Big Sky Holiday Favorites 2025: A Montana Gift Guide from my Kitchen to Yours
A handpicked selection of my favorite Montana-made gifts from the makers and small businesses I return to year after year.
Every December, I put together a holiday gift guide inspired by life here in the Flathead Valley. Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of meeting more Montana makers, growers, artists and small family farms whose products I use in my own home.
This season, instead of linking to big-box retailers, I wanted to share a collection of thoughtful gifts made right here in my own backyard. Items shaped by our mountains, our rivers, our towns and by people who live close to the land.
From small- batch pantry staples, handmade soaps, cattle drives, extraordinary places to stay and heirloom quality treasures, this guide reflects the places I return to again and again. If you are looking for meaningful gifts with a sense of place, created by someone you could meet at a local market or at their own ranch or farm, these are the Montana businesses worth supporting.
1. Gifts for the Home Cook & Baker
All from local Montana ranches and farms
- 41 Grains gluten-free baking mixes- regenerative farm in eastern Montana using chickpea and lentils
- Old Salt Co-op– ranches committed to regenerative farming and land stewardship
- Highland Harmony Bread makers bundle– family farm growing ancient grains in Southwest Montana
- Chief Mountain Honey– delicious honey from East of Glacier National Park- the only one we use in our products.
- Purple Mountain Culinary Lavender– grown near Flathead lake for over 20 years
- Glacier Distilling Pear brandy ( and lots more spirits)
- Wild Montana Foods Vanilla and syrups- small batch premium vanilla made with local honey and spirits
- Montana Coffee Traders Gift Set
2. For the Adventurer & Outdoor Enthusiast
Get your cowboy on with a few of these ideas
- Cattle Drive with the Bar W
- Schwartz Custom Boots
- Day Hike Guide of Glacier National Park by Hike 734
- Four fifths a Grizzly by Doug Chadwick
- Heritage Knife Shop in the Whitefish Barber Shop- Call for pricing on custom knives
- Cotton Prairie Blouse by Revivall Clothing – hand sewn sustainable out of Montana
- Custom cowboy hats by Glacier Rim hats
- Headwaters– a must read for any fly fishing enthusiast
Montana Makers & Artisans
Music, art and everything local
- Whitefish Native Rob Akey– original artwork at FOR Art Gallery
- Forever Glacier Bison print by Nancy Cawdrey
- Dana Kellin jewelry from Underscore art gallery
- Sterling Drake- Cowboy poet and musician . Check out his latest album
- Big Sky City Lights – another favorite local band of mine
- Tom Morrison Turquoise inlay wooden bowls
- Colt Idol, Whitefish native, original oil paintings
- Lukas Nelson– American Romance- check out his single, Montana
- Rag & Stone Large format rings- Incredible stones all Made in Montana
Cozy at Home
- Pendleton Glacier Park blanket
- 406 soap and candle company – wood wick coconut oil candle
- Alpaca fleece pillows– Alpacas of Montana
Montana Experiences – My favorite places to dine, stay or just explore
All of these vendors I have personally stayed with or visited
- Sage Lodge, Pray, MT
- Quinns’ Hot Springs and Resort, Paradise, MT
- Chico Hot Springs, Pray MT (over 100 years old)
- Baw W Ranch, Whitefish, MT (our next door neighbors)
- Triple Creek Ranch, Darby MT
- Quarter Circle at Flathead Lake Lodge, Bigfork MT
- Whitefish Lake Restaurant, Whitefish, MT
- Glacier Distilling Company Tasting Room , Coram, MT
- Lodges at Seeley Lake , Seeley MT
- Montana Angler Fly fishing trips
- Horseback Pack trips– Bob Marshall Wilderness outfitters
- Feed Cafe, Bozeman MT lunch or breakfast served in a circa 1872 barn
My favorites Montana reads
A collection of my favorite cookbooks all based in Montana.. Please order through your independent book seller.
- Good Morning Montana, Besty Cox
- The Modern Huntsman, Eduardo Garcia
- Cold Weather Cooking, Sarah Leah Chase Not Montana based, but iconic for cold weather climates.
- Montana Table- Recipes from Chico Hot Springs
- Big Sky Cooking, Meredith Brokaw
- Gatherings- Recipes from Montana Mustang Kitchen
Gifts with Purpose
Don’t just consume Montana- preserve and protect our wide open spaces. A few charities and organizations we support and encourage you to as well.
- Vital Ground– protect an acre (or more) in crucial grizzly habitat linkage areas. Meggen is on the Board of Trustees.
- Old Salt Co-op festival – helping ranchers raise the highest quality beef.
- Whitefish Community Foundation – supporting charities in the Flathead Valley for over 25 years
- Glacier Conservancy– the official partner of Glacier National Park- funding projects and conservation through the park.
