This pace was probably wonderful in its heyday, however my guess is now that it has been handed down through the years in the family, they have just been given the business and don't have any idea what it takes to maintain the quality that was provided when it was in its prime.
I don't have an issue with places that are vintage or old, but you can still keep them nice and clean. This place was really sad. Everything was falling apart in our room and if they had tried to fix it, it was makeshift. The toilet paper roll holder was just dangling by one nail and everytime you touched it to get paper off, it would fall on the floor so we finally just set it on the sink. Clearly it had been like this for some time.
At the campfire that evening they had singers/ guitar players. The singers where smoking while singing and one even had a flask. While Im okay with that, not at a family outing. They had 1 bag of marshmallows (no graham crackers/chocolate) however no one was there managing the event. Marshmallows ran out right away, most did not have an opportunity to partake. There were numerous kids running around screaming at the top of their lungs, marshmallows flaming and running into people. Pretty sure someone was going to get caught on fire or they would end up piercing someone with the sticks. It was so out of control, we finally went back inside. Understand, we have nothing against kids around, we have kids & grandkids who we enjoy being around, but you could not hear what the singers were singing and could not enjoy the marshmallow roast experience due to all the mayhem.
Since there were no Planned activities, we ventured to the game closet since we love to play board games. The closet looked like a tornado had been through. There was not one game complete enough to play. we did manage to find a full deck of cards.
Food? the reviews seemed to rave about the food so we were looking forward to dinner. it was terrible and very limited in quantity. We actually left after dinner and drove around looking for a restaurant but there were none for miles so we gave up and just came back.
Horse "walk"? there were so many that were on the walk it took forever to get everyone saddled up. Then it was only that. A walk. Seriously how can you call this a dude ranch when you are basically riding on your horse like the pony rides at the rodeo? Not to mention the guide smoked non stop the entire time which meant that I breathed cigarette smoke non stop for 45 minutes. I realize we were outside, but when you are down wind, you are breathing it in. When you sign up for a dude ranch, you are looking to get back to nature and enjoy the fresh air etc. This put a damper on the ride. I will say that the land was enjoyable to look at, had character and interest. When we walked out to the barn, to prepare for the ride, we noticed a lot of "stuff" just laying around in the dirt. One thing we saw as a stirrup that was off a saddle. They said "we wondered where that was". Well if they had bothered to walk 15 feet in front of the barn they would have tripped on it as we did. There were other things just laying all over the property that could have just been picked up and put in the trash. I'm not speaking of trash that has blown there, but barb wire, pieces of wood etc. just a mess.
Ping pong table was ridiculous. very warped, net should have been placed 5 years ago as well as the paddles.
We have been to numerous dude ranches in various states, and have had some wonderful experiences. After reading the reviews we were very excited to find a place so close to home.
I have to say that when we woke up the next morning, we had breakfast, packed our bags and left. The man that checked us out didn't even seem to care that were were leaving so early - prior to the morning ride - when we had specifically said upon check in that we were looking forward to riding as much as we could while there. He did not say Thank you, or hope to see you again, or anything at all. So we did not even bother to share how bad our experience was. Never had experienced a check out where we have been at a private ranch and they did not inquire about our experience.
We ended up only staying 1 night. After leaving, since we had nothing planned, we road around the area checking out the other ranches close by. I don't even think they were listed on Yelp. but they all were a lot better quality, not newer necessarily, but just presented their self better in regards to their staff and their facility.
SERIOUSLY, it's obvious the current owners inherited this place. So sad, because it could be really cool, it has potential.. you'd have to spend some of the money you bring in on the place because clearly I have no idea when they last put a dime into this one. read more