‘The Madison’: 'Yellowstone' spinoff filmed near Three Forks quietly comes and goes

THREE FORKS — Cradled by the winding Jefferson River, rolling hills and the towering Tobacco Root Mountains, the KG Ranch blankets 26,000 acres of Gallatin County. A chorus of whistling wind, the songs of migrating red-winged blackbirds, and the soft mooing of 800 mother cows permeate the otherwise silent ranch southwest of Three Forks — a pastoral scene briefly interrupted by the hum of film crews in 2024 and 2025.

The KG Ranch is one of several sites in Three Forks, Ennis, and Bozeman that will be featured in the “Yellowstone” spinoff show “The Madison.” Set to premiere on March 14, “The Madison” follows the tragedy-struck Clyburn family, which relocated from New York City to the Madison River Valley in search of emotional reprieve.

“This whole yard just filled up with vans, pickups, and people,” Cody Jackson, the KG Ranch general manager, recalled. “It was like going to the Town Pump. They had meat sticks and candy, anything those guys wanted.”

Written by Taylor Sheridan, the series focuses on emotional personal drama, a stark contrast to the violent overtones of his other productions. “The Madison” stars Golden Globe-winning actor Michelle Pfeiffer, who plays Stacy Clyburn, the matriarch of the Clyburn family.

“Her trailer was up the road quite a ways, away from everybody else. There was a big portable potty unit up there,” Jackson said. “They brought special cars in on lowboys and unloaded them. They’d go and get her in one of those.”

“The Madison” crew visited the KG Ranch four or five times, Jackson said. Each time, they’d be on site for a day or two before packing up their camp for the next filming location.

“The next day, you wouldn’t have even known they were here,” Jackson said.

In addition to the KG Ranch, “The Madison” filming locations were sprinkled around Three Forks, including the airport and rodeo grounds.

Overall, residents said the filming had minimal impact on the community.

“A lot of them were staying in Bozeman or Belgrade, and their meals were catered, so there wasn’t a big change in business in town,” Kelly Smith, Three Forks city treasurer, said. “Other than a little extra traffic on Kyd Road, and some lights from night filming, I didn’t really notice it.”

Smith said the Paramount crew purchased water from the city to spray on Kyd Road to keep down the dust. After staging several scenes in the rodeo grounds, she said the crew took good care of the facilities and left them clean.

“Everyone I met was polite, and as a city we had no complaints,” Smith said. “I’ll probably watch to see if I’ll recognize any spots around town.”

Robert Gifford, owner of the Cowboy Basics Trading Post, said the hope of seeing a familiar face is his primary motivation for watching the show.

“This kid from Texas came in to buy a hat and a pair of jeans,” Gifford said. “Real polite, reminded me of my brother. I’d watch to see if he’s in it.”

The hat Gifford sold belonged to his late brother.

“It went to a good place. He reminded me of my brother, looked a little like him,” Gifford said.

”The Madison” was renewed for a second season in August 2025, seven months before its public debut.

“People eat this stuff up,” said Darby Minow Smith, a fifth-generation Montana cattle rancher who wrote Why ‘Yellowstone’ Became a Dirty Word to so Many Montanans. “It’s a money maker.”

While “Yellowstone” left a bad taste for many Montanans, “The Madison” seems to be drawing a quieter reaction.

“I watched the trailer, and I couldn’t get too worked up about it because the word is already out about Montana,” Smith said. “There’s already such an incredible influx of wealth, it’s already changed so much.”

Kindle Edwards runs a cattle ranch “15 minutes north” of Three Forks. Growing up, she worked alongside her father on a cattle ranch in Boulder. After she met her husband, she brought her “little cow herd (to) the other side of the hill.” She closed on her property in 2020, just as the first Yellowstone wave was crashing in.

Edwards said the impact “Yellowstone” had on Montana “leans mostly toward the negative.” Between COVID and “Yellowstone”, Edwards said the scene was set for a mass migration to Montana as people sought sanctuaries outside cities.

“I understand why people want to move to Montana and have a part of the American dream, but (the influx) hasn’t stopped,” Edwards said. “The Three Forks area has gotten bigger; there’s a big subdivision that just keeps inching its way (closer). It was empty before 2020.”

The first three episodes of “The Madison” will be released on Paramount+ on Saturday, with the remaining three dropping March 21. Another “Yellowstone” spinoff debuting this month, “Marshals” with Luke Grimes, is set in Montana but filmed in Utah.