Homes on the Range

Homes on the Range

Dude ranches offer everything from luxury living to cattle herding

In the move City Slickers, Billy Crystal plays a thoroughly urbanized man who transcends a midlife crisis by spending a week in a working castle ranch. The movie was a fantasy, but the idea is catching on; aging baby boomers have been rushing west with an abandon not seen since the Gold Rush of 1849.

Dudes (those not ranchers or descended from ranchers) searching for  traditional ranch activities like horseback riding and cattle driving have plenty of ranches to choose from. Frontier outposts, they're not  - many offer hot tubs, gourmet cooking, and professional massages after a long (or short) day in the saddle.

Following are some of the outstanding ranches highlighted in Gene Kilgor's Ranch Vacations, the most comprehensive guide to America's ranches currently available and which lists over 200 ranches.

Dude ranches

Bakers Bar M, Adams, Ore:  Teddy Roosevelt fished here. Later guests can still enjoy the river and a hot springs pool on this 2500-acre ranch on the Umatilla River in the Blue Mountains of Northeastern Oregon.

Crossed Sabres ranch, Wapiti, Wyo: Established in 1898 as a stagecoach stop, Crossed Sabres exudes Old West ambiance. The ranch requires a minimum stay of one week.

Klicks' K Bar Ranch, Augusta, Mont: One of the best and oldest ranches in the West. Getting to this high country hideaway requires a half-hour float plane ride across Gibson Lake or a ride by saddle horse on a mountain trail.

North Land Ranch Resort, Kodiak, Ala: Located in the emerald green Kalsin Valley with the Pacific Ocean on one side and mountains on the other, North Land is a 31,000-acre cattle and horse ranch with spectacular Alaskan scenery. The mood is low key and the wildlife is first rate. Excellent fishing and riding.

Skyline Guest Ranch, Telluride, Colo.: The owners have deeded this ranch nestled in the high meadows ans aspen-rich peaks of the San Juan Mountains to the Nature Conservancy.

A wild space. Photo by Elena.

Pack Trips

Rimrock Ranch, Cody, Wyo.: Five- to 10-day pack trips into nearby Yellowstone National Park and Shoshone National Forest. Also great fishing in the North Fork of the Shoshone River and on Buffalo Bill Lake. Guides cook the trout you catch on an open fire.

Old Glendevy Ranch, Glendavey, Colo: Glendevy combines pack trips with a stay at the ranch. There's excellent fishing as well on 3 miles of private shoreline at Mclintire Creek.

Seven Lazy P, Choteau, Mont.: A low-key, family-owned ranch specializing in pack trips and located on the North Fork on the Teton River.

Working Cattle Ranches

Bar H Bar, Soda Springs, Idaho: Bar H. Bar has 2,000 head of beef cattle on 9,000 acres in the Bear Range of the Wasatch Mountains, bordering the Caribou Cache National Forest. Guests participate in calving, branding, fence mending, cattle drives, and salting and doctoring beef for market.

Cheyenne River, Douglas, Wyoming: A working cattle and sheep ranch with over 8,000 acres in the wide-open prairie of eastern Wyoming. Usually only one family or couple at a time stay at the ranch and participate in cattle drives, changing pastures, calving and sheep sharing (in April), and branding and lambing (in May).

Ponderosa Cattle Company and Guest Ranch, Seneca, Ore: A historic 120,000-acre cattle ranch located in a magnificent valley in eastern Oregon. Dudes can herd, change pastures, check fences, and practice roping.

Spanish Springs, Rovendale, Calif: A working cattle ranch, Spanish Springs boasts 5,000 cows and 20 horses and 70,000 acres in Northern California's rugged high-desert country near Nevada. Wild horses also are seen on occasion.

Fly-Flashing Ranches

Big Hole River Outfitter, Wise River, Mont: One of the best fly-fishing outfits in North America. A maximum of 10 guests receive personal attention and instruction suited to their ability, with one guide to no more than two guests.

Crescent H Ranch, Wilson, Wyo.: An upscale ranch with an international fly-fishing reputation. Guides take guests to the ranch's private spring creeks, the nearby South Fork in Idaho, or the Firehole and Yellowstone rivers in Yellowstone National Park.

Crystal Creek Lodge, Dillingham, Alaska: For people who like to fish, like to fly, and who don't like to rough it, this is the place. A premier lodge with upscale amenities, and daily fly-in/fly out fishing in five planes and two helicopters at remote site.

Elk Creek Lodge, Meeker, Colo: Offers extensive private land and fishing water in northwestern Colorado – over 100 log-dammed pools in Elk Creek, on six private miles of the White River, and on Trapper Lake, the second largest natural lake in Colorado.

Cross Country/Snowmobile

Fraying Pan River Ranch, Meredith, Colo: Thousands of acres of untracked snow in the Rockies. Excellent but challenging back country skiing as well as a winter fly-fishing program. There's an outdoor hot tub, too.

One Mountain Ranch, Big Sky, Mont: Seventy five kilometers of meticulously prepared trails for every ability level. High-level tours include all-day ski trips into the Yellowstone Park.

Vista Verde Guest and Ski Touring Ranch, Steamboat Springs, Colo: A romantic winter getway with indoor-outdoor hot tube, sauna, and exercise equipment.

Luxury

Alisal Guest Ranch, Solvang, Calif: A secluded 10,000 acres, 40 miles northwest of Santa Barbara. Thirty miles of riding trails, a par 72 championship golf course, and seven tennis courts.

  

Rancho de las Caballeros, Wickenburg, Ariz: One of the premier ranch resorts with an 18-hole championship golf course First-rate service.

Triple Creek, Darby, Mont: A luxurious, adults-only mountainstop guest ranch with a romantic atmosphere and gourmet cuisine.

Family and Kids

Cherokee Park Ranch, Livermore, Colo: Offers a tremendous diversity of activities for all ages and three full-time counselors for ages 3 through 12.

Paradise guest ranch, Buffalo, Wyo: A traditional dude ranch full of children's programs. Kids under 6 will be completely supervised if parents desire.

Peaceful Valley Lodge and Ranch Resort, Lyons, Colo: A two-to-one staff to guest ratio and an extensive program for kids three and up, with a nursery and supervised children's program in the summer.

White stallion ranch, Tucson, Ariz: Some 3,000 acres surrounded by rugged desert mountains. Kids will enjoy the ranch's petting zoo.

Don't forget that rodeo, the circus of the west, has its roots in the hard work of everyday ranching; those rodeo clowns don't just entertain the kids, they also keep the rodeo pit safe by distracting unruly broncos when the stars hit the ground. Rodeo organizers try to make the danger worth it by competing to offer the biggest purses and draw the biggest stars.

A big tree. Photo by Elena.