Montana is a truly beautiful place. One of my happy places. It is peaceful and wild and free. I so highly recommend a trip to Montana if you are looking to spend some time in the great outdoors! This summer we took a week long trip with some of our friends to Montana, with half of the week in Ennis, in southern Montana, and the rest of the week in northern Montana at Glacier National Park.
Ennis is a quintessential all-American small town, a must if you are in southern Montana. It is quaint, wholesome and beautiful, situated in a valley surrounded by three mountain ranges. A place where you can spend your days exploring, fly fishing, hiking and day-tripping to Yellowstone, and your evenings cooking big family dinners, drinking wine or whiskey and soaking in the relaxation of Montana.
If you are in Ennis, you are probably there to do some fly fishing. The Madison River, which flows through Ennis, is a world-class place for catching trout on the fly. Perfect for our gang of fly fishing obsessed guys and their tolerant ladies! We did a full day float trip down the Madison on the first full day of our trip and had a great time. The guides who took us out were wonderful – knowledgeable, friendly and focused on a fun, fish-filled day of floating down the river. We booked our trip and grabbed our gear from Montana Trout Stalkers, a fly shop on Main Street in Ennis.
We caught a number of Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout and had an awesome, long day on the river, even spotted a Bald Eagle!
Ennis and southern Montana are filled with beautiful properties and amazing homesteads and ranches. One of my favorite places in Ennis is the 9-T-9 Ranch, a lovely bed and breakfast perched on the banks of the Madison and run by a woman named Judy, who grows her own vegetables, cooks amazing meals for her guests, and pretty much sums up the perfect frontier woman in my opinion! Every once in a while she hosts a Chuckwagon Dinner for her guests, and lucky for us she was able to host such a dinner while we were there. It is a real treat and reminiscent of a hundred years ago when Montana must have been truly the wild west. We sat beside the chuckwagon next to Judy’s home and enjoyed the delicious dinner that she cooked over the fire, finished off by the most delicious peach cobbler and homemade vanilla ice cream I have ever tasted. If you have a chance to do a chuckwagon dinner, jump at it!
During the rest of your stay, you’ll enjoy taking in the breathtaking views and savoring the sound of absolutely nothing. One of my favorite things about Ennis is that it is the only place I have ever been where there is total silence. It is so utterly peaceful and relaxing. A perfect getaway to relax and restore.
Montana ♥ Big Sky Country.
Montana Trout Stalkers
9-T-9 Ranch
BY Jackie
LOCATION Ennis, Montana
