Colorado and Wyoming are two square states. No great rivers form their boundaries, but their mountains give birth to some of the great river systems of this country. It is these birth waters trickling down from high mountain snowfields that are the true cathedral of the trout. On the border of these two great states, at the birthplace of one of these great river systems, lies Three Forks Ranch.

The word ranch has now been used by developers to mean anything in the west over two acres. But Three Forks is a working cattle ranch in the grandest historical sense of the word and incorporates 200,000 acres at the point where the middle fork, south fork, and north fork all come together to form the Little Snake River.

In an arid land, Three Forks has the distinct advantage of lying at the base of the Sierra Madre Range of the Medicine Bow National Forest, on the southern border of Wyoming, just north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The melting snows from this range feed the sixteen miles of private river belonging to Three Forks, as well as more than thirty ponds and lakes filled with rainbow, brook brown, and native Colorado cutthroat trout.

With such a grand scale,Three Forks is able to have a significant impact on conservation and has successfully completed the largest privately funded stream restoration project in the history of the United States. This includes a protected habitat for the cutthroat, offering anglers the opportunity to fish for this great species in a catch-and-release fishery, unparalleled for cutthroats.

The lodge is spectacular and on a grand scale that matches the nature of the surrounding land. The service is impeccable and offers amenities that rival any resort in the country. The difference is the opportunity for true wild trout fishing, great fall elk and mule deer hunting, with accommodations second to none.

A significant part of this is the cuisine prepared by Christine Drabnis, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and Napa. She learned her craft at other guest lodges in the Rockies and offers a wonderful regional table as well as exotic entrées to satisfy the palate of any guest. The angling and hunting experience at Three Forks Ranch is on a scale commensurate with the mountains that surround the lodge. The cuisine is no less spectacular.