As a writer, I’m always looking for places that might inspire my next story. Sometimes it’s a place I’ve discovered by accident or one I have visited years before. My current work-in-progress, a literary short story entitled Sego, is set in a place I visited often as a child, Paradise Valley, Montana.
I’m sure like many, when a place has paradise in its title, I tend to be skeptical. The word is often used to describe everything from bars to clothing designers, home builders to car washes. For me, a place described as paradise has to be truly special. Paradise Valley is befitting of its title and on the grandest scale.
Paradise Valley is located between Livingston and Gardner, Montana, (the north entrance to Yellowstone Park) sandwiched between the Absoraka and Gallatin Mountain ranges. The valley once dotted with ranches, now more luxury homes, is home to the Yellowstone River and unbelievable vistas.
I first became acquainted with Paradise Valley at a young age. My aunt and uncle operated a cattle ranch in the valley. I clearly remember the summer days I spend there as a boy. We woke early to milk the cows then ate pancakes outside under the shadow of the mountains in my aunt’s flower garden summer kitchen. We spent days with our cousins riding horses to change irrigation dams in the rolling hills leading to the mountains, fished for trout in the mountain fed streams, dug night crawlers under swaying aspen trees, floated the Yellowstone River’s frigid water on hot summer days in inner tubes, and often packed a lunch to eat in a mountain meadow.
Granted, having family living in such a wonderful place can shape an opinion, but I think most that have the chance to witness the beauty of Paradise Valley will come away feeling the same as I do. It has an intoxicating presence.
You can’t just drive through the valley to appreciate it, you need to slow down and get out of the car. Simply head south out of Livingston on highway 89. Several miles south of Livingston, you’ll come to East River Road (State hwy 540). Take the curvy two lane highway heading south and you’ll come to a quaint little restaurant called Pine Creek Lodge. Take Hwy 540 a little farther south and you’ll come to Luccock Park Rd that leads into the mountains and Pine Creek Recreation Area. There you will find a wonderful hiking trail that climbs through a pine forest and along the rushing waters of Pine Creek.
After all that fresh air, head further south and you’ll come to Chico Hot Springs. Growing up, it was a place to swim and soothe our aching muscles, but today it has much more to offer. Check it out here:https://www.chicohotsprings.com/
Rick Steves, the famous travel writer, refers to less traveled places in Europe as “back doors.” Paradise Valley is a “back door.” I’d urge anyone heading West to Yellowstone Park, to take little extra time for a visit.
