Luxury Dude Ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colorado
By Steph One of the best gifts of ranching in the Steamboat Springs area is the abundant and rich grass that fills our valley floors each summer. Because of this amazing feature of the area, most ranchers do not need to feed their cattle or horses during the summer as they get more than enough…
By Steph The Christmas carols are playing, the servers and housekeepers are transforming the Great room for the holidays, the sleigh has been taken for a test ride, and Elizabeth has finished her amazing gingerbread village. The new staff are busy learning the ins and outs of their jobs while the returning staff are tidying…
By Brandon It’s late November now at Vista Verde Ranch. As I gaze through the window of the fly shop out across the open pasture snow is falling slowly…almost hypnotically. The occasional whinny of a horse stands out in stark contrast to the otherwise still and silent ranch-scape. While the winter-white scenery and tranquility never…
By Steph This past weekend was a flurry of preparing for winter in my house. We’ve already pulled out the snow clothes long ago, as we’ve been getting snow off and on since October. This weekend was more of putting the final touches on so we’re ready to go when ski season begins at the…
By Steph Often times when I tell people we are closed for the off-season, they ask me what I’m going to do with all my free time. Well, even though we’re not open for guests to come stay at the ranch, it doesn’t mean we’re not busy. In fact, for certain folks at the ranch…
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Chef Chol thought it would be perfect timing to share his recipe for turkey brine. Enjoy! VVR Turkey Brine (for one 15-18 pound Turkey) Ingredients: 1 Gallon Apple juice 1 Gallon Water 1 ½ Pounds Kosher salt 12 ounces dark brown sugar 4 cinnamon…
By Steph We have had a lot of very special horses here at Vista Verde. The best ones are ones we can trust with the many kids who come to the ranch to be cowboys and cowgirls. Every once in a while we get one of those horses who just rises above the rest. Pinky…
By Annie Please note that this is an informational blog post, not an instruction piece intended as a how-to in training a horse. Every safe trail riding horse needs to be “bomb proof.” But what does that actually mean? The goal of Vista Verde’s dude ranch breeding and training program is to breed high quality…
By Steph Imagine waking up in a warm bed at Vista Verde Ranch on Valentine’s Day morning. Your sweetheart is next to you, bundled up under a cozy comforter, still snoozing. You look outside and see snow lightly falling on the trees. What to do today? An early morning dip in the hot tub as…
By Steph Last Friday the kids from the North Routt Charter School loaded up their bikes into large horse trailers and headed to Vista Verde for a day of biking and fun times at the ranch. Luckily the weather was gorgeous and sunny, so the kids had a hay day goofing off on their bikes…