Planning Your Dude Ranch Vacation

Some Helpful Hints for Planning your Colorado Dude Ranch Visit

Overnight Guests, as well as Disc Golfers and Trail Riders may find helpful hints here.

Riders’ Profiles

We ask that our guests to complete their rider profile & waiver before arrival. This helps us to pick the right horse for you!

Check In & Check Out

• Summer Dude Ranch Season:
  Check-in 2pm 
  Check-out around 12pm
• Fall, Winter and Spring
  Check-in is 2pm
  Check-out by 12pm

Suggested Clothing

Our lifestyle is relaxed and very casual, but you will be most comfortable if you follow these general guidelines.

Riding requires:

• long pants/jeans preferred
• long sleeve shirts
• some folks find bicycle shorts under their jeans most comfortable
• sports bras can make trotting and cantering easier
• either riding/cowboy boots, light hiking shoes or tennis shoes (No deep-tread hiking boots or loose fitting tennis shoes)
• cowboy hat or sunscreen for ears, neck and nose
• stampede strings for your hats are HIGHLY recommended!
• stampede strings hang from the inside brow band below the chin — keeps hat attached to you in a breeze, so hat does not fly away and SPOOK the horses behind you! Can be found in most Country-Western clothing stores or in our Trading Post here.
• riding helmets are available here
• you are welcome to bring your own saddle and/or helmet if you prefer

Hiking requires:

• hiking boots, hiking shoes or tennis shoes (NOT cowboy boots),
• sunscreen and a hat, wide-brimmed or cap

Everything else requires:

• jeans or shorts
• t-shirts
• sunscreen (we can’t repeat this enough)
• swim suit
• sun glasses (high altitude sun is rough on eyes)
• Summer evenings can be cool – a jacket, sweat shirt or sweater
• Fall, Winter & Spring can be unpredictable, with as much as a 40 degree difference between afternoon high and night low temperatures. Dress in layers.
• Washers and dryers are available for guest use every day after 5PM – (yes, mom, you can go home with clean clothes!)

Other Items to Bring Along:

• Water Bottle — Dehydration is a common malady at altitude. Our environment is classified as “high desert” with relative humidity of 15% – 20%. Bring your own or buy one from our Trading Post and plan to drink lots, especially in the summer. Double especially if you drink coffee or alcohol!
• Cameras
• Flashlights
• Hand lotion – our air is dry
• Sunscreen
• We now have a retail liquor store on the property, and a variety of soda pop, beer, wines and spirits available on the ranch. You do not need to BYOB, but are also welcome to if you wish.
• Guest suites have small refrigerators.
• We make trips to town almost daily, and will be happy to have staff pick up other needed items.

You do NOT need to bring:

• Your hair dryer – every bathroom has one.
• Your banjo, accordion or bagpipes.

Did you notice that we didn’t list watches or cell phones or pagers? You won’t need them here — let your cell phone work exclusively as a camera!

Special Diets:
We are happy to accommodate your special diet needs. Please notify us well in advance of these needs, and we will be happy to write our menu with you.

Fussy Eaters:
If you have a fussy eater, we will be happy to have a variety of simple “kid-friendly” foods available. Notify us in advance, and we will have your child’s favorite foods available when you arrive.

Pets

We are pet friendly! Dogs and Horses are welcome here! Details are outlined here.

Weather for Zip 80545

You can see the National Weather Service 7-Day Forecast here.

Mountain weather means dressing in layers. Remember the temperature will drop 30 degrees when the sun goes down at night!

Work?

Mail, Verizon cell service, limited Wifi available.
However, “bringing work” with you, or being “on-call” for work is HIGHLY discouraged.