Posted on August 25, 2026
Claire here. In June 2026 I was lucky enough to visit Rocking Z and Hidden Hollow Hideaway in Montana.
I have wanted to visit this beautiful state ever since a school friend visited Montana when we were 12. Watching the Horse Whisperer and Yellowstone has increased my longing and so I was overjoyed at the prospect of a Montana trip. It didn’t disappoint in the slightest.
In The Saddle has worked with both Rocking Z and Hidden Hollow Hideaway for many, many years so it was wonderful to experience them for myself.
Here is some information to help you decide why you really must visit Montana.
There are no direct flights to Montana but the long journey is totally worth it. Both ranches collect from Helena and I had arrived there late the night before.
A little tip – due to the very small size of Helena airport, it’s important to choose a hotel with an airport shuttle as taxis at night are few and far between and there isn’t any public transport. And as an example of just how lovely the people are, when my flight was delayed and I found the shuttle bus driver had gone home, the hotel manager locked up the hotel jumped into his car and came to collect me! What a relief that was.
As soon as you leave the city, you see the real beauty of the state. Montana is not only one of the most beautiful states, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. With rolling hills, mountains and lakes, everywhere you look is a photo opportunity. It’s immediately obvious why it’s known as ‘Big Sky Country’.
The view on one of the trail rides at Rocking Z
Rocking Z is c. 20 minutes drive from Helena so it takes no time at all to get to the ranch. Owned by Zack and Patty Wirth, the ranch is nestled at the foot of Mitchell Mountain and spans 1,000 acres. I shared the transfer with a couple of other guests and we chatted about, you guessed it, horses. On arrival we were shown to our rooms and had some down time at the lodge before lunch. After lunch it was our orientation and introductions. We met our horses and had our first session on foot doing various groundwork exercises as we got to know our horses.
Hidden Hollow Hideaway is about an hour’s drive from Helena in the foothills of the Big Belt mountains overlooking Canyon Ferry Lake (a 26 mile long reservoir). We arrived in time to see the horses being brought in which was a wonderful, welcoming sight. Their herd seemed to span all the colours of the horses’ rainbow. We were shown to our cabins, had a light lunch and then it was time for our introductory ride.
The driveway to Hidden Hollow Hideaway is spectacular
Hidden Hollow Hideaway is a working beef ranch and you stay with the owners, the Flynn family, so it’s a great insight into working ranch life.
Rocking Z has a chalk board showing the individual riding sessions that day. There is normally one full day ride during the week as well as numerous non-riding activities that you can join and groundwork demos to watch. There was zero pressure to do anything, your holiday could be as relaxed or varied as you wanted, but I found myself not wanting to miss out on anything. The timings were relaxed and if the staff knew you were interested in a particular activity but the previous activity was running late then they would come find you.
The schedule at Rocking Z is action packed and includes a choice of trail rides, barrel racing, cattle work and work in the round pen. I found Anna’s (Zack and Patty’s daughter) insights into biomechanics especially interested and we also did a fun exercise with Maria (another daughter of Zack and Patty) about riding to your focus. This really develops the relationship between you and your horse.
Each night, the chalkboard was updated with the next day’s activities
The day at Hidden Hollow Hideaway started a little earlier at 07:15 as guests took it in turns to help bring in the horses. Once the horses were in, we groomed and tacked them up. On the first afternoon we were given a demo on how they liked this done since not everyone was used to western tack. A staff member fits the bridle and checked the tack before we mounted.
We rode in the mornings for about 2.5 hours – 3.5 hours which left plenty of time to get stuck into helping around the ranch with optional jobs like fencing, irrigation and checking the cattle on the six wheeler. Or you could have a trip into town for a ice cream or just relax on your deck with a book.
The cattle are worked once a week so on this day you could be in the saddle for as long as it takes (up to 7 hours) but luckily everything went smoothly for us and it took c. 3.5 hours.
Bringing in the herd at Hidden Hollow Hideaway
There is a herd of over 100 at Rocking Z with quarter horse crosses with highland ponies, Arabs, Belgian, Morgan, paints to name a few. They are trained by parelli natural horsemanship methods. Your first day is on the ground as they teach you the seven games. I was told that my horse found some of these games hard to do but, although he wasn’t super supple, he managed them all with relative ease. It was a good way to see if our horse was a good match or not and it was possible to change horses after this session.
The ranch had all the previously supplied rider information but then asked each guest ‘how they feel about trot’? I had never been asked this simple question and it was interesting to see how it evoked different responses from each of the guests. Due to my own back issues I was paired with a very smooth-paced Morgan called Jones who was absolutely perfect, polite, well schooled and checked in with me constantly – what a good boy, he was.
