Archive for the ‘Community Outreach’ Category

Meet New Friends at our Colorado Dude Ranch

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010


We’ve only been open for two weeks so far this summer, and already good times are being had by all! I have been watching the 4UR Ranch Facebook page to see what people have been saying about their dude ranch vacations. It seems that the beauty of Goose Creek and the Wagon Wheel Gap valley was an absolute delight for these families.

It has been fun to see people comment on their great family dude ranch experience at 4UR. We aim to please, and we aim high! So when we see families reaching out to each other after the trip, wanting to share photos, stories and plan to come together again next summer, it is like honey to the tongue. Fans of 4UR Guest Ranch have posted pictures and talked about their great fishing experiences. They have bragged about our guides (and who wouldn’t, really? You can’t find a better crew!) and the lovely trout they have caught. The light, the air and the riding are one of a kind here – don’t take our word for it, our high (very high) return guest rate speaks for itself.

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Rio Grande Golf Club

Friday, May 28th, 2010

About 13 miles from our Colorado dude ranch is the renowned Rio Grande Golf Club. Take scenic roads weaving through the stunning Southern Colorado landscape to one of Colorado’s newest championship 18-hole courses. If a round on the green is your cup of tea, Rio Grande serves up an award winning combination of sandstone outcroppings, pine, aspen and cottonwood groves. The river flows nearby providing the perfect opportunity for a challenging shot over the Rio Grande. This puts you through the first nine holes. The back nine consists of dramatic views, gurgling Alder Creek and a mountain style nine that will any player is sure to enjoy.

During your Dude Ranch vacation at 4UR Ranch, we would be happy to help you book a tee time. However, you can also book here online: Rio Grande Golf Club Tee Times.

The Rio Grande Clubhouse

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Creede CO Area Map

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Hello to all of you! We are really getting into the swing of things here. It is only a few more weeks until we start hosting Dude Ranch vacations in the lush valley of Goose Creek. In preparation for all the great new and returning guests, I thought it would be a good time to post a map with some of our favorite places to spend your time regionally, if you can manage to drag yourself off the guest ranch. We are looking forward to the summer, and hope you are too!


View Creede CO Points of Interest in a larger map

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A Favorite Colorado Wine: Infinite Monkey Theorem

Monday, April 26th, 2010

We have something to look forward to – staff orientation is one month away. And if that is only a month away, than the good days of summer are just past that. I began to reminiscence about fun from the summer before at the guest ranch. Rides with friends and family – a wonderful chance for generations to spend time together.
Colorado wine
Of course there are all the lovely meals that we enjoy during a summer dude ranch vacation. Chef Wray Warner really spoils all of us! But what is a great dinner with friends and family without the option to have a delicious wine with the meal? That is where our friend Ben Parsons of the “Infinite Monkey Theorem” comes into the equation. He shared his delicious Colorado wines, and we were sold.

The Infinite Monkey Theorem is a “Urban Winery”, in Denver, encouraging you to judge the wine on it’s merits, and not a pastoral backdrop for sipping. I guess that’s why it tastes even better when  you are drinking it in the Upper Rio Grande Valley, and the beauty of this valley!

Come enjoy a crisp Chardonnay, or a dark, concentrated Petit Verdot with us in the lodge, or on the porch watching the sunset. You will be enjoying the best of what the Colorado has to offer: Grapes from the Western Slope, the beauty of our Southern Colorado valley, and the clean, crisp waters of the Northern Rio Grande.

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Thinking about Colorado Dude Ranches?

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

There is something very special about Colorado. Along with the rich history and stunning landscape, Colorado holds a balance between the wild west and the new west.

We love our horses, and wide open spaces, but we also practice sustainable land practice, and natural horsemanship.

We have a delicious steak ride every week. Steak ride is when we jump on horseback and ride up the valley to a delicious cook-out dinner with our chef Wray Warner. But steak ride also means fine wine and cocktails, a delectable array of cheeses and snacks, along with big, juicy steak.

Our Rocky Mountain Vacations also include fly fishing in some of the most pristine waters you could hope for. In what is called “private tailwaters“, we have only catch and release fishing. So we give every angler the excitement of the catch.

Come and experience a more than a horseback riding vacation -  4UR ranch will bring you back in time while caring for the land so that it will be pristine for your grandchildren and ours.

