Dude Ranch Jobs: Now Accepting Applications

Before you read on, be aware that our ranch is value driven, not dollar driven – if you are driven more by money than making magic this is not a good fit for you.

Employment Policies and Expectations
Job Video (Wranglers) – Videos not required at this time.
Employment Application

So you think you may want ranch employment with guests at a Colorado Dude Ranch or Guest Ranch? Most of us dreamed of this kind of work for years before we were hired here – we know exactly how you feel!

Don’t believe that a Dude Ranch job is like a vacation at summer camp. It sounds hokey, but we truly believe that our mission is not about maximizing profit. Our mission is to maximize joy: our guests, yours, and our own.

This is very physical labor; hard work with long hours. We hire folks who are:

• mature
• well rounded
• happy
• “people – friendly”
• have initiative
• self directed and take ownership
• and who have the stamina and endurance required by ranch life.

We create magic for our guests by:

• washing dishes (plan on it!),
• housekeeping (likewise!),
• picking up trash (constantly – including cigarette butts and other disgusting stuff),
• shoveling manure (horse, goat, kitten, whatever…), spreading manure (tons of it),
• and clearing trail in the high country (finally something that sounds fun!).

^Please read this paragraph again!^

1. We are interested in candidates who can quickly and easily become part of a team.
2. We can no longer consider applications that come in pairs.

In Return, we offer you:

1. Base Pay ($13.65/hr) PLUS Room (& linen & laundry) & Board (open kitchen). Value of R & B adds about $8.19/hour (tax free as you are the ranch “fire department”).
2. Any personal tips that may be given to you by delighted guests, plus tips that are divided by all staff. (During the summer months, tips are often greater than pay!)
3. The opportunity to interact with “venture angels” who are looking for investment opportunities (you!).
4. On your free time, access to all guest activities (recreation room,  jaccuzzi, horse back riding hiking, fishing, shooting, etc.).
5. The opportunity to make lifelong friends.
6. The opportunity to collect new skills & training of marketable skills 
7. Build Your Resume
8. Work-Play Balance (in God’s playground) 
9. Working as a Team Member on a team of Professionals
10. Everyone enjoys clear simple rules: to be happy here.

If you are interested in working for us, then please:

1. Study the Dude Ranch Job Descriptions below.
2. Visit the page that lists our Expectations.
3. Feel free to send us an Application

Dude Ranch Job Descriptions & Openings:

The House & Kitchen

Don’t listen to those wranglers! YOU are the most important part of our ranch! Some of the most important memories that we want to create for our guests are meal memories.

We eat in the dining room, in the back yard, and on the trail. We serve “hearty western fare family style,” which can include lots of vegetables and salads as well as meat and potatoes. Because Ellen and Dan are both RN’s we see many guests who have therapeutic diets or allergies.

The kitchen staff is a group of people who have high energy and good humor. Psychosis is not an obstacle to working in the kitchen, although active drinking problems will get you sent on your way. Kitchen and housekeeping staff typically works forty-five hours per week over six days. Summer Kitchen Staff responsibilities include:

• Preparing hearty western meals for 20-25 hungry guests and 10 – 16 hungry staff (about 40 total).
• Serving meals family style; in dining room, on front porch, at picnic tables, and on the trail.
• Baking enormous amounts of desserts and cookies daily.
• Preparing therapeutic and/or special diets (with management support) as needed.
• Managing and maintains food and supplies inventories (shops for groceries).
• Regularly reviewing and assuring compliance with all Health Department Safety Standards and rules.
• Maintaining a spotless clean kitchen, including washing dishes, pots, and pans.
• Helping little kids get eggs from the hen-house.
• Helping wranglers, maintenance persons, and managers do whatever needs to get done to provide guests with a safe and delightful ranch experience.
• Telling endless jokes and humorous stories.

House & Kitchen Dude Ranch Jobs:

Supervisor of Hospitality and Kitchen Staff

Summer Head Cook

Summer Assistant Cook

Summer Dining Room Steward/Vice President of Dish Washing

Summer Housekeeper

Dude Ranch Jobs in the Barn

Don’t listen to those kitchen people! YOU are the most important part of our ranch! Some of the most important memories that we want to create for our guests are from horseback.

Good candidates for barn positions will have both horse & people sense. This is NOT a horse job, it’s a people job that includes horses. You must be safety-conscious, hospitality-minded, and not one to cut corners.

Barn positions require long hours in the elements working at high elevation. You’ll want to be physically fit and prepared to work one of the hardest summers of your life – but also the most fun summer you’ve ever had!

The barn has five types of wranglers:

Barn Manager

Summer Head Wrangler

Summer Plain Ol’ Fashioned Wranglers (accepting applications for alternates)

Summer Children’s Wrangler

N/A Summer Activities Wrangler

N/A– Facilities Wrangler

Winter Wrangler – Job Description and Requirements  (The winter wranglers, along with the owners, do ALL of the duties listed in ALL of the job descriptions listed above!)

Wedding & Events Center – Aspen Grove at Sundance Trail Dude Ranch

Weddings and events are the newest offerings at the ranch, parties, reunions and retreats, no matter what, you’ll find genuine western dude ranch hospitality paired with gorgeous settings.

Sundance Trail Guest Ranch has been hosting elopement weddings and very small events for a number of years now, and we now have a versatile events center on the property.

• We will continue to focus on both smaller and “destination” weddings, as well as larger day events during our peak summer season
• The Aspen Grove is designed to expand our capabilities to groups of 10 to 40 people and may hold as many as 80-100 people.