Surrounded by vast acreages and with the splendour of Mother Nature all around, it’s not hard to see why ranch holidays are good for our sense of wellbeing. Just imagine sitting on your cabin porch while savouring a wide-screen panorama of snowcapped mountains, the sprawling meadows below literally bursting at the seams with wildlife. It’s a recipe for heaven on earth, and you’re not even sitting on a horse yet.
Once you are saddled up, the real fun can truly begin. North America’s trails will often take you into the backcountry and beyond, some of those pathways only ever accommodating the local flora and fauna.
Proven fact, research suggests that spending time in the natural world reduces our stress levels and anxiety, and an added health kick, horse riding is also good for you. Back in 2015, the Texas A & M University attempted to define the amount of energy expended in several common riding activities. Their findings show that riding a horse for 45 minutes at a walk, trot and canter can burn up to 200 calories.
An expert when it comes to hitting the trail in the USA and Canada, tour operator Ranch Rider has spent 25 years in the saddle. The specialist’s carefully chosen properties cater to those who want the genuine cowboy working ranch deal, and those wanting more in the way of activities and comfort. The company’s handpicked guest ranches offer a wide array of pursuits from archery to mountain biking, and some even come with a spa. At the upper end of the scale, there are luxury resort ranches with palatial suites, concierges, personal trainers and bespoke wellness plans. But, says Ranch Rider, wellness is a common theme on every ranch holiday, as it’s all about making the most of the outdoors, even the yoga classes taking advantage of the breathtaking backdrops.
If you want to mix the cowhand lifestyle with some quiet contemplation and recharge in the wilderness, read on, as Ranch Rider has picked out six of the best ranch holidays where you can work on your wellbeing.
ECHO VALLEY RANCH & SPA, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Also known as super natural British Columbia, BC’s landscape is filled with wide open ranges, moss-carpeted rainforests and pristine rivers and lakes. Situated in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region, the location of the Echo Valley Ranch & Spa, a luxury eco-ranch, is spectacular in more ways than one. The owners claim to have immediately fallen for the beauty and serenity of the surroundings, and they say they sensed a spiritual connection to the ranch’s 160-acres, many of the guests also commenting on this same earthly bond.
As ranch owner Norm Dove says, “This is an area where life giving water is supplied from the caverns of the Marble Range Mountains, where the air is pure, where the absence of city lights reveals an infinite amount of stars, where city noise is replaced by the music of living beings we share this valley with.”
Offering a unique Canadian Signature Experience, the ranch features its own on site Baan Thai Spa, this East meets West construction inspired by co-owner Nan Dove, who hails from Thailand. Its treatments take their cue from traditional Thai medicine, the yoga included, the Ruesri Dat Ton twice daily classes paying homage to the South East Asian country.
As multicultural as Canada itself, Native Art is brought to life on the property by resident Gitxsan artist Michael Blackstock. Taking you on a spiritual journey his creative artworks are showcased in the ranch’s rooms and cabins (Michael carving masks depicting the faces of the indigenous ancestors he felt in room 12), and etched into the surrounding trees. Where wellbeing is a lifestyle, whether you are fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, or horse riding, you are certain to feel at one with the wilderness.
TANQUE VERDE RESORT RANCH, ARIZONA
While the days of witnessing Apache raids at Arizona’s Tanque Verde Resort Ranch are long gone, the ranch surrounds still feel pretty wild, and the sense of space here is invigorating. Only 20 miles from the city of Tucson, the 150 year old property sits between the Rincon and Catalina Mountains, on 60,000 acres of prime Sonoran Desert, the Coronado National Forest and the Saguaro National Park bordering this breathtakingly beautiful range.
A chance to star in your own Wild West movie, the famous giant saguaro cacti, that have made their appearance in countless Westerns, live large on this landscape, and there’s nothing quite like viewing the plants up close and from the back of a horse.
The ranch’s sunset rides are a more spiritual affair. As the horseback adventure draws to a close, red, pink and orange hues race across the sky in broad strokes, a treat that is followed with a mesmerising blanket of twinkling lights, the uninterrupted night sky ripe for stargazing.
A genuine dude experience, there is plenty of adventure to choose from, with mountain biking, hiking, pickle ball and jeep journeys, just some of the available options. Endurance specific, spa seekers can not only indulge in the delights of the Rincon Rock Massage, but also take it up a notch with the Wrangler Deep Tissue Sports Massage – the perfect antidote to a day of adrenaline fuelled activity. For the full mind, body and soul workout, do the downward dog at one of the ranch’s yoga classes.