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4UR Guest Ranch plays a part in the Slow Food Movement

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Just after Thanksgiving Damon helped our neighbor Gil Motta to transport 10 grass-fed steers to a natural grass-fed beef market near Carbondale, Colorado. Gils’ steers were 100% grass-fed and grass-finished – no antibiotics, no hormones, etc. In creating this all-natural product, Gil was also using a high-density, low-duration grazing rotation. We discussed this style of Holistic Resource Management in an earlier post. The 4UR does not raise any cattle here independently, but we did have some of Gil’s heads on our land this fall. The grazing style he is using also holds benefits for the soil and nitrogen cycle, so we were pleased to be supporting these practices.  Our Colorado dude ranch is getting the benefit of this grazing technique, and also sending our grass to a niche market.

Every person is responsible for caring for this earth

Every person is responsible for caring for this earth

Damon and Gil delivered the steers to Felix Tornare of the Milagro Ranch, an all grass-fed beef ranch on the bluffs above the Roaring Fork Valley.  Felix told us about his network of Aspen area restaurants which have slowly adapted to using and promoting local, natural, and slow-food sources.  He and his wife got started with a bakery that sold to the restaurants of the area.  Aspen magazine did and article on them in their Best of Aspen issue 2007.  They have been very successful and it was encouraging to share their story.  It is also neat to think of how our family dude ranch has now had a small role in the slow-foods movement.
Damon and the other ranch owners and managers will be having a meeting with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) next month during which they will be developing a plan for the 2010 growing season and beyond. As stewards of this precious valley, we want to provide family ranch vacations for our grandchildren and beyond.

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Family Guest Ranch Welcomes Old Friends and New

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
We look forward to filling our Colorado guest lodge with people

We look forward to filling our Colorado guest lodge with people

Opening week has been an interesting one due to weather. Several cold windy days left everyone feeling like summer had played a trick upon us, bringing a few warm days and then running away. The cold nights may be good for sleeping, but they are keeping many of the ranch flowers at bay. Still, summer is bound to be here soon.

Our new staff is settling in and enjoying all the ranch has to offer, but also working hard. It is a challenge to take a group of new young people and open with our family guest ranch running like a well oiled machine; we have to work through our kinks. Everyone is learning quickly, however, and we make sure to keep in good spirits.

We usually welcome a large family from Texas each year during our first week, and this year they brought three sets of newlyweds. It was fun to meet the new additions to the 4UR Family, and show them all that our Colorado guest ranch has to offer.

One thing we offer is wildlife. Given our location in Goose Creek Valley, deep in the San Juan Mountains, it is not uncommon to spot bears – and this spring we have had several run-ins with a young bear. He has taken up residence next to the dumpster, which happens to be near Aaron’s house, and has been spotted several times. He will probably end up being quite a nuisance…

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Colorado Dude Ranch Reaches Out To Community

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Summer has not yet arrived at this Colorado Dude Ranch, though we get hints of it from time to time. Our valley is a beautiful lush green from all the rain we have had, and the dandelions are in full bloom. Last week, windy gusts and cloudy skies greeted the arrival of our final staff, while our current staff spent a blustery week painting, staining, mowing, cleaning, cooking and cleaning up the herd of horses.

As we prepared for opening, we also were busy in the community. We hosted a skeet shoot to raise money for the Creede Chamber of Commerce. This was good fun for all who participated. In addition, we were happy to lead participants of a mining history convention on a field trip to the mine on our family dude ranch. The town of Creede is one of the last great mining boom-towns in Colorado. A high-grade silver vein was discovered on Willow Creek in 1890, drawing ten thousand miners and prospectors to the area. People still come, both with pick in hand and to learn about that fascinating portion of American history.

the-mystery-of-edwin-drood-4ur

Creede Repertory Theater

In another area, Head Chef Wray Warner and kitchen staff donated their time and energy to preparing and serving dinner at the 2009 season opening night of the Creede Repertory Theatre. “A Wonderful Noise” is their first production, which a few of us saw and thoroughly enjoyed. We feel so fortunate to have a nationally recognized theater in our small town that we are happy to support them in any way we can. The fact that they are here means we can live on a Colorado guest ranch in a stunning, remote part of the state and still enjoy top-notch theater.

We will be hosting a benefit dinner for our local Childcare Center this week, and will open up for our 2009 summer on Saturday. We are busy, but we like it that way. Winters can be quiet here, and we always look forward to the bustle of summer.

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