Menu

Dude Ranch & Bed and Breakfast Life

Cut Your Own Christmas Tree & Red Feather Art Fair!

, , , , , , , , 0

Looking for a week-end get-away between the madness of Thanksgiving and Christmas?
How about December 1st & 2nd or 8th & 9th? Two week-ends, two opportunities for fun!

Ride a horse, maybe in the snow!
Ride a horse, maybe in the snow!
  • Morning horseback riding?
  • Maybe a chance to cut your own Christmas Tree? (We will have a few bow saws you can borrow.)
  • Or a few relaxed hours at an old-time Christmas Market and Craft Fair to pick up gifts?
  • Come back to the lodge for hot chocolate and cookies?

To book your reservation, call or text us at 970-224-1222

The Greening of Red Feather Lakes Dec 1st & 2nd!!!

This HOLIDAY MARKETPLACE will highlight craft booths offering

Get silly!
    Paintings,
    Carvings,
    Pottery
    Photography,
    Jewelry,
    Soaps,
    Hand-crafted Christmas items,
    Cutlery
    Seasonal Gifts
    and home-baked goodies

SATURDAY 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
SUNDAY 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Also, You can cut your own WILD Christmas Tree

Truly knarley disc golf!
Truly knarley disc golf!

December 1st & 2nd  or December 8th & 9th in the Roosevelt National Forest.

Christmas Tree cutting in our Red Feather Lakes Ranger District has been a holiday tradition for nearly 40 years!

Permits are $10.00 and can be purchased during the week at

  • Canyon Lakes Ranger District office (2150 Centre, Ave., Building E, Fort Collins),
  • Pawnee National Grassland office (660 “O” Street, Greeley, Colo.),
  • Boulder Ranger District office (2140 Yarmouth Avenue, Boulder, Colo.)

Or you can purchase the permit here at the cutting area on the weekends (cash only).
To book your reservation, call us at 970-224-1222

Hot chocolate waits inside!
Hot chocolate waits inside!

If you want to volunteer to work on the cutting site for one day, (and get a free tree in exchange):

  • Work with Forest Service folks to greet tree cutters
  • Hand out Maps of the tree cutting area
  • answer questions about prices and road conditions
  • check that vehicles have chains or four wheel drive

call the the Forest Service folks at 970-295-6701.

To book your reservation, call us at 970-224-1222

Family Christmas Week at Sundance Trail Guest Ranch

, , , , , , , , 0

Family Christmas Dude Ranch Vacation:

December 22 – 26, 2012

Riding in the snow is romantic!4 night Package

Details and rates here.

Come join us and relax over a long Holiday weekend. Let us cook and clean! A  Christmas Eve Seven Course Dinner, a Family Style Christmas Dinner of Turkey carved at the table; a Champagne Breakfast on Boxing Day: family fun, including for mom!.

Some typical Morning Activities:
Trail Riding, maybe in the snow! With lessons available.

Your hostess, Ellen
Your hostess, Ellen, on the front steps!

And available Afternoon Activities:
Trap and rifle shooting
Trail Riding, maybe in the snow!
Horse back riding lessons & coaching available
Make and decorate Holiday/Christmas cookies
Decorate the tree (help us find and bring home just the right  tree)
Hiking
Pool Table & Foosball Table
Disc Golf?
Sledding?

Trap and rifle shooting every afternoon
Trap and rifle shooting every afternoon

Evening Activities we are planning:

Square Dance (if we have sufficient number of guests)
Cowboy Christmas Music with Lars & Amy
Star-gazing with our family telescope
Evening soak in hot tub
Parlor fireplace
Pool Table & Foosball Table
Hot chocolate & cookies
(Murder Mystery Possible!)
Wine, spirits and beer available at our liquor store.

Details and rates here.

Plain ol’ Fashioned Wranglers

0

Wranglers are the face of Sundance Trail! If you have extensive horse experience/riding ability, as well as hospitality experience and a passion for working with people, you may be a perfect fit! Please review the below duties & abilities before submitting an application.

