Idaho
Small Cattle Company, a working cow ranch in Dubois, is so far from anywhere that it takes nearly an hour of dirt-road travel to reach it. Once you arrive here in Big Sky country (it's right near the Montana border), you'll be shown to your rustic cabin (there's running water but no electricity) and put to work by owner Butch Small, an authentic, salt-of-the-earth cowboy. Small manages some 400 head of cattle and makes his living selling the calves. You'll spend your days learning to ride, herding livestock, shoeing horses and pretty much eschewing anything that was invented in the last 100 years. Most everyone out West once lived this way, but the opportunities to experience the lifestyle are fast disappearing.
Rates: $1,200 per week; 208-374-5555.