Dude ranches deliver a century of unplugged family togetherness

By Steve Graham

In the dude ranch business, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The dude ranch business started in Colorado before 1900, when cattle ranchers started inviting “dudes” from back east out to experience the Old West and have a relaxed vacation away from the stresses of the city.

More than a century later, dude ranches may have added climbing walls, disc golf courses and indoor plumbing, but the traditions and basic spirit of family togetherness haven’t changed.

“I think that people need to disconnect from their social media and electronics and they need to reconnect with each other,” said Dan Morin, co-owner of the Sundance Trail Guest Ranch. “There’s something very magical about sitting around a campfire and roasting marshmallows with your family. Magic like that is getting kind of rare. For people to reconnect with each other is a very powerful experience.”

Courtney Frazier is executive director of the Colorado Dude and Guest Ranch Association, which was created in 1934. She said the dude ranch is more than just a place to sleep away from home.

“We’re not a hotel with horses,” she said. “A dude ranch vacation is much more immersive, and that’s something that has not changed over time.”

Frazier turned some of her favorite childhood memories into a job.

“I grew up vacationing at guest ranches as a teen,” she said. “It’s truly the only vacation we leave teary-eyed because we want it to go longer.”

Morin said the dude ranch experience is particularly magical for busy families.

“I love watching families play together. Modern life really splits families up,” Morin said. “When our kids were in high school, we struggled to even have one meal together. We really had to work at just having time to be together. When I see families reconnecting, it’s very cool.”

Sundance Trail is in Red Feather Lakes, a mountain community northwest of Fort Collins. It is one of at least 22 guest ranches scattered throughout the Colorado foothills and mountains, which includes the historic Lost Valley Ranch near Sedalia. Bar Lazy J, located in a valley southwest of Rocky Mountain National Park, is thought to be the oldest continuously operating guest ranch in Colorado.

By the late 1800s, working ranchers in Colorado started inviting friends from back east (before teens and surfers changed the term, dude simply referred to anyone from east of the Mississippi) for an exciting Western adventure.

In turn, the dudes would bring books and magazines for some much needed news and entertainment, and they could help with chores around the ranch while enjoying some new scenery and a total change of pace.

The business took off with the spread of railroads and then cars. Like everything, the dude ranch business also changed after World War I.

“In the early teens, Europe lost its shine as a favorite vacation place,” Morin said. “People were looking for an alternative. More and more people started heading west.”

Since that time, most guests have spent at least seven days on a dude ranch.

“Staying somewhere for a week is a lot different than trying to pack everything into a long weekend or something,” said Frazier.

Like most of the dude ranch industry, Morin has done little to change the core business in the last couple of decades, aside from adding new activities.

“We found that although some members of the family may love horseback riding, not all the members of a family want to spend their entire vacation on a horse,” Morin said. Sundance Trail now has an archery range, a climbing wall and a disc golf course “classified as bitchin’,” he said.

The ranch, like most dude ranches, draws a wide variety of guests. Families tend to make it an annual vacation, and dude ranches are a hot spot for “gramping,” or grandparents vacationing with children. Groups such as Wounded Warriors also regularly host retreats at dude ranches.

“They talk to the horses,” Morin said. “(The horses) are very good therapists and very good listeners.”

Frazier said most Colorado dude ranches fall into one of three categories. Working ranches might have a minimum age requirement, and cater toward adults who want to really work with cattle and maybe learn to mend a fence or pitch some hay.

“You’re becoming a cowboy for a week, but they’re still feeding you three meals a day,” she said.

A traditional dude ranch caters to families, with more activities for teens and children, as well as amenities such as pools or ziplines. Finally, several luxury dude ranches are scattered throughout the state, offering more formal meals, onsite spas and other pampering.

No matter the style, Frazier warns that guests are likely to get hooked on the dude ranch experience, and said many ranches have a 60- to 80-percent guest return ratio.

“You might know Colorado, but you don’t know a dude ranch,” she said.

Steve Graham is a freelance writer and former newspaper editor who likes taking his two young boys biking, hiking and brewery-hopping in northern Colorado.