply include the landmark and a kind of background storytelling element. This will ensure your photos are both personal and special.

Go for the Angle
Unfortunately, most amateur photographers tend to take a whole batch of pictures from exactly the same angle — that is in the upright position with the subject at eye level. You can make your body of work far better and far more interesting if you mix up the angles a little.

Concentrate on the Light
You may often find that a pretty average shot of a pretty average scene or landmark can turn out to be quite spectacular simply because you have captured an interesting shot with regards to the light. Sometimes in fact a boring scene can be transformed as the light passes through a tree or the yellow light from a street lamp hits the shady street. The important factor here is patience — wait until the light is right.

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Top 10 Best Winter Vacation Destinations: America’s Hottest Cold Cities

With a collection of hot springs, local breweries and easy access to skiing and other winter sports, Missoula, MT, has a full assortment of winter fun.

Missoula makes a great base for those interested in piecing together a multiday ski trip. Skiers can choose among six ski areas within a two-and-a-half hour drive of downtown, the closest being Montana Snowbowl in the Lolo National Forest about 25 minutes away. Cross-country skiing trails can be found in three national forest areas – on some local golf courses and at the Mount Haggin Nordic Ski Area. Guests can rent snowmobiles at a few local shops, then explore the vast network of snowmobile trails that wind through Missoula’s surrounding forests. Ice skaters can glide on indoor and outdoor floors at Glacier Ice Rink, while anglers can ice fish at several lakes that freeze over in the Seely Swan Valley.

After experiencing water in all its frozen forms, guests can warm up and relax aching muscles in one of Missoula’s hot springs. While some of the springs are located in natural settings and require a hike to reach, others have been tapped for commercial use and incorporated into resorts that feature mineral pools.

Missoula’s restaurants serve everything from pizza, pub fare and BBQ to more refined recipes. With four breweries concocting original beers plus a variety of pubs, finding a drink is never a problem. In fact, we noticed Missoula’s beer scene last year and named it one of the best unexpected beer cities in the country.

Activities: Downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, ice skating, ice fishing, sleigh rides

Average Annual Snowfall: 46

Winter Temps: 16 to 30

Must Try: A nighttime dip in a hot spring

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Paws Up Featured in Men’s Journal

Men's Journal Magazine - Men's Style, Travel, Fitness and Gear

The gold standard of the upscale version of experiencing the great outdoors, a stay at one of the upscale campsites at Montana’s Resort at Paws Up will have even the most rugged backwoodser questioning his spartan ideals. Situated along the Blackfoot River (the very same that inspired ‘A River Runs Through It’), Paws Up’s “glamping®” (glamorous camping, naturally) sites are the epitome of luxury and comfort: For the River Camp, your tent is a mere cast away from the water, and, by the way, is actually a sumptuously furnished, house-sized living space with canvas walls and roof, plus electricity and en suite bathroom. Nights are spent by a crackling campfire enjoying s’mores (prepared by your personal butler, naturally) before drifting off to sleep with the sounds of a gentle wind blowing through the trees and the distant bugle calls of elk.

Creature comforts aside, though, the real draw is the exceptional beauty of Montana, and the chance to experience it with a little adventure. For many, that comes in the form of rapelling down a huge, 167-foot cliff – said to be the same spot where Meriwether Lewis once stood as he crossed the U.S. – with a view of the Blackfoot River below that’s simply breathtaking. Other activities we partook in were archery, ATV-ing through the mountain valleys (which you can also do on horseback), and a sweet massage in a tent with a view of the valley. Every morning, we’d wake up to beautiful sunrises with herds of cows off in the distance. The food at Paws Up’s onsite restaurant Pomp is as good as anything you’ll find in the big city. That said, as a vegetarian, this writer didn’t try any of the hallmark meat dishes (the huckleberry pancakes were pretty awesome, though).

Naturally, Paws Up offers plenty of activities that don’t require an adrenaline spike. After all, Montana is world famous for fly fishing, and the best way to spend a tranquil morning is by casting your line in the Blackfoot River while watching the sunrise over the nearby mountains. One of the most beautiful moments we experienced came during a helicopter ride, when we crossed over a herd of horses, which began to chase us as we flew by. The sound of the hooves running in the field almost made our entire group cry. The guy who works at Paws Up had never seen anything like it. That pretty well describes an experience here.

-Ryan Van Duzer