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President Barack Obama stayed at Big Sky Resort while on a mid-August tour of national parks in the West. His purpose in visiting the area was twofold: to conduct a town meeting in Bozeman, Mont., on health care, and to take his family on a vacation to Yellowstone, America's oldest national park.

Big Sky Resort, which is located half way between Bozeman and Yellowstone, may be a winter ski resort, but it is also open in summer for lodging, dining, mountain biking, and sightseeing. The resort had the right ingredients to house the First Family. "Obama needed a place to stay, and we were the perfect location to camp for the night," Big Sky spokesperson Dax Schieffer told OnTheSnow.

The First Family lodged in Big Sky's Summit Hotel, one of the resort's more elegant hotels. "The Summit Hotel is pretty well designed to handle such a request," continued Schieffer. 

Obama, who had vowed during a Montana campaign stop to learn to fly-fish, hit the East Gallatin River with a guide for an afternoon catching trout. The First Lady and her daughters went whitewater rafting. 

The Summit Hotel is available for lodging during summer and winter. Big Sky operates the Ramcharger chair for sightseeing, mountain biking, and hiking until early October.

More information. Call 800-548-4486.