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Ranchlands: A stay at this working ranch in Wyoming goes beyond the cowboycore trend
“He’s so sweet,” says Lauren, who is showing me how to neck-rein, Goblin diligently weaving left to right under the slightest shift of her hand. I’ve never ridden Western-style before, and the aching in my knees swiftly reminds me I’m not a kid any more. But the colossal vistas on the ride to the Red Wall are a perfect tonic; an oil pastel scene of terracotta burnished cliffs jutting out against smudgy sagebrush plains. “If you think this is good, just wait until we head up to camp tomorrow,” says wrangler AJ, who, unlike a horse called Gigi Sparkles, is exactly who I imagined to find on a ranch in his fringed suede chaps, jeans and plaid. He spent some time in Nashville producing music, but now works the summer season at the Paintrock. “We always had horses growing up, but for a while I didn’t think riding was especially cool,” he says, before a pause: “But here I am now.”
The ride to camp is a six-hour, 2,500-foot climb up the Bighorn Mountains, following along the glittering thread of the creek until it expands into wide open meadows, then again into deep, thick forest. In the middle of cattle country, its peaks rise abruptly from the high plains of northern Wyoming between Yellowstone and the Great Plains. It’s where the Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought in 1876, driven by the discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the US government’s efforts to force Native Americans onto reservations. One of the oldest ranges in North America, this exposed rock is nearly three billion years old, predating most of the continents as we know them.
D. Frederickson
At camp, I have my first test when I ask about the shower and am directed towards the creek. The toilet is a bucket, a shovel, and as much privacy as your preferred rock affords. But I’m placated immediately by a cold beer, a bracing swim, and a plate of something delicious. The food is totally befitting Yellowstone’s Duttons: the likes of potato hash made from Ranchlands’ beef, bison chilli and apple cornbread, all cooked over an open fire. If food were like this every time I camped, I think I’d be far happier to oblige.
The amount of care poured into Ranchlands’ guest program is notable, given it’s hardly central to its model. Nationally, agritourism involves just 1.5 per cent of American farms and generates roughly $1.26 billion, making it a niche but growing supplement rather than a driving tourist force – in this instance, just 20 per cent of the ranch’s income comes from its retreats. But this thoughtfulness has paid off: loyal guests who used to visit its Zapata Ranch in Colorado now make their way to the Paintrock instead. Still, summers in the San Luis Valley have left their mark: “It was my all-time favourite place to ride,” says one long-time guest, who has visited Ranchlands’ various outposts around 20 times since 2014. When his favourite horse retired from service, staff called him to say: “If you want her, she’s yours.”
