• For the angler in your life, give some time at our Fly Fishing Vacation Ranch.

• For the equestrian in your life, give some time at our Family Dude Ranch.

• For the children in your life, give an unforgettable experience replete with horseback riding, fishing, swimming, and unparalleled outdoor fun.

• For the grandparents in your life, give a Colorado Family Ranch Vacation – it’s the perfect family reunion.
  

  For someone in your life, this is a dream come true.

Don’t battle it out at the mall this year. Do your holiday shopping with us.

1. Chef Wray Warner and his staff will cook for you in glorious outdoor settings.

Food tastes best when consumed in a beautiful setting.

2. Your children will be deliriously happy.

Deliriously happy children? Check.

3. You can fly fish on your own stretch of water.

Fly fishing on Goose Creek.

4. You can ride horses in the Colorado Rockies.

Simply spectacular.

5. You’ll have a memorable family vacation.

An unforgettable family vacation.

Below are photos of some of our favorite things – favorite moments, really. Enjoy!

"Praise the Lard" - our Labor Day Weekend Pig Roast.

Guests share in the Pig Roast feast.

Kids make everything more fun.

Happy wranglers.

Haying.

Another glorious sunset.

Thanks to all the staff of our Colorado Family Guest Ranch – those of you who left in August to pursue your dreams, and those of you who were able to stay until the last hay bales were dry in the barn. Many of our favorite moments include you.

Bring your children to 4UR, and watch them thrive.

Children ride horses at 4UR, in the ring and on the trail. They go fishing. They climb and hike and swim. They build muscles and they build confidence and they breathe in the fresh air of the Southern Colorado Rockies. We swear we’ve seen kids grow while they’re here, so fertile is the soil (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Kylee, Aaron and Robin Christensen’s daughter, ended her rodeo season this year as the Reserve All-Around World Champion Little Wrangler at the National Finals Little Britches Rodeo. At the start of the competition she was in 9th place, and she finished in 2nd place. She won 12 buckles while she was there, and she had a blast doing it. We’re all so proud of her.

Kylee has grown up at our Colorado Family Dude Ranch, reaping the rewards of her environment. Children who visit 4UR get a taste of what Kylee and her siblings experience every day. They have thrilling experiences, they gain confidence, they make friends and they have fun. As parents, what more can we want?

Below are some memorable moments from this summer and past summers at 4UR.

It’s not too early to start dreaming about next summer at 4UR!

Do something you didn't know you could do.

It means doing something you didn’t know you could do, and perfecting skills you already have.

Hone old skills.

A 4UR Family Dude Ranch Vacation means fun for children….

Did you know your child could do this?

and fun for adults.

Picture yourself here.

You may see something you’ve never seen before.

It was worth the delay.

You may try something you never thought you’d try.

A safe environment to practice shooting.

You may decide you need to come back to 4UR again and again, because you like how you feel when you’re here.

We start the season with something new this year: a Painting Workshop led by artist Stephen Quiller. Participants will turn working sketches into finished Water Media Paintings while they’re at 4UR from June 5 to June 11, 2011. We suspect they’ll also have time to swim, go horseback riding, hike, fish, and soak in the natural hot springs located at our Colorado dude ranch. We can’t wait to see everyone’s artwork.

Looking forward to another great season at 4UR Family Dude Ranch.

Following on the heels of the Painting Workshop is the first of our Two For One Kids Specials, running from June 11 – June 18. Kids have so much fun here at our Family Dude Ranch in the Southern Rockies that we are encouraging you to bring them. Kids’ Counselor Zachary Hall is looking forward to romping with your children in the wilderness!

After June 18th, it’s business as usual at the ranch for a while. We’ll welcome guests from all over the country and the world to the ranch. Our Fishing Guides will take guests fly fishing and our Wranglers will lead guests on trail rides. Our Kitchen and Waitstaff will make sure everyone is well fed, while Housekeeping and Ranch Hands will keep everything ship shape. Through it all we’ll reconnect with old friends and make new friends.

Hope to see you at 4UR this summer!

Read on to learn a bit about the new staff of our Colorado Fly Fishing Ranch.

Looking forward to the 2011 season at our Colorado Dude Ranch!

Our Kids’ Counselors are an integral part of our team:
Zachary Hall comes to us from St. Petersburg, Florida. In summers past he has worked for a youth hiking and backpacking ministry on Virginia’s Appalachian Trail. He loves to be outside and to keep kids active and engaged.

We welcome two new Fishing Guides this season:
Drew Hoffman has fished his whole life. He’s angled in small Midwestern creeks and roaring rivers in Montana. He is excited to guide guests of 4UR.

A.J. Kemsley has been fishing the lakes and streams of Michigan since he was in diapers. He looks forward to a summer on Goose Creek.

We welcome one new Wrangler this season:
Portia Corsetti hails from New Hampshire, where she is an Equine Science Major at UNH. She has been riding for more than ten years, is an EMT-B and a Wilderness First Responder, and she loves being out in the the mountains.

We have two new Ranch Hands at our Southern Colorado Dude Ranch this summer:
Preston Buntz loves spending time outdoors hunting, fishing, and hiking. His motto is “No opportunity wasted!”

Spencer Cooper was raised in a small farming and ranching community in central California. He once worked on a farming/sheep outfit in a town of 23 people, and he looks forward to meeting the guests of 4UR Guest Ranch.