Do you have additional abilities with children? Check out the Children’s Wrangler position.

$14.42 / hour + tips

 

A wrangler leads a trail ride
Trail Views

Think you’d make the perfect wrangler? Please review our employment expectations before submitting an application. We will be in touch shortly. Thanks!

 

Dude Ranch Disc Golf: Wright Life’s Grateful Disc Tourney

, , , , 0

Colorado Dude Ranch: The Thirty-fifth Annual Grateful Disc!

Dude Ranch Disc Golf in the Rocks
A Few Rocks! See the basket in the rocks?

Disc golf at our dude ranch can be quite a family adventure!

This is the 35th Annual Grateful Disc Festival.

Yee-haw!

And a few dude ranch trees
And a few trees… Can you see the basket just on the other side of the trees?

For the first time in all these years, we have beautiful weather .

Yes, most years we have snow and sleet and freezing rain.

No one is complaining!

Here are a few shots from the morning round.

Sorry, Evan, this makes your butt look big
Sorry, Evan, this picture makes your butt look big…

One of our fearless leader hosts, Evan. Thank you Evan!

For more info about disc golf in Red Feather Lakes, take a peek at our (oops… outdated) Dude Ranch Disc Golf webpage.

If you are new to disc golf, visit our First Time Here Disc Golf page.

disc golf at the dude ranch
Oh that sweet sound! Colorado Dude Ranch Disc Golf

For Dude Ranch Maps and Directions.

A hugs big thank you to Evan and Bill from Wright Life.

dude ranch dog
Poor Tess, the dude ranch retriever, does not get to bring back any discs…

For information about this summer’sGrateful Disc Dude Ranch 2011, July 7th and 8th, call Evan at 970-980-1148.

We’ll post more pictures next week in our Dude Ranch Photo Album.

10 Common Questions People Ask Our Dude Ranch

, , , , , , , , 0

 

1. Do you have a less-than-a-full-week stay?
Answer: Yes! We offer a four-day, three-night family vacation:

  • Sunday afternoon through some-time Wednesday OR
  • Wednesday afternoon through Saturday afternoon.

Details in the “4 Day/ 3 Night Prices Section” of the Summer Rates Page.

2. How is the shorter stay different?

Answer: Our riding program is NOT nose-to-tail! It is based on a “curriculum” of learning objectives based on the level of skill you bring with you.

  • If  Sunday afternoon through Wednesday sometime. You follow the same riding schedule as the full-week guests.
  • If Wednesday through Saturday, you have your own wrangler who will start you with the first learning objectives (depending on your skill) and build from there.

3. What type of riding is available? How are you different?

Answer: First, this is not a nose-to-tail riding program!. Our program is small enough to accommodate both proficient riders, and beginners. We are one of the smallest ranches in Colorado, and we enjoy being flexible in our programs and teaching.

Those who enjoy sight-seeing at a walk can; and those who want the faster jogs and lopes can too!

Our program uses a series of six steps to bring beginners from the ground up, starting with basic Dude Ranch Western Riding and ground manners. These steps are based on principles of Western Riding taught by the American Association of Horsemanship Safety and the Dude Ranchers Association Wrangler Safety  programs. More details on our Riding and What Makes Us Different pages.

4. How often?

Answer: Every day but Sunday (Horses’ Sabbath)!

  • Monday both AM & PM
  • Tuesday AM (or Rock Climbing) and PM
  • Wednesday All day ride or two shorter rides AM & PM
  • Thursday white water rafting or AM ride for shorter stay folks
  • Friday All day ride or two shorter rides AM and PM
  • Saturday AM Gymkana (Ranch Rodeo!) and swim with horses in the pond.

5. Are there fast rides? Long rides? Family rides?  Separate kids rides?

Answer: Yes, yes, yes, and yes!

Massage? Jacuzzi?