My horse Jones and me admiring the vista at Rocking Z
Hidden Hollow Hideaway has a herd of 30 horses. Mainly quarter horses, a few paints and a new draft cross. I was paired with a grey called Finn who was very smooth and responsive. He was very polite and listened very well. Most of my group weren’t regular riders but they were all matched with appropriate horses and enjoyed them all very much. Some of the horses were more ‘cowy’ than others so this helped determine who did what during the cattle work.
My horse Finn at Hidden Hollow Hideaway
Each ranch can accept all levels of rider due to the temperament of the horses and how well trained they are. This makes a ranch holiday perfect for mixed ability groups including partners that don’t ride that much, everyone in the family, as well as experienced riders. At Rocking Z, children are welcome to ride from 6 years old and at Hidden Hollow Hideaway, children can ride from 10 years old.
Everyone wants to know if there will be a possibility of cattle work on their ranch holiday.
Rocking Z is a guest ranch and has around 50 cattle. You mainly work cattle in the arena, moving them from pen to pen. Whilst on a trail ride, we found that the cattle had strayed so we got to move them up the hill which was an exciting first day’s ride.
It was good fun developing our cattle skills in the arena. We were split into teams and were pitted against each other in a friendly competition to weave a small herd through the barrels. This was a fun exercise that I haven’t done before – despite visiting a couple of other ranches over the years.
The outdoor arena at Rocking Z is huge and perfect for working cattle
Hidden Hollow Hideaway is a working cattle ranch. It offers cattle work on one day each week. The main cattle drives are in June and there are smaller drives throughout the summer. On our cattle working day, we split off into two groups, one group heading through some thick bush to flush out some cattle, whilst the other group kept the main herd together.
It’s important to remember that cattle work on a working cattle ranch is carried out at a slow pace to ensure the cattle aren’t stressed and lose weight. Of course if the odd one gets loose then it’s a fun job to go catch it!
Checking on the momma and baby calves at Hidden Hollow Hideaway.
Rocking Z has 8 guest rooms in two separate single storey buildings known as Lower and Upper. In addition there are two small single rooms in the lodge which are available without single supplement. I stayed in ‘Three Mile Charlie’, a triple room in the lower guest building (these rooms have air conditioning). It was spacious and airy with an ensuite bathroom, sitting area and plenty of storage for clothes. In addition in the Lower building are the following rooms: Malcolm Clark with one queen bed and one single bed; Henry Sieben with two double beds; and James Fergus with one king bed.
The rooms in the Upper building don’t have air conditioning but are positioned by the hot tub and laundry facilities. These rooms are called Nicholas Hilger which has one queen-size bed and one single bed; Bernard Barnes with one queen-size bed, one single bed and a futon; Fanny Sperry Steele with one queen-size bed and a single bed, as well as a double futon and General Sherman which has a king sized bed and a single futon.
Three Mile Charlie at Rocking Z
Hidden Hollow Hideaway has four rustic cabins that are clean and simply decorated. The ranch will never put guests together in a cabin who don’t know one another. The larger log cabin (the Pathfinder) has two separate bedrooms, one bathroom (with bath tub) and a living area. One room has a queen bed; the other a double and single bed. The smallest cabin (Scout) has a queen bed and double bed in one room plus a bathroom. The cabin closest to the barn (Wrangler) has two bedrooms (one has a queen bed and the other has a double bed) and these two bedrooms share a shower and loo. The newest cabin (Homestead) has three separate bedrooms, two bathrooms (one is en-suite) and a living area. It also has a private deck overlooking the creek.
A bedroom in the Homestead cabin
I have had a few trips to the USA over the years and it’s safe to say that the food hasn’t always been a highlight for me. But I was very pleasantly surprised at both Rocking Z and Hidden Hollow Hideaway. The food is freshly made, hearty and there is plenty of it. At both ranches it is served buffet style so that you can help yourself. Dietary requirements and allergies are well catered for at both ranches as long as they have advance notice.
Breakfast at Rocking Z was a choice of bacon, eggs and pancakes, bread and cereal, lunch might be homemade stew, freshly baked bread and salad and dinner could be chicken or beef followed by dessert such as lemon drizzle cake. Meal times were good fun as you could sit anywhere and chat away to the different guests, family members and wranglers.
Pork chops, sauce, green beans served with salad
Breakfast at Hidden Hollow Hideaway was typically cooked options such as eggs, bacon, potatoes, quiche, as well as toast, granola and yoghurt. Lunch could be spaghetti bolognese, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken salad or three bean salad and for dinner we sampled meatballs, chicken, sausages and burgers followed by dessert.
The chalkboard that was updated for every meal
It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world and Montana should be on every cowgirl and cowboy’s bucket list. You should visit and experience for yourself the spectacular scenery, friendly people and fantastic horses. Both Rocking Z and Hidden Hollow Hideaway are wonderful places for learning or improving your cattle skills, riding and horsemanship.
If you have any questions about a stay at Rocking Z or Hidden Hollow Hideaway or would like to enquire about dates, please do call +44 1299 272 997 or email me at claire@inthesaddle.com
