San Juan Ranch is one of my favorite places on Earth! Located 20 miles outside of Creede, the next…read morebig town is Lake City and there is fishing all around.
This ranch has approximately 30 cabins, including pioneer and moderns options. Some are more traditional, some are fancy and some are roughing it. There's a variety of sizes and setups. Regulars that come every year are seasonal from May through September, leaving a handful of cabins to be rented out a week at a time, from Saturday to Saturday.
The view is breathtakingly gorgeous. My favorite thing to do is to settle on the porch and watch the mountains with my morning coffee... it's like a painting. The atmosphere is very relaxed and everyone is very kind, always waving and stopping to chat.
We generally get modern cabins, which are 2-3 bedrooms, include a bathroom, electricity and running water. We've stayed in a nicer pioneer before... but I'm a city girl.
There is no television or telephone, you can go into Creede for wifi. I go out there to get away from those things and I enjoy the hell out of it when I do. My husband likes to fish and I like to see how many books I can read and then of course we'll do some shopping and dining out in town.
Furniture and linens are provided, but you need to bring your own towels, dish rags, soap, sponges, cleaning supplies (broom and dust pan provided) and don't forget the toilet paper! Dishes and cookware are provided, but bring foil and spices with your supplies. The Kentucky Bell in town is expensive so bring as much of your food from home as you can and pick up left behind items in Alamosa or South Fork.
Every cabin has a percolator, but coffee pots aren't guaranteed. The great thing about these cabins is that so many people choose to make them homey, so it's common for someone to bring up a coffee maker and leave it in the cabin. I always bring a cheap one unless I am getting a cabin I have stayed in before. Most cabins have a rotating library which is nice for mixing up the selection and also that I don't have to lug the books back when I'm done reading them. Thursday nights there are cook outs where you can bring a dish and socialize and I love the comradery and food!
Check in is Saturday afternoon, check out is the following Saturday by 10am. Though they clean the cabins and linens after checkout, you should really clean up after yourself by leaving the dishes clean, trash taken out and floors swept/mopped. One of the rules is that you have to use their black trash bags, so that's one thing you don't need to bring.
There are a lot of Texans here every summer, but I see people from all over. Everyone here is very respectful and by that I mean the guests of the ranch, so act in kind. This isn't the type of place for people wanting a full service experience, this is the place you go to commune with nature and get away.
They have no website, you need to write to the owners to reserve a cabin. You could call, but they are very busy running a ranch, writing is better. It's getting more difficult to get a cabin during the busy months like July. This last year we had to stay elsewhere because they were booked up, but it's such a wonderful place you have to try at least once. I think chances might be better May, June and September.
I have gone 6 years in a row and it's one of my favorite places in the world. I hope to be able to return year after year. Highly recommend (just in case you couldn't tell)!