BY GEORGE FULLER
In the
heart of southwest Montana’s Gallatin River Valley—halfway between trendy
Bozeman and the majesty of Yellowstone National Park—lies the still-unspoiled
town of Big Sky, population 1,245. This idyllic area, once explored by Lewis
and Clark, is now the destination of choice for modern settlers looking for an
old-world, ranch-oriented lifestyle, but one that gives up nothing in the way
of modern conveniences and amenities.
Just such a place is The Club at Spanish Peaks, a 5,700-acre
private residential and recreational development that is blessed with one of
the best Tom Weiskopf-designed golf courses anywhere. A simple horseback ride
from Yellowstone National Park, Spanish Peaks is a place for golf and skiing,
to be sure, but in the bigger sense it is a place to enjoy all the best life
has to offer.
Launched in 2004 by developer Jim Dolan, The Club at Spanish
Peaks will offer 850 residences, including 450 homesites, luxury cabins, lodge
residences and townhomes. The community’s recreational and social centerpiece
is The Settlement, a village hub where owners will find dining options, bars
and lounges, a spa and fitness facility, a pool and hot tubs, children’s
programs and equestrian facilities.
Outdoor activities—the main storyline in Montana—are available
year-round and include world-renowned fly-fishing in summer and top-rung
downhill skiing in winter. This is also horse country, with endless miles of
riding trails to explore, either with a Spanish Peaks-based wrangler or on your
own.
If golf is your passion, the course at Spanish Peaks will thrill
you. The holes are masterfully framed by the surrounding mountains and forests,
including magnificent views of Yellowstone’s Spanish Peaks after which the
property is named. But more than a world-class beauty, the design provides a
round of golf that both rewards skilled play and still offers a thoroughly fun
18 holes for families and higher-handicap golfers.
Weiskopf is a master of mountain golf design—some believe the
best of our age—and his work here proves the point. Hole 17 is where he
included his signature short, drivable par four. Measuring 330 yards, No. 17
plays downhill from the tee and offers a safe route on the lower right side of
the split fairway, and a risk/reward shot on the left fairway which can either
land you on the green or in a heap of trouble.
Although golf is certainly one of the primary activities in
summer, so too is the Gallatin Valley a fly-fishing heaven. Abundant with
rainbow, brown and cutthroat (the state fish) trout, some sections of the
Gallatin River are said to have 4,000 trout per mile. The Spanish Peaks
property incorporates four miles of tributaries to the Gallatin, reserved for
the private use of owners. Other blue ribbon rivers in the area—the Madison,
Bighorn, Yellowstone and Missouri—also provide backyard access to stellar
fly-fishing that purists from around the globe travel thousands of miles to
fish.
Not to be outdone, winter also offers remarkable sport. Big Sky
residents and visitors enjoy one of the longest ski seasons in the United
States—with conditions at their prime from November through April.
With the area’s uncrowded slopes and an annual snowfall of more
than 400 inches, The Club at Spanish Peaks—combined with neighboring Big Sky
Resort and Moonlight Basin—boasts more than 6,000 skiable acres, more than 240
trails, and the nation’s longest vertical ski slope, a thrilling six-mile run.
For the convenience of owners, two private lifts lead from Spanish Peaks to all
the snowy fun.
There are a number of enticing ownership options here, including
golf frontage lots, some with ski-in/ski-out access (starting at $849,000);
two- to five-acre mountain view lots (starting at $575,000); luxury cabins, 36
of which are already built, (beginning at $2.2 million); and 49 lodge
residences currently under construction in The Settlement, part of a
270,000-square-foot compound which will also be home to a retail and commercial
center.
If America’s heritage lies in the rugged beauty of its land and
people, the majesty of its mountains and rivers, the unwavering spirit of discovery, adventure and freedom, nowhere is this
spirit more naturally alive than Montana, one of America’s last great places. If this describes a land you’d
like to call home, The Club at Spanish Peaks is such a place.
THE CLUB at SPANISH PEAKS—Big Sky, Montana,
spanish-peaks.com; (877) 995-3100
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