We would be lost – and hungry – without our Kitchen staff:
Blake Bond is our new Sous Chef and a graduate of the Texas Culinary Academy Le Cordon Bleu in Austin. This is his first season with us, but his second season at a guest ranch.

Dean Parker is a Line Cook. He grew up surfing, diving, and fishing in Florida and fell in love with the mountains of Colorado in the ’90s. He will travel anywhere in order to surf and snowboard.

John Whitmore was raised down the street in Creede. He is excited to be working as a Line Cook under Chef Wray Warner this summer.

The food wouldn’t reach our tables without our fabulous Waitstaff:
Tess Almgren is a Team Leader. She is originally from western Massachusetts and grew up hiking, camping, fishing, and snowboarding throughout New England.

Josh Shumaker is a Team Leader. He is a  native of Bristol, TN, and hopes to eventually have a career in Washington, DC. He holds a deep appreciation for the outdoors and looks forward to a summer of exploration on the Colorado terrain.

Mary Charles Abbott was raised in a small town in middle Tennessee. She has a passion for music and dance and sports, and a strong desire to serve others.

Andi Carpenter is a Colorado native. She is passionate about the outdoors and is excited to share this beautiful state with you.

Michael Collins was born in West Virginia and raised outside of Philadelphia, PA. He is a recent college graduate and plans to apply to graduate school in the fall, after a great summer working and being outside at 4UR.

Aisling Daly is a university student from Ireland.  She is very excited to spend the summer at the 4UR Ranch, meeting new people and experiencing a totally different landscape and way of life.

Becky Ford grew up in NJ but is a country girl at heart. She fell in love with the guest ranch way of life this past winter, and is excited to spend the summer under the Colorado sky with the 4UR family!

Sarah Horn was born and raised right outside Denver, CO. She’ll be a junior at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO, where she studies Economics.  She enjoys running and any outside adventures.
Things would get pretty messy around here without our Housekeepers:
Heather Brower was raised on a sheep farm in Kennewick Washington. She loves being outdoors and working with animals, and is looking forward to spending the summer in Southwestern Colorado.

Brittney Deale recently graduated from college and has lived in Virginia her whole life. She loves to ride horses and is thrilled to be spending the summer at our Colorado Dude Ranch.

Danielle Johnson was raised in a small town in Maine. She is an avid athlete and enjoys hiking, biking, running, swimming, skiing, and yoga. Her summer at 4UR is part of a greater exploration of the country.

Korey Kimball is a senior in college and plans to become an elementary teacher. She looks forward to meeting the amazing guests of 4UR.

Kaydi Newborn comes from a tiny town in Georgia. She is a nursing student and looks forward to a great summer working at the ranch and being outside.

Sarah O’Neill is from Dublin, Ireland. She spent last summer working as a teaching assistant in Nairobi, Kenya, and is looking forward to working at 4UR Ranch this summer.

Georgia Ann Paul grew up in North Carolina. She loves to travel, play the piano, tell stories, and have great outdoor adventures. Ask her why roosters terrify her

Last but not least, our Massage Therapists keep us all relaxed and happy:
Chelsea Heersink looks forward to working at our Creede Colorado Dude Ranch.

Joanne Kaufman has traveled around the world doing service work, and now makes her home in Del Norte with her husband, Steve Brigham, and two small girls, Kaitlyn (4) and Brianna (4 months). She loves her “calling” of massage therapy.

Judith Penrose Mattingly graduated from the Boulder School of Massage Therapy in 1989 and has practicing Swedish Massage in private practice and at Mineral Hot Springs ever since. She has trained with Bruno Chikly in Lymphatic Drainage, and lives with her husband, a retired farmer, in Creede.

We’re excited for our guests to meet everyone this summer at our Dude Ranch South Fork Colorado!

Two kids age 9 and under stay here for the price of one child during our “Two for One” Special this summer. We hope this will encourage families who have never been to our Colorado Family Vacation Ranch to give it a try. We also hope some of our returning families will take advantage of this special.

It’s amazing to watch children flourish during their stay here. Many start the week a little shy, perhaps nervous about their first time on a horse. By the end of the week, they are thrilled to show their parents what they can do in the ring, and sad to leave their new friends.

Children having fun - that's what summer is all about.

Contact our Family Dude Ranch for more information or to make a reservation.

Owners Pete and Lindsey Leavell and Head Wrangler (and new papa) Damon Gibbons are away at the annual Dude Ranchers Association Convention, held this year in Tucson, Arizona. The Dude Ranchers Association, established in 1926, works to preserve the integrity of the Dude Ranch. In order to become a member, ranches must undergo a rigorous two year review; guests are guaranteed an outstanding experience, from the riding to the food and lodging. We expect they’ll learn lots about the industry as the Dude Ranchers Association celebrates 85 years of “Horses, Hats, History, and Hospitality”, and hopefully have a good time as well.

While Damon, Pete, and Lindsey are away, the rest of us are handling bookings and staffing the ranch for next season. We still have a few openings for the Quiller Workshop in June and the “Two for One” Special for Kids weeks in June and August, but they’re filling fast. It’s always an exciting moment when we realize we’re booked for the season – at that point, opening day of our Colorado Dude Ranch seems just around the corner.

Dreaming of summer at our Colorado Vacation Dude Ranch.