Yes! Yes!

6. What type of terrain is the riding in (mountains, meadows, rocky, flat, etc)?

Answer: We are in the Rocky Mountains. Although we have lots of meadows where we can jog and lope horses, much of our trail in the Roosevelt National Forest involves some climbing and descending.

7. What is there to do?
Answer: The list of activities is long!

  • Shooting: rifles, black powder, & shotgun trap (with safety instruction)
  • Rock climbing, belaying, and rappeling lessons
  • Fun Fishing in nearby lakes for trout
  • Serious Fly Fishing on nearby “Wild and Scenic” river
  • Hiking
  • World Class Disc Golf
  • Private Riding lessons and Coaching
  • Tomahawk Throwing
  • Archery
  • Horse Shoes
  • Pool Table
  • Fooseball
  • Mountain Biking
  • Adventurous side trips
  • Jacuzzi
  • Professional Massage
  • and, of course, the hammocks…

Evening Activities include:

  • Sunday Evening guided hikes
  • Monday Square Dancing Lessons
  • Tuesday Evening Kids’ Night Out at the Campfire and Tipi, & Adults’ Quiet Candle Light Supper.
  • Wednesday Campfires with Cowboy Singers
  • Friday Campfires with Cowboy Poetry

Summer Schedule of Weekly Activities

8. What is there to do nearby?

  • Answer: Visit the Laramie Territorial Prison, where Butch Cassidy lived for a while in the late 1800’s.
  • Visit Rocky Mountain National Park and say hello to the elk.
  • Visit the village of Red Feather Lakes
  • Visit the Great Stupa of Darmakaya
  • Visit Old Town Fort Collins (a few hundred unique shops, galleries, brew pubs, tea houses, restaurants, a VERY cool toy store, and Ben & Jerry’s)

9. What’s new?
Disc golf course is known for being knarley! (Nice word for nasty!!!)
Obstacle course — we’re designing now. Should have up by the end of May.

10. How do I check availability?

Easy – just call or text us! 970-224-1222

More questions? Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Summer Vacation Plans Made? Time to Make Reservations!

, , , , , , 0

Dude Ranch Vacation Events near the Sundance Trail Guest Ranch

Lots of great summer family adventure vacation opportunities coming up this summer. Here’s just four:

#1 Greeley Stampede June 22–July 4, 2012

Colorado Dude Ranch Rodeo
Rodeo Events at Sundance Trail Guest Ranch

Dust off your cowboy boots for one of Colorado’s largest summer festivals and rodeos. Dating back to the 1800s, Greeley’s Fourth of July celebration puts the “Yeehaw!” in Colorado’s western culture. Justin Moore, Credence Clearwater Revisited, Montgomery Gentry and Luke Bryan will headline this year’s Stampede.
greeleystampede.org

#2 Colorado Brewers’ Festival June 23–24, 2012

If you’ve tasted a Colorado-brewed beer, then you know why Colorado Brewers’ Festival is wildly popular. 30 Colorado breweries, showcasing more than 60 cold and fresh handcrafted beers, fill Fort Collins’ historic downtown. Summer has never been more refreshing than at this beer-lover’s paradise.
downtownfortcollins.com

#3 Cheyenne Frontier Days July 20-29

Summer family adventure vacation
Thanks David Hobby!

Cheyenne’s world-class rodeo is truly the Daddy of ’em All. Known for its fast pace and large number of contestants, the CFD rodeo ensures that visitors see more rodeo action (over 40 bulls and 70 saddle and bareback broncs daily) than they can see at any other rodeo. Every event is performed in each of the nine daily performances, so any day at Cheyenne Frontier Days is a good day to see an exciting, action-packed
rodeo.http://www.cfdrodeo.com/

guest ranch family adventure vacation
Family Time -- Roman's Gang

#4 Larimer County Fair & Rodeo August 3 – 7th

The Ranch 5280 Arena Circle Loveland, CO Mary Starck, 5280 Arena Circle, Ste 100, Loveland, CO 80538 mstarck@larimer.org (970) 619-4009 Aug. 3-5
www.larimercountyfair.org

Pet Friendly Colorado Dude Ranch Vacations

, , , , , , , 0

guest ranch vacation dog
Me! Waiting to greet you!

