Hi, my two sons, age 13 and 11, would love to experience a "true" cowboy vacation. Just like the way it was according to the wild west movies. Any suggestions where we would go, and where to stay? We are planning a trip in August, flying in from Sweden, and staying for approx 2 weeks. Any good ideas are highly appreciated.

Hi Kim! I have no suggestions for you but it sounds wonderful!
About 10 years ago I took my German penpal and her family to my sisters' ranch in East Texas,
They got lucky... the same thing you are requesting and it did not cost anything other than the airfare to Texas.
We rounded up cattle, gave about 200 steers vaccinations, fixed fences, rode horses, shot targets and fished.
They had a blast! 2 years later I took my Japanese penpals.
I hope you can find a place!
Kids just LOVE this sort of vacation.

Are you looking for a Dude Ranch kind of place, or are you looking for scenery?

For scenery, there's nothing like Monument Valley in Utah/Arizona. It's where most John Wayne movies were filmed.

But let me know what kind of vacation you're looking for before I start running off at the mouth.

Hello, Kim,

There are also cowboy vacations in Montana. You might like the area near Yellowstone National Park (YNP). That way you could have your cowboy vacation and see YNP.

Here's a google search using the words Montana Gallatin ranch lodging. If you omit Gallatin --a county in Montana -- you should probably find even more. Wyoming should also have cowboy vacations.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...+ranch+lodging

Look under *Lodging Ranches* at this site:

http://www.cbel.com/us_montana/

Also, here is a link to llama hiking through YNP that I thought was interesting and might try when my son is older.

http://www.yellowstone-llamas.com/

I grew up in the Bozeman area which is nice to visit, too. It's about 90 minutes north of YNP. The town is resort-like with good shopping, decent restaurants and some interesting galleries as well as the Museum of the Rockies. In August Bozeman holds a cute festival called Sweet Pea Festival (www.sweetpeafestival.org) that might be a fun change of pace.

Have fun!

Martha

Oh, I should add that two airports you would want to fly into would be Jackson, Wyoming, and Belgrade, Montana (right by Bozeman). Cody, Wyoming, might also have an airport. Not sure...

Dear Jack,
Kind of embarrassing but have to admit that I'm probably looking for a combination of Dude Ranch and scenery. Since we are city people from up north we can ski, scuba dive and sail, but we can't ride although my sons would love to try. We did San Francisco, highway no 1, Death Valley, Vegas and LA this summer and we loved it. I suggested Kina for next summer but was out voted in favor of the US. We are not playing in the same league as Paris Hilton but there is high risk for Dude warning)

Check out www.ranchweb.com. The site lists many dude ranches throughout the US (although most ranches are in the West). It has a search function so you can look for a ranch with specific characteristics. Have a great trip.

I thhought of the Beaverfoot Lodge near Golden in Canada, near the British Columbia border. We have been twice. It`s a very laid back place where there is a lot of horseback riding. They also have lots of hikes and fishing and canoeing, and the area is just beautiful. However, there is nothing fancy about it, so don`t go if you want luxury. All the food is included, and it`s delicious. Just one menu, and they serve family style. It`s also quite inexpensive. A lot of Europeans come back year after year.

Pat,
We just spent 12 glorious days there this past July. Three generations of us. Was the best trip we've ever had. I did a trip report with pictures over on the Canada section. http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29
After 25 years, I believe they've sold their lodge. It hasn't closed yet, as I've been in touch with some of the staff since we've left. Still need to email them and find out more about their plans though.
I'd go back in a heartbeat.

The last I heard, the sale fell through, and the kids will continue to run it for the time being. There was talk of the cook and carpenter (Mary and I forgot what her husband`s name was) were trying to buy into it. The parents, who ran the place for many years, are now doing a B&B in Radium Hot Springs, but there are no horses. I do get a Christmas card from them every year. Isn`t the view from the front porch of the Beaverfoot awesome? Also, it`s fun to do a day trip to Lake Louise, Morraine and Emerald Lake, if you haven`t seen those places. We went rafting on the Kicking Horse river one day too. My friends that I took up there, have been back every year for the last 5 years and they love it. Pretty soon, you keep up with the family gossip!

I would suggest a ranch in western Montana or northern Wyoming near Yellowstone Nat Park or Grand Teton Nat'l park for a combination of cowboy and scenary. As MarthaB above said, there are some great ranches in the Gallatin valley near Bozeman/Big Sky and Yellowstone. I highly recommend the "Nine Quarter Circle Ranch" in the Big Sky Area. It not only has the cowboy stuff (trail rides, hayrides, square dancing, etc) but the ranch is set back in a beautiful mountain valley about 45 minutes from the entrance to Yellowstone park. The hiking and flyfishing is terrific as well. See the website www.guestranches.com and look for the nine quarter circle ranch as well as lots of other ranches in the same area (320 ranch is good) as well as other parts of MT and the USA. If you are looking for a serious working cowboy ranch as opposed to a mountain/scenery resort/cowboy ranch, I would suggest that you look on the website for "working cattle ranches" which tend to be more in rolling hills/prairie locations vs in the mountainous regions.