RIDE TO WORK ON A HORSE
Now that Brokeback Mountain has everyone sporting cowboy duds, it's time to put them to good use. The Lazy E-L Ranch, 70 miles southwest of Billings, Montana, is a cattle ranch that's been herding heifers since the early 1900s. This is a working vacation that may reorganize your priorities: Your office is the vast Montana landscape, your desk is a horse, and your to-do list includes riding the fences, doctoring calves, and herding cattle. The ranch disputes the notion that ranchers and conservationists can't get along—goats are used instead of pesticide to eliminate weeds, and its herding philosophy avoids overgrazing. There are rooms in the lodge, but for the truly preindustrial experience, ask for the riverfront cabin—there's no electricity or running water, only an outhouse, some cooking supplies, and a wood-burning stove to keep you company. Not quite Jake Gyllenhaal, but it will do.

Lazy E-L Ranch
Tel: 406 328 6858
From $1,595 per person, per week, meals included