You Dogs and Horses are welcome here! You can be part of your family’s adventure vacation!

Hi! I’m Jack-jack, the official Sundance Trail Guest Ranch Dog. My job is to be so happy I can barely stand it!

Also, I lead some special “dog-only” activities like

  • chasing the cats and the goats (when they want to play too, otherwise they just sit there);
  • sometimes taking naps with the kittens:
  • playing with kids!;
  • sniffing noses with the miniature horses (who are only about 30 inches tall and weigh the same as me!);
  • NOT chasing the big horses (unless you want to get kicked!);
  • checking EVERY tree and, well, you know…!

    KIds and dogs on the dude ranch!
    RJ, Me & Annie
Ranch Vacation Baby-sitter!
Baby-sitting

I just talked with a couple of dogs who asked about our dog and horse “culture.” Here’s what two people thought: Dude Ranch Delight – Dog Friendly Guest Ranches, Bark Magazine, July/Aug 2009 and Pet Friendly in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, The Pet Gazette, May/June 2006.

A Ranch Adventure Vacation – May Trail Maintenance

, , , , , , , , , 0

Spring Trail Maintenance – Dude Ranch Work Vacation

guest ranch spring chores
Spring is here! Time to groom trails! Yee-haw!

By popular demand! A new get-away idea! May 13 to May 19

So, if you want to get away from

  • the telephone ringing,
  • the traffic,
  • the TV commercials every six minutes

And you think that celebrating spring might include

  • hauling logs,
  • carrying buckets of dirt up steep climbs

    guest ranch barn and fencing
    Posts for fencing and barn - what fun!
  • setting fence posts and
  • a few hours of riding horses every day for a week?

May 13 is our spring trail maintenance week, and you are invited to join us!

guest ranch horses running
Who left the corral gate open???

We will have 12  – 15 new horses joining our herd, and they will need lots and lots of riding to get into shape for the summer.

Our trails will also need lots of attention (that is, lots of sweat and dirt!). Areas of erosion will be repaired, dead  trees that may compromise safety will need to be removed, water bars built, and just maybe we will build a small barn.

spring guest ranch trail maintenance
Lot's of trails to clean up
  • Hard physical labor and
  • Lots of dirt.
  • No texting,
  • No cell phones,
  • No TV
  • and very limited internet available.

A break from civilization!

If this sounds like fun, visit our Dude Ranch Specials Page or call the ranch (970-224-1222) for more details.

BTW, summer is booking now. If you are planning to join us this year, you might want to call soon!

Dude Ranch Death: A B&B Murder Mystery & Wedding!

, , , , , , , , 0

Mountain Lodge Wedding
Soooo Romantic!

Is this a Bed & Breakfast wedding with a Murder Mystery Game?

or a

B&B Murder Mystery Weekend with a wedding?

Most people elope to a dude ranch to get away from their family and friends. They want a relaxed, very simple ceremony and a fun weekend getaway horseback riding.

Dude Ranch Wedding
Country Inn Wedding

Well, Joel and Sheri decided to have a simple, relaxed ceremony, but brought their family, including all the kids and the dogs.

Why? They had an opportunity to tie the knot while on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and were married while visiting the Sea of Galilee. Wow!

But what of mom and dad? And what of the gang of brothers and sisters and the small herd of nephews and nieces?

What to do?

Cocoa on a B&B family vacation
Cocoa Tasting Her New Creation

Sheri is a brilliant woman – she brought the family together for a re-do and just for fun a murder mystery game for the weekend! Joel’s a pretty smart guy – he married a brilliant woman! Twice!