Washington is not a state most people would think of for a ranch holiday, but the K-Diamond-K makes the wellbeing list due to its idyllic valley location. Lying close to the Canadian border, its 1,600 acres are filled with glorious hiking and riding trails that run up steep hills and through the adjoining Colville National Forest. A working cattle and dude ranch, there is plenty to be done on the range, with guests helping to move cattle, tag calves and feed the horses.
Of course spending your days following the cows up sharp vertical banks and along valley ridges might be a wellness workout of a different kind, but the satisfaction of a job well done and breathing in copious amounts of fresh clean air leaves most city slickers feeling ready for a restful night’s sleep. Do that on repeat for seven nights and you will have uncovered the world’s best kept secret for natural rejuvenation.
SWEET GRASS WORKING RANCH, MONTANA
Montana’s Sweet Grass Guest Working Ranch has a river running through it, several miles of the Sweet Grass Creek winding through its sprawling 20,000 acres. Blessed with alpine forests, shimmering lakes, rolling foothills and dreamy green pastures filled with wildflowers, it’s a veritable feast for the senses during the summer months.
Over the course of the same season, the cattle always need to be moved to new grazing spots, but there’s plenty of fun guest activities too: a major highlight – swimming the horses. Once the high water drops from the spring run-off (from July through September) the pleasure of riding your horse bareback to various swimming holes along the creek is hard to resist. The challenge here is to stay on your mount as they swim through the deeper water and eventually climb out. While this is undoubtedly a refreshing once-in-a-lifetime adventure, those seeking wellness with an added rush should grab a tube and head for for Hell-Roaring Creek, a natural water slide.
Want a more meditative approach to wellbeing? The ranch also hosts an annual yoga week. The classes, which operate twice a day, aim to help riders find a better flow and connection between themselves, their horse and the landscape.
VISTA VERDE LUXURY GUEST RANCH, COLORADO
If forgoing life’s little indulgences on your quest for better wellbeing is something you aren’t prepared to gamble with, Colorado’s 16,000 acre Vista Verde Luxury Guest Ranch will not disappoint. Located just outside of Steamboat, the property is remote yet accessible, its lodge rooms and cabins set in the beautiful and secluded Elk River Valley in the Rocky Mountain high country.
The ranch, also means business on the wellness front, a hardcore digital detox kicking in as soon as you arrive: all of the accommodations are free from phones, TVs and internet. Cowhand chic at its best, the ranch’s cozy log cabins are like rustic palaces, each one furnished with pine beds, handmade log furniture, marble bathrooms, and for those at the top of the range, private Jacuzzis. Fly-fishing and river rafting are more meditative alternatives to horse riding and the ever popular “Wild Yoga” classes (ride a horse to an aspen grove for a yoga class) are available over the summer months.
However, for an even more blissful week of wellness, Ranch Rider suggests opting for the adult only period (running from the end of August through the autumn season), when contemporary cowboys and girls go West. At this time of year, the cattle driving is edgier, as the ranch’s bulls are rounded up followed by the cows and calves. All the more reason to put your wellbeing workout into overdrive and spoil yourself with a relaxing hot air balloon ride or refreshing spa treatment.
THE RANCH AT ROCK CREEK, MONTANA
A five star luxury guest ranch sitting on 6,500 acres, The Ranch At Rock Creek has wellbeing packaged into a personalised program, your best starting point, the on-site Granite Spa. The treatments include deep tissue massage, rock therapy, and the signature Saddle Sore Soak, and you can also sign up for flow yoga with a view, the classes held in the gazebo overlooking Rock Creek valley.
Where celebrities go to recharge (the ranch on Kate Bosworth’s favourites list), you can expect everything from fine wine and dining through to tailor made activities (over 40 pursuits available) from horse riding to sapphire mining.
When it comes to your choice of accommodation, the options include suites, luxury homes, a converted barn, or high-end canvas tents where you can sleep under the stars. If you are hoping to start each morning with some mindful meditation, Ranch Rider says you should consider booking the Rainbow glamping cabin. Mother Nature is alive and well here as the secluded home-away from home sits by the babbling Rock Creek, and an added bonus, you’ll wake to the sound of horse hooves as the herd thunders into the corrals.
For more information on Ranch Rider please contact (020 8776 8709; ranchrider@frontier-travel.co.uk; ranchrider.com). ATOL PROTECTED No 5405 ABTA W3207.
