Staff and Ranch History

Welcome to Sun West Ranch! Located in the breathtaking Madison Valley, Sun West Ranch invites us all to make our home here and immerse ourselves in its landscape. Montana is still the new frontier!  Our land is rich with history, abundant wildlife, and some of the most breathtaking scenery you will ever find.

In the eyes of many of its owners, this 2,000+/- acre ranch is nearly perfect. With an abundance of wildlife throughout the ranch, it also borders three miles of the Madison River. With its recent land acquisition,  it now has land on both sides of the river and will always have deeded access to the nearby highway.

Our ranch bears a history that goes back to the Native Americans who left open evidence of their presence that has been preserved to this day. After the advent of the European migration in the 1800’s, it became a working cattle ranch. It was homesteaded by Sam Shelton, who was a hard-working rancher and a part of the history of the Madison Valley. One of Sam’s original cabins is still present on the ranch to this day.

The land was conceived, purchased, planned and developed as a ranching community by Ted and Heidi Gildred in the 1990’s. Governance of the development is now under the full control of its property owners’ association. We share 55 home sites. They have been carefully selected and sited to preserve our privacy and feeling of seclusion. The homesites range in size from four to eleven acres. We share and enjoy over 1700 acres of common land. We enjoy access to many thousands of acres of public land to our west. The ranch is managed for us by a full-time ranch manager that maintains and oversees the community.

The ranch is proud to be a Certified Undaunted Land Steward. Undaunted Stewardship® is a cooperative program directed jointly by Montana State University (Bozeman), the federal Bureau of Land Management and the Montana Stockgrowers Association, with guidance from national and Montana conservation and agriculture groups. Undaunted Stewardship® came from Montana’s ranching and agricultural community and was initiated to recognize the stewardship of private landowners that has resulted in many areas along the Lewis and Clark Trail remaining undeveloped and closely resembling what Lewis and Clark saw during their expedition through the state. The program works to preserve and improve landscapes and communities along the Lewis and Clark Trail in Montana.