The Historic Crail Ranch - Big Sky

The Historic Crail Ranch, Big Sky's original homestead, is now open for visitors. The unique log structure preserves the story of the Frank Crail family and their life in the Big Sky community in the early 1900s.

Prior to coming to what is now Big Sky, Franklin Augustus, (Frank) Crail arrived in Virginia City in 1864. In 1902 he came to the Gallatin Canyon with his wife, Sally, and their three children. The family had a large hay cutting operation in the meadows of the Westfork drainage.

Eugene Crail, one of Frank's children served in the Army in the World War I where he learned carpentry. He later returned to the canyon and built the Crail House using hand chiseled logs. The home has been restored and is furnished with pieces typical to those used by the Crails in the late 1800s.

The Crail family moved onto this land with a homestead of 160 acres. The Historic Crail Ranch building is the home that they once occupied.