Ranchlands: Duke Phillips III talks about his newest project, Paintrock Canyon Ranch

Whether you call it the Yellowstone effect or cowboy core, there’s no denying the current fixation with the American West. Travelers are craving wild, wide-open spaces where they can disconnect and live out their cowboy fantasies. For a full immersion into ranch life, look no further than Paintrock Canyon Ranch. This 80,000-acre working cattle ranch at the edge of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains is owned and operated by Ranchlands, a fourth-generation, family-owned ranch management company focused on land stewardship and conservation. Founder Duke Phillips III, a third-generation cattle worker, previously held leases on working guest ranches in Colorado, but this is the first property Ranchlands has owned outright. Now entering its third season, Paintrock Canyon Ranch provides guests an opportunity to saddle up and explore the rugged Big Horn Mountains, but also much more. Here, Phillips chats about the evolution of the project and how tourism can help protect working landscapes. (Title Image Credit: Ashli Butts)

Credit Left: Jared Chambers, Credit Right: Anais Wade

How is Paintrock Canyon different from your previous guest ranches in Colorado?

Scale-wise, it’s similar, but it has a lot more layers. There are more opportunities to experience day-to-day ranch work, like moving cattle, irrigating, fencing, and even observing baby calves being born. Paintrock Creek flows through the middle of the ranch, so guests have opportunities to swim and fish. We have access to one of the best fisheries in northern Wyoming and the rainbow and brown trout fishing is incredible. There is also great birding here. At the previous properties, we’d have to drive guests to trailheads for hiking, but we have so much that’s close here. And the vistas are so diverse. You have everything from huge mountains and beautiful rock formations to open prairie and the creek. The scenery is really multi-dimensional.

Credit: Anais Wade

What’s a typical ranch stay like?

The closest town is the speck of Hyattville, which is one-and-a-half hours from Cody and three hours from Billings, Montana. Guests arrive on a Sunday and depart on Friday for a five-night stay. We really cater to what guests are looking to experience. Some people want to ride a horse all day or help move the cattle. Some people want to hike. Others just want to sit and read at camp. We have 14 safari-style tents, all comfortably furnished and within a short walk to bathrooms and hot showers. I tell friends, this is not camping. You’re a 16th of an inch from nature all night long without being adversely affected by it. All meals are cooked outdoors over fire and served at communal tables. Our chef uses Ranchlands beef for many of the dishes. We also host wellness retreats, writing retreats led by notable authors like Molly Wizenberg, and workshops and clinics on everything from outdoor skills to stockmanship.

Credit Left: Claudia Elise, Credit Right: Megan Rogers

How are ranching and conservation intertwined?

Conservation is a product we produce, just like beef. We see ourselves as stewards of the land. It’s not an obligation, it’s an honor. From a business standpoint, the better we care for the land the more productive it will be. We graze our cattle in a way that restores the land, mimicking historic mobile herds. But it’s also a moral responsibility. When you live on the land you develop a relationship with it and the animals who live on it. You see a coyote every morning or the eagles nesting and want to protect them. People come here and it opens their eyes to how a working landscape can work in harmony with nature.

Duke Phillips was interviewed by Jen Murphy for All Roads North in April 2026.

To start planning your own journey through the American West, perhaps including Paintrock Canyon, please get in touch to speak with a Destination Specialist.