- Though some “Yellowstone” scenes are shot in Texas, Oregon, and Utah, many locations really are in Montana.
- As a native Montanan, I decided to visit several filming locations scattered across the state.
- From the Dutton Ranch to the infamous “train station,” here’s how reality compares to the show.
As a native Montanan, I recently set off to see what “Yellowstone” locations look like in real life.
I had put off watching “Yellowstone” long enough.
Having been born and raised in Montana, any mention I’ve made of my home state for the past five years has been met with questions along the lines of: “Is it like ‘Yellowstone?'”
In short, no. The modern-day western drama, with five seasons of blatant and unapologetic lawlessness, is a stark contrast to the sleepy state I grew up in. Centered on the Dutton family, led by patriarch John, “Yellowstone” boasts a cast that will do anything for their dynasty: the largest ranch in Montana. Think “Succession,” but with more cowboy hats.
But with the current season airing while I was home for the holidays, I figured it was time to settle in and learn about my culture. And within a few episodes, I realized there actually are a few things the TV show and the state have in common: settings.
Though some scenes are shot in Texas, Oregon, and Utah, many of the show’s locations really are scattered across Montana’s varied countryside — including the infamous Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. So I set out to see some of the locations for myself.
In real life, many of the locations in “Yellowstone” are nowhere near Yellowstone National Park — or each other.
Most scenes in “Yellowstone” are, ostensibly, within a few miles of each other. The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch — the family’s home, and where much of the show’s action takes place — is bordered by Yellowstone National Park, the fictional Broken Rock Indian Reservation, and is near Bozeman, Montana.
Reality paints a different picture.
The Dutton Ranch is nowhere near Bozeman, or Yellowstone. To drive to Bozeman would take 3.5 hours, while the closest entrance to Yellowstone National Park is about 4.5 hours away — making it a bit trickier for characters to have quick trips to “the park.”
And if patriarch John Dutton wanted to visit his son, Kayce, at his home on the Broken Rock Indian Reservation — filmed on Montana’s Crow Reservation — it would take him about 6 hours and 43 minutes to drive there.
It took about ten hours from my home in Helena to visit each of the filming locations listed below.
The Governor’s Office, which is filmed in the state’s capitol building, is just as opulent as it looks on TV.
One of the first scenes in season one, episode one, takes place in the governor’s office, a setting that I instantly recognized as the Montana State Capitol building.
In this scene, viewers are introduced to Jamie Dutton, John Dutton’s adopted son, who works as an attorney. Throughout the first few seasons, members of the Dutton family are frequently seen in and about the governor’s office.
Both inside and out, I thought this location looks just the same in person as it did on TV.
The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch is a real, working ranch located in Darby, Montana.
The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch is a real place — and cabins on the property can be rented out for between $1,200 and $1,500 per night. The real-life ranch is called the Chief Joseph Ranch and is located in Darby, a small town in western Montana.
While renting a cabin was out of the budget this time, the Chief Joseph Ranch can be seen from the road, so I went to check it out.
When I pulled off the highway, I was disappointed by how little of the ranch could be seen. From behind a large gate, I could see a sign welcoming visitors to the “Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.” Beyond that, though, very little was in view, other than the tops of a few white barns, including one bearing the Dutton brand.
The Duttons solve several of their problems at the “train station,” where they commit murder and dump the bodies of unruly foes.
Throughout the show, the Duttons and Rip, a cowboy on the ranch, dump bodies at the “train station,” an overlook that’s said to be a few miles over the Wyoming border.
In reality, according to Montana’s Glacier Country blog, the train station is a highway pullout near Sula, a small town about 15 minutes from the Chief Joseph Ranch — which would make it more time efficient for body-dumping, albeit less discreet.
The setting is the same as any highway turnout area, making it far more conspicuous than I had imagined. A few other cars were parked there when I arrived, hammering home that this would not be an ideal place for the Duttons to commit murder.
Still, with a river running below it and mountains on either side, the “train station” made for a beautiful view.
In the fourth season, a group of activists holds a rally outside the Livestock Association’s Livingston Field Office.
In reality, the “field office” is actually a building at the intersection of Woody Street and Railroad Street in Missoula, about 3.5 hours away from Livingston.
I noticed that the real-life building was missing a sign that was present in the show. Other than that, the location looks nearly identical to its portrayal in the series.
In season four, a hold-up, followed by a shootout, takes place at Ruby’s Cafe in Missoula.
In the fourth season, John Dutton and cowboy Rip arrive at Ruby’s Cafe to find that robbers are holding the place up. A shootout follows after the two sneak in the back, leaving the robbers — and the sheriff — dead.
When I stopped by the greasy spoon for bottomless coffee and a stack of buttermilk pancakes, I found a cafe that looked essentially identical to its fictional counterpart. The decor was the same, down to a whiteboard displaying the breakfast specials and dessert menu.
Ruby’s is the kind of joint one comes to expect from a hometown diner: cozy and intimate, and bustling even on a weekday morning. In fact, a waitress told me they’ve seen a drastic difference in patronage since the episode aired.
John Dutton buys Jamie’s paternal father a steak at Glen’s Cafe located in Florence, Montana.
In season four, John Dutton runs into Jamie’s biological father, Garrett, at Glen’s Cafe. In the episode, John tells Garrett to enjoy “the best Salisbury state in Montana, because you never know which meal will be your last.”
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I stopped by Glen’s, located in Florence, a small town about 20 miles west south of Missoula. And while I didn’t order a steak to confirm its accolades, the cafe has started selling T-shirts modeled after those worn in the show — so I picked one up for $30.
The cafe looks just like it was portrayed in the series, with a few diners nibbling at breakfast. On one wall, Glen’s even boasts a shelf of “Yellowstone” memorabilia: a framed photo of Kevin Costner sitting at the bar, and a framed Glen’s Cafe T-shirt.
John Dutton is sworn in as governor at the start of the fifth season. But his inauguration doesn’t take place at the Montana State Capitol building; it was actually filmed at the Missoula County Courthouse.
In season one, the governor’s office is shot inside Montana’s real-life capitol building. In season five, however, “Yellowstone” filmed its gubernatorial scenes in the Missoula County Courthouse — which is just a few blocks from the fictional Livestock Association’s Livingston Field Office.
In the first episode of the most recent season, we watch John Dutton being sworn in in front of the “capitol.” The frames are tight, so non-Montana natives wouldn’t notice the discrepancy. But what you can see — the front of the building — is accurate to real life.
The governor’s house in season five is shot at the Daly Mansion, outside of Hamilton, Montana.
During the midseason finale of season five, we’re taken into the governor’s house, where John Dutton is watching a news report about wolves killed on his land.
This scene is filmed at the Daly Mansion, a building outside of Hamilton in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. Built in the 1800s, the mansion has 50 rooms spread over 24,000 square feet, according to its website.
The Daly Mansion now serves as a museum — and the Victorian-style home looks just the same in real life as it does on the TV show.
