Dude Ranches Recommendations
 

Looking for a ranch to vacation at. Horseback riding for my daughter and I and dirt biking and rifle range for my son. Any suggestions? Any state East or West is fine.

I can't offer recommendations but do recall a thread in this forum about a year or so ago when someone was looking for dude ranches within several hours of NYC by car. Would be worth using the search function to dig up that thread.

You'll be unlikely to find a dude ranch that offers both dirt biking and horseback riding on the same facility. Most horses are quite afraid of dirt bikes (I think it's the noise) and will "spook" if they hear one. I personally have never heard of dirt biking being part of the dude ranch program. (Maybe your son would take up horseback riding if given the chance?) <BR>Having said that, try looking on Yahoo Travel for the directory of dude ranches- there are literally hundreds to choose from!!

If by chance our reference to "dirt biking" actually refers to riding mountain bikes on dirt trails then you are likely to at least find riding trails and rental bikes at or near a dude ranch. If they're of the motorized variety then I'm sure the previous poster is correct. Do a bit of online research and find the Chamber of Commerce or Visitor Bureau contact numbers for both the Poconos and the Catskills. Both are within a few hours drive of NYC and are likely to offer what you seek.

Arthur Frommer's Web site mentioned Dude Ranches in the Dec. 27, 1999 tip of the day. He suggests calling the Dude Ranchers Assn at 970/223-9440. I hope this helps. <BR>

I personally like the Lazy K Bar Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. Don't know if they offer dirt-biking or not (not into it myself so never noticed). But they do have skeet shooting (is that close enough to rifle range?), lots of horseback riding with great horses, good food and lots of it. The rooms are pretty nice too and the people are really great.