Our week-long Dude Ranch Colorado trips start on Sundays with a High Lonesome Ranch welcome and orientation and end on Saturdays, often with families' being fully bonded to one another, their wranglers and especially to their horses. Horses are an integral part of ranch life, and at The High Lonesome Ranch we’ve got an assortment of equestrian activities for all levels of riders.
There is always something interesting to do at The High Lonesome Ranch. Even disgruntled teenagers turn their frowns upside down when they step foot on the ranch. The open space, equestrian activities and delicious food make for a powerful combination, one that everyone remembers for a long time to come.
Dude Ranch Colorado style. We at the ranch are proud to be an official full member of the Colorado Dude & Guest Ranch Association.
About Dude Ranch Colorado
History of our Dude Ranch Colorado
It's just after sun up and your family leads horses through a dew-moistened Colorado pasture, with a back drop of the horizon scenic purple mountain majesty. As you approach, The Continental Divide appears, and the majestic Western wilderness lays itself at your feet. You step down from your Appaloosa to find a hearty country breakfast sizzling on an open range grill and feast on chow in the ambiance of nature.
Riding horses at a dude ranch is one of the West’s most iconic experiences, and the Latigo Ranch in Kremmling, CO, has been giving families this opportunity for the past 82 years but Latigo’s hardly the only one. Dude ranches exist all over America, offering the opportunity to combine a trip into the great outdoors with some good quality family time.
Dude, of course, is the original slang for “city slicker,” and dude ranches’ collective history dates back to the 1880s, when families who’d recently moved out west would invite friends to visit their cattle ranches. Once the practice spread, thanks to the expansion of the railroad (and the enthusiasm of visitors), ranch owners realized they make sizable profits charging for room and board. The business model proved so successful that many converted their cattle operations into guest ranches in the early 1900s—a tradition that continues today.
“It’s one of the last vacations out there where you get to relax and not be so plugged in,” says Colleen Hodson, executive director of the Dude Ranchers’ Association (DRA). And indeed, a number of ranches, including Wyoming’s premier A Bar A, purposely leave TVs, phones and any other electronic accommodations out of their guests’ otherwise well-outfitted rooms. “We are all about riding and getting to know the outdoors,” says longtime manager Justin Howe.
By definition, a dude ranch is a family-friendly guest ranch offering horseback riding, though only DRA members—those that have undergone the DRA’s rigorous three-year horse-safety program—are certified as such. Historically, their emphasis has been squarely on horses, and that’s still true of most on our list, including the exceptional Hideout at Flitner Ranch, in Shell, WY, which offers all the riding you could stay or are saddle sore enough to handle, plus the rare opportunity to do actual cattle work, such as herding cows to new pastures. But according to Hodson, the newest trend is ranch resorts, among them Montana’s spectacular Ranch at Rock Creek, where getting away no longer means roughing it—in any way. Instead, the focus is on pure relaxation, whether it’s fly-fishing, spa treatments, or riding.
All ranches are, like any business, driven by the bottom line. Still, there’s something grand and ineffable about what the best of them offer: a superior experience of the American frontier, whose reality and myths have obsessed Americans—and a great portion of the world’s citizens—for centuries. One look at the relaxed, tuned-in faces of your kids after a week in the wild and you realize how very important these places are.
