Ranch News

With many of us squeezing in vacation time the past couple weeks, it’s been pretty quiet around the Steamboat Springs resort town and our ranch.  This week the long term crew begins to roll back in.  Ben is the last one to arrive back, hot off the beaches of Mexico where he and Holly snuck…

Rows of bread

Dace and I walked into the kitchen this morning to see Rob working away at his new pastry section. Lined up on the counter next to it were rows and rows of fresh baked bread. I’m one of those people who, before working here, considered bread to be the kind of food product that you…

Dude Ranch Vacations

Dude Ranch Vacations- Jamie Pearson wrote this great article on horse riding vacations after visiting Vista Verde Ranch in the summer.  Here, she gives some advice on dude ranches for families. Five things to know before you go I brought a lot of things with me to my Colorado dude ranch vacation last summer, such…

Coffee and Cards

To lighten the intensity of all the training and orientating the staff has been going through this past week, Dace brought them all into “the big city” last night for a little party at the Steaming Bean, a local coffee shop. We sipped lattes, shared stories, got crafty and competitive over card games and coloring…

The Best Dude Ranches

I was at a Colorado Dude Ranch Association meeting yesterday and we were discussing how some ranches use the term Best Dude Ranch to describe themselves.  It was a hot topic, as many dude ranchers are quite offended by others using that term.  It got me thinking though.  What makes a dude ranch the best…

Staff and Stuff

We’re in the heart of orientation week and the level of energy at the ranch is at a high. Dace has given his talk about the mission statement. Ben has given his talk about the realities of living, working, eating and playing with the same people all summer long and how to foster a positive…

Mud Season

When it’s not quite still winter, and not quite yet summer here at Vsta Verde Ranch, we don’t refer to it as Spring but call it by another name.  Mud Season.  During this time most of the Steamboat Springs resorts close down because of Mud Season.  Most years, it’s just an affectionate term that we…