A guide to choosing the perfect dude ranch for your family — and making it the best experience of your kids' lives!

GORPTravel’s vacation experts pick the best places to roam the range with the family—from a luxury getaway in Wyoming to a weekend of rounding cattle in Colorado.

COLORADO

Aspen Canyon Ranch
Aspen Canyon’s small family ranch offers the scenery of the Rocky Mountains in an intimate setting. The lodge and private log cabins border the site of an early pioneer settlement.

Colorado Trails Ranch
Colorado Trails Ranch, in the foothills of the San Juan Mountains, has specialized in family vacations since 1960. Have fun riding, rafting, swimming, singing, and dancing.

Elk Mountain Ranch
Elk Mountain Ranch offers an affordable, all-inclusive one-week package featuring an array of outdoor activities that include riding as well as trap shooting, archery, softball, and more.

Vista Verde Ranch
This luxury dude ranch near Steamboat Springs provides the perfect alpine setting, with elegant accommodations, fine dining, and activities including rides, treasure hunts, powwows, and s’mores around the campfire.

MONTANA

Laughing Water Ranch
Mountain trails through the Kootenai National Forest near Laughing Water Ranch are perfect for horseback riding. Back at the ranch, a guest capacity of 38 keeps things cozy and intimate.

Lone Mountain Ranch
Surround yourself with mountain scenery and complete solitude in Montana’s Big Sky Country.

ARIZONA

Stagecoach Trails Guest Ranch
Stagecoach Trails, in northwest Arizona, offers a calm, peaceful setting with rolling hills winding in and out of mountain scenery.