At Sand Lake in Montana you can...

At Sand Lake in Montana you can climb off the world, get lost, escape the daily crunch. Vacationers go rafting, hiking, fishing and explore the countryside on horseback. The camp serves as a base for day rides. (Beats the tiresome business of breaking camp daily, pitching a tent each evening.) No long hours in the saddle. Alpine meadows, forests. Lots of wildlife. A different ride each day. Or just hang back and fish or nap.

Sand Lake lies 90 miles west of Yellowstone Park in Big Hole and Pioneer Mountains of southwest Montana. Camp operated by Diamond Hitch Outfitters (they describe themselves as “wranglers, chauffeurs, cooks, dishwashers--but mostly friends”).

Tents contain cots, tables, chairs, wood stoves. Cabins are also available. Meals range from sourdough pancakes to fresh trout from nearby streams. The season begins in July, runs through September. Rates: $100 a day for adults, kids $50.

Diamond Hitch Outfitters, 3405 Ten Mile Road, Dillon, Mont. 59725. Call (406) 683-5494.

Colorado Guest Ranch

In Colorado the Little King Ranch at Granby (90 miles northwest of Denver) is open to the public for the first time. This was the former hideaway for Denver oilman John King (the ranch is now called The Colorado). Served by car, train, bus. Features a paved runway for private planes.

The ranch (1,400 acres) borders the 1-million-acre Arapaho National Forest. Open year-round. Summer activities: riding, fishing, rafting, golf, tennis. In winter, guests ski, go snowmobiling, sledding, join snowcat tours and take sleigh rides. Rates: $125 per person a day, double occupancy ($150 single), including accommodations, meals, activities.

The Colorado, P.O. Box 497, Granby, Colo. 80446. Call toll-free (800) 332-2656.

(For a brochure listing dozens of other ranches, write to the Colorado Dude & Guest Ranch Assn., P.O. Box 300, Tabernash, Colo. 80478. Telephone toll-free (800) 441-6060).

Britain on $69 a Week

“Spend a week discovering Britain for just $69.”

This offer for accommodations comes from the Youth Hostels Assn. Breakfast is an extra $3, dinner for about $4. This is a go-as-you-please vacation. Anywhere from 7 to 21 nights. Your first night is pre-booked. After that you’re on your own. Choose a spot and turn in a voucher (exchangeable at any youth hostel in Britain). The YHA also books inexpensive flights from the United States aboard 747s flown by Virgin Atlantic Airways, New York to London. Special-interest vacations also arranged: climbing, cycling, riding, sailing, hang gliding.

Contact The British Connection, 2490 Black Rock Turnpike, Suite 240, Fairfield, Conn. 06430. Call toll-free (800) 654-2171.

Italian Farms/Apartments

Max and Ellen McCance put travelers up on farms and in apartments in Italy’s Tuscan countryside. (“We do it with a personalized touch,” says Ellen.) This is an adventure timid travelers might not tackle on their own. The McCances promise: “You’ll see the real Italy.”

Farms and apartments are used as bases for day trips. The McCances help with the planning, providing details on roads, routes, restaurants. They’ll pick you up at the airport or rail station and deliver you back. Dozens of apartments available in or near the medieval hill town of Castagneto Carducci.

Write to the McCances, Podere Ricciolino, 57022 Castagneto Carducci (LI), Italy.

Cottages in the Cotswolds

Peter B. B. Trodd, a British expatriate living in Alabama, represents a string of nearly 300 rental cottages in Britain. “Mainly in the English Cotswolds,” Trodd says. “A few in the South of Wales.” Prices start as low as $162 a week (shoulder season), $325 in the high season. Cottages are inspected by Trodd’s staff. Requirements are high. As a result, only one in four is chosen for the rental pool. A two-week holiday for four adults in the low season figures out to about $1,000 per person, including air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations and a car.

Contact Trodd, c/o Heart of England Cottages, P.O. Box 888, Eufaula, Ala. 36027. Telephone (205) 687-9800.

Vacation Rentals

A company in Salinas lists more than 15,000 vacation rentals. Homes, apartments, villas in Mexico, Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Homes are equipped with linens, kitchen utensils. Villas feature cooks, maids, chauffeurs, gardeners, swimming pools.

Bargain hunters are renting flats in London. With the dollar on a decline overseas, they save on restaurant costs by preparing meals at home. The London flats start as low as $38 per person a day, based on four guests.

Contact Vacation Rentals, 276 E. Market St., Salinas, Calif. 93901. Call toll-free (800) 288-4552.

Europe Hotels

In Europe, Pullman International Hotels (a subsidiary of Europe’s Wagon-Lits group) is guaranteeing rooms for $69/$89 a night (single or double occupancy). These are three- and four-star properties. (Rates include tax and service.) A choice of 41 hotels in Paris, Rome, Florence, Frankfurt, Cologne, Zurich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, Madrid and other cities. Rates valid June 15 to Sept. 15. With the dollar on a dive, the Pullman offer is a good one.

For details contact your travel agent or write to Pullman International Hotels, 200 West 57th St., New York 10019. Telephone (212) 757-1235. Request a brochure with details on location, public transportation, sightseeing, off-season rates.

Reader Recommendations

California--Susan Bolton, Long Beach: “From the moment we arrived at the Edgemont Inn in San Diego we relaxed, enjoyed, ate, sipped, were pampered and spoiled by gracious innkeeper Rosemary Johnson, fondly called Auntie Rose by her guests. Rooms are themed, cozy and comfortable. Rates of $60 to $95 a night include breakfast (sausage and cinnamon waffles just like grandma’s). Write Edgemont Inn, 1955 Edgemont St., San Diego, Calif. 92102, phone (619) 238-1677.”

Hawaii--H. Marie Rosinke, Studio City: “Excellent one-week summer swim camp at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex, University of Hawaii on Oahu. Cost $175. Contact University of Hawaii Athletic Department, Attn.: Joe Lileikis, 1337 Lower Campus Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822.”

England--Iris Ohren, San Clemente: “Recommend staying with Michelle Cryer, 16 Olympia Close, Northampton NN4 ORU, England. Modern Tudor cottage, private bathroom, full run of the house. Modern kitchen and laundry. Sixty minutes to London by train or M-1 Motorway. Warm atmosphere. Owner lived 20 years in California. Rates 20 a night single, 35 double.”

Channel Islands--Patricia Friedman, Laguna Hills: “Idlerocks Hotel, Jerbourge Point, St. Martins, Guernsey, Channel Islands, is great value. High on the cliffs overlooking islands of Sark and Herm. For about $197 a week, a comfortable room with TV, adjoining bathroom, full English breakfast and dinner. Islands can be reached in 20 minutes by air or ferry from Southhampton. Hydrofoils and ferries also serve the islands.”

France--Barbara Chambers, Coronado, Calif.: “Stayed at a restored 18th-Century house in the Loire Valley owned by two former UC Berkeley graduates. Furnished with antiques and lovely modern baths. On warm days, breakfast in the garden; on cooler mornings, in the charming family kitchen. Madame Desplat is a poet and her husband a history buff. Rates $55 U.S. double, $40 single. Write to Jacques and Katie Desplat, Villeloin-Coulange, 37460 Montressor, France.”