Big Sky didn't get its name by mistake. There's something about the place that reminds you of just how wild a place America used to be, and how precious the vestiges of that glorious past are to our history.

Big Sky is a growing resort community spotted midway between Bozeman and West Yellowstone, Montana. In summer, you can come for the golf, the scenic tram rides, mountain biking, hiking, whitewater rafting, horseback riding, or fly fishing. Or you can just drive a little and touch the land. Big Sky is known as critter country. There are elk and bear and they own the place. It is not unusual for golfers to halt play while a moose lopes across the fairway. Wolves roam the hills.

Big Sky is ranching country. Guests can visit and be treated to their creature comforts, but the place is inhabited by rangy people have endured generations of deep winters and the hardships of ranch life. It is surrounded by spectacular mountain ranges and, of course, Yellowstone. Summers are welcome here, and there are days when you can look up at the peaks and know that it is still snowing up there.

Fly into Bozeman's Gallatin Field, about an hour north, rent a car and head south through the Gallatin Valley, following Highway 191 through the Gallatin Canyon, following the Gallatin River. (Curiously, the Swiss-born Secretary of the Treasury who gave his name to all these places never visited the region.) Then turn west on a spur road and wind your way up to Big Sky Resort. New this summer are seasonal weekend non-stop flights from Los Angeles and Denver into Bozeman. Flights from LAX start June 7 in a partnership with United Airlines, and flights from Denver on Frontier Airlines begin in May.

The Big Sky community is home to one of the largest ski resorts in North America. It's young (just over 30 years old), and vibrant in winter.

Something like 10 percent of the community's 1,000 residents are involved with real estate, but come summer it's a very peaceful place to visit or live.

"Peaceful" doesn't mean there's nothing to do - it just indicates you have a lot of choices and not much competition. You'll find blue-ribbon fly-fishing on rivers and streams. Dominated by Lone Peak (11,166 feet), there's hiking in surrounding mountains (the Gallatins, Madisons and Spanish Peaks), where carpets of wildflowers can last well into July at higher elevations.

You can go horseback riding (the area has several famous guest ranches), try mountain biking, take a sunrise balloon ride, enjoy whitewater sports on the Gallatin River, swim, rock climb, play tennis, or just kick back and reeelax. Most visitors venture into Yellowstone National Park at least briefly. It's an hour south of the resort along Highway 191, but try to avoid weekends and holidays, when crowding is pretty much inevitable.

Big Sky gets quiet after Labor Day. Fall colors change the landscape with bursts of brilliant gold aspen. Days are crisp and clear; there's hunting and still fishing; and many mornings there's fresh snow creeping down from the higher reaches, a reminder that skiing often opens before Christmas.