Family farms, guest ranches, and dude ranches make great getaways. Families like the horseback riding and other fun activities, the kids' programs offered at many places, and the all inclusive type of pricing that includes meals.
Visitors can find dude ranches across the US, in Canada, and around the world, but Colorado has its own unique type of mountain wilderness.
A number of Colorado ranches cater to families, with children's programs even for very young kids. For example, the Drowsy Water Ranch is a 600-acre family guest ranch that has horseback riding instruction programs for ages 6 through 13; after riding, kids so other activities such as hiking, swimming, horse brushing, or archery. There is also a program for under-fives. "Parents can partake in any of the children’s programs and riding, and our evening entertainment is also family oriented."
Meanwhile, near Steamboat Springs, the Vista Verde offers all inclusive dude ranch vacations that include daily horseback riding, mountain biking, fly fishing, whitewater rafting and rock climbing – on real rocks. Read a guest article about how "Luxury and Dude Ranches Do Mix."
A note about horse-riding in Colorado: the Colorado Dude Ranch Assocation says that "horseback riding season starts in May or June, depending on the elevation of the ranch and when it’s safe to assume the snow will have melted. But many ranches have programs throughout the year."
To find a Colorado dude ranch, head to:
- Coloradoranch.com, the web site of the Colorado Dude & Guest Ranch Association
- Ranchweb.com - though not specific to Colorado-- is excellent for finding types of places such as Dude Ranches with Kids Camps, Resort Ranches, etc.