B&B adventure vacation for Cocoa
Despite the Dog's Best Efforts, Cocoa Dies

Everyone had a great weekend except Cocoa. Poor Cocoa!

She takes one taste of her new candy, and dies! Dead  as a doornail, despite the dog’s best efforts at muzzle to mouth resuscitation.

Two Murder Mystery Weekend Suspects
Two Suspects: Princess Leia & Luke Jr???

Who did it???

The list of suspects includes almost everyone who attended the wedding!

So here’s a small collection of some of the pictures from the murder mystery game and the wedding.

Murder mystery wedding
Kids, dogs, dead bodies... what a wedding!
Murder Mystery Momma!
Mom doesn't watch the high-jinks, she CAUSES the high-jinks!
Wally Winker; Guest Ranch Cowboy
Is Wally Winker Cocoa's Wacker?
Murder Mystery Game Cake?
Murder Didn't Affect Anyone's Appetite for Cake!
A Cup of Wine, Thee, and a Murder Mystery
A Cup of Wine, Thee, and a Murder Mystery
Bed and Breakfast Murder Mystery Weekend
Family Adventure

Dude Ranch Quiz: What is This Horse Saying???

, , , , , , , , , , 0

Colorado Dude Ranch horses communicate very clearly!

Dude Ranch Horse Stevie
1. What is Stevie saying here?

This quiz is part of a series of articles that we have written in the  Sundance Trail Guest Ranch Horse Safety and Horse Communication collection, including Speaking to Your Dude Ranch Horse Part 1 and Speaking to your Dude Ranch Horse Part 2.

When at Sundance Trail Guest Ranch, either for a summer dude ranch vacation or Fall/Winter/Spring B&B stay,

Ranch Vacation Horse Mocha
2. And Mocha?

you will spend lots of time with our horses (and donkeys!).

Horses communicate with body language. (Is this why women so often understand their horses immediately, and why guys are so often clueless?) Their faces, and especially their ears speak volumes, once you learn how to read them.

Colorado Ranch Vacation Pony: Rose Blossom
3. And Rose Blossom?

Here’s a quick primer on some easy to recognize “expressions.”  Have fun!

Answers to each of these facial expressions are listed at he bottom of the page!

Family Vacation Bed and Breakfast Horse: Apache
4. What is Apache saying here?
Family Dude Ranch Horse Khalli
5. What is Khalli doing?
Family Vacation B&B Rusty
6. And Rusty?
Guest Ranch Donkey - Calamity Jane
7. What is Calamity Jane saying here?
1. Stevie is ANGRY!!! She is having a bad hair week. Spring snow has melted and she want’s to party, and the geldings around her are all nerds or something!! Dude ranch horses are supposed to be romantic!!! None of these guys want to dance!!! Best to just leave her alone for a few more days…
She is clearly saying: “keep your distance or I will bite you!!!”
2. Mocha is taking a nap, or maybe she is meditating. Nope, she’s sleeping, in fact, she is snoring! One of her back hooves is up on the toe, her ears are flopped off to the sides, and her eyes are soft, gently starting off into the distance.
3. Rose Blossom is definitely sleeping! She’s still a baby, so she sleeps a lot. She even has her eyes closed, which only babies do – adults sleep with their eyes open.
4. Apache is awake, alert, and wants the cookie in my pocket. He is demonstrating interest and is interacting.
5. Khalli also wants the cookie in my pocket, but at the same time she is listening to some interesting gossip BEHIND her! Yes, kinda like radar dishes, horses’ ears can pivot front to side to back; even in different directions. Yes, if she wanted, Khalli could listen to two different conversations at once!
6. Rusty is actually sleeping. one of his hind feet is up on the toe, his ears are flopped off to the side, and his eyes are softly staring off into space…
7. Calamity is not happy that she is the last picture. She is small, but she is VERY bossy!

Request our Dude Ranch brochure, or Download pdf now, or Email the ranch.

Load More