Spend a week at 4UR, and let your dreams come true.

That’s what you’ll find at our Colorado Vacation Ranch. Our fishing waters include miles of private tailwater trout streams (Goose Creek), the Rio Grande River, wilderness lakes and trophy ponds. You can stand in different water every day, surrounded by the incomparable beauty of the Southern Colorado Rockies. For many an angler, a week spent at 4UR is a dream come true.

Our fishing guides are patient and extremely knowledgeable. They’ll help you as much as you like. Novices, rusty anglers, and children may start with casting lessons on the lawn; you may spend one or several mornings or afternoons with a guide on your own stretch of water. If you know what you’re doing and crave solitude, they’ll get you started and leave you be.

Most of the fish in our waters wild. They were born in these waters. You’ll find rainbow, cutthroat, browns, cutbows, and brook trout. Guests frequently catch 16 to 18 inch fish–a satisfying experiencing indeed.

Some of us are passionate about our work. Some of us are passionate about the arts. Some of us are passionate about fly fishing. We spend the winter months tying flies, remembering the best moments of last season, and anticipating great moments to come. If this describes you, contact our Colorado Vacation Ranch soon.

June is the best time of the year for white water rafting on the Rio Grande, thanks to the spring run off. Rides can be downright thrilling. At other times of the year, rafting is often a quiet and calm experience. It’s a wonderful way to take it a broad swath of the Rio Grande National Forest. If you’re planning a trip to 4UR next summer, consider devoting a few hours to rafting the Rio Grande. It can be a delightful addition to your ranching holiday.

There are several rafting outfitters in South Fork, about 10 miles from our Colorado Dude Ranch Vacation. Guided trips and individual boat rentals are available.

The Rio Grande Valley

Photo of the Rio Grande Valley from sangres.com.

We are currently in the middle of a kids stay free week at 4UR. It has been fun to see fathers and their children bond over the activity of fishing. It happens every year, and has been as long as humans have known to take from the bounty of the sea and stream. Imagine throwing dry flies to the big wild Browns and Rainbows in Goose Creek, or exploring the pristine high mountain stream for big Cutthroats. Come and start your next adventure! We use a lottery system that makes sure that each angler gets to pick a private station on the creek. You end up with solitude, peacefulness and a great chance to catch exciting fish. Of course this is also part of a fabulous horseback riding vacation that you will be able to partake in.

We look forward to welcoming you!

We’ll keep you updated on all the seasonal changes around our Rocky Mountain vacation spot as the sun banishes Winter!

Dining: We recruited our chef, Wray Warner, from the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole. Some of his specialties include unique home-made ice creams, and ambitious pasta, beef and fish dinner entrees. One of my favorites is a mushroom pasta that has been prepared to allow the delicate flavors of the fungi to come out.

It’s not just about dinner, breakfast and lunch are stunning as well. I love to start breakfast with the home-made granola and yogurt, along with hot, strong coffee. We also serve unique cook-to-order breakfast dishes. Breakfast is a very personalized meal, and we want you to feel right at home.

Even lunch is a special affair, esp. on Wednesdays when we hold our Mexican luncheon poolside. We have fajitas, chips, guacamole, cold Coronas and margaritas. Box lunches are also available to take out for your fly fishing trip.

Bathing: We have great “watering holes” – literally! Our pool is large and refreshing; there is plenty of deck space for lounging or playing games with family. We have tables if you want to sit in the shade umbrellas and have a cold drink or a snack. The pool is the place to be, if you ask me!
The hot springs are what Wagon Wheel Gap was originally famous for. In the early 1900s, General William Palmer founded the Wagon Wheel Gap Hot Springs Resort. The Hot Springs were thought to have medicinal qualities; we still have the historic bath house on property. You can still enjoy the Hot Springs, they are just adjacent to the pool and may still have the power to cure what ails you.
The sauna is here for you to enjoy as well – it is also in the pool area, and next to it is our massage parlor. This is relaxation central, and something that makes 4UR quite luxurious.

Catch a beauty in our "Private Tailwaters"

Fly Fishing Vacation: Our fly fishing is renowned as spectacular. We divide our pristine Goose Creek into 15 “stations”, each a 1/3 mile, which are assigned by lottery in the evening. This system keeps everything fair, and assures each fisher-person prime waters at a prime time nearly every day.

Along with Goose Creek, there are four stations on the Rio Grande and one in the Weminuche Wilderness. You may also take a guided fishing trip above timberline to Lost Lakes for rare Rio Grande cutts, or fish Station 21, a trophy pond in the ranch valley. All waters are catch and release fly fishing only, except for Walton Pond, which is a great place to start practicing with your little angler.

Goose Creek’s drainage is quite unique. Flowing from the Weminuche Wilderness, it passes through only two private properties before reaching the Rio Grande; the 4UR Ranch and our neighbors upstream. Our neighbor’s reservoir feeds the creek from its cool waters via an 80-foot dam, making this creek one of only a handful of private tailwaters in America. Andy Lee and Aaron Christenson have spent their years with us managing the stream rigorously. This, along with our catch and release practices make for some surprisingly big, well-colored trout. Look forward to seeing rainbows, browns, snake river cutts, cutt-bow hybrids and even brookies.

As you can see, 4UR Ranch is more than boots and dusty arenas – come here for something completely unique.

Horses in the Valley at 4UR Ranch

We have a very fun and fair lottery each night to determine who will fish where on the stream and when. We have broken up our approx. 7 miles of stream into 15 stations, each about 1/3 mile. Through our lottery system, each angler gets privacy and fresh water for himself, every day.

We want your Rocky Mountain vacation here at 4UR to be memorable for everyone in the family, not just Dad and his fishing rod. Sometimes Dad can drag out his teenage daughter for a few casts, and sometimes a teenage son is excited to learn about fly fishing. But even if fly fishing is not your primary interest, the 4UR ranch will keep you pleasantly occupied. How about a dip in the pool? Or maybe a soak in our natural hot springs, which have been drawing visitors since the early 1800′s. We have miles of trails to explore, trapshooting and lots of room to just let your mind unwind.

Welcome to 4UR ranch. Whether your here for big fish or big relaxation, you’ll catch it here.