Review of Spotted Horse Ranch: Wyoming’s Best Dude Ranch?
In 2022, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about dude ranches. I had heard of these in the past, but man oh man do those editors know how to sell a concept! Urmi and I did some shopping and managed to grab a couple spots at the Spotted Horse Ranch, located just south of Jackson, WY. Spotted Horse Ranch sells itself as “Wyoming’s Best Dude Ranch” and in this review of Spotted Horse Ranch I’ll examine whether they live up to, or fall short of, their tagline.
While I’ll talk a bit about the daily agenda here, primarily I’m going to focus on the experience on the ranch, and of course—your favorite Pro Tips!
Why We Decided to Book a Ranch
Before I jump into the details of SHR, you’re probably wondering: why did Urmi and I decide to visit a ranch? I had a lot of people ask me this question, between friends, family, and even the other guests on the ranch.
The full answer to this question could probably inspire a post all by itself. In short, in the last few years I’ve had a fascination with the lifestyle of America’s heartland. As an adult, I’ve always lived in cities, and most of my travel outside of scuba diving has been to cities. In recent years I’ve sought to change that, which is why I’ve prioritized travel to hike around the country (and world) with Urmi, in addition to finding increasingly remote scuba locations.
This trip seemed to satisfy several goals Urmi and I had:
- We’d get to hike National Parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone)
- We’d get to experience horseback riding
- We’d get to experience life on a ranch
In addition, there were some side benefits, such as being able to stay domestic (trip was booked before rules were changed regarding reentry into the United States from abroad).
That might lead you, the reader, to wonder…
Would I enjoy staying at a ranch?
If you enjoy being off the grid, and are looking for an adventure not requiring you to leave the country – I think this is a really great idea. Some ranches are quite remote, sometimes hours of driving from the nearest airport. Other ranches are a bit closer to nearby towns, allowing guests to depart the ranch for day trips if so desired.
Another aspect to consider is whether you are looking to do a family-oriented trip, a couples trip, a group trip, or a solo trip. During summer months, ranches generally cater toward families. Some ranches will allocate a few adults-only weeks, usually in September. Very few ranches are adults-only at all times.
In my opinion, staying at a ranch can cater to all of families, couples, groups, and solo travelers, though I did not meet any solo travelers on my ranch. If you are a solo traveler specifically looking to meet other solo travelers, I suspect you won’t find what you’re looking for.
Unless visiting friends or family, I prefer to keep my trips child-free, and so Urmi and I opted for a time when most children are back in school. In fact, every other guest we spoke to at Spotted Horse Ranch stated the same thing to us!
Review of Spotted Horse Ranch
Pictures
The ranch itself is relatively small, which I believe is a positive aspect. The reason is that as a guest, you are not paying for a large ranch, only a small part of which you might actually get to use or otherwise explore. (This doesn’t affect your horseback riding, which happens in the lands outside the ranch; there is no shortage of land to explore.)
Cabins
There are a number of cabins of varying sizes. You will not have to share a cabin with another party.
Main building
Where you find the bar, lounge, and dining room. The wifi router is located here, though you should not expect a good connection. Do not plan to reliably respond to emails or texts, let alone video calls.
Daily Agenda at Spotted Horse Ranch
Spotted Horse Ranch operates on a weekly basis, i.e. the schedule operates according to the day of the week. There are some seasonal variations depending on the month you visit. Unlike other ranches, SHR does not require you to book a full week at a time, so you can check your desired season’s schedule in advance and book the days of the week you wish.
We checked in on Monday and checked out on Friday, allowing us to experience:
- Tuesday
- Morning and afternoon horseback riding
- Wednesday
- All day (6 hour) horseback riding
- Thursday
- Morning hot spring visit
- Afternoon scenic raft or whitewater raft in the Snake River
In addition, they serve 3 meals a day, along with happy hour from 5-7 pm with complimentary beer and wine. Guests are welcome to bring their own alcohol if they wish.
Horseback Riding
Neither Urmi nor I had ever tried horseback riding in the past. Trying horseback riding was probably the single most exciting part of the trip when we first booked, and we were not disappointed.
Horseback riding was not difficult per se, however it did require a certain amount of stamina in the lower back muscles. Moreover, since you are sitting for long periods of time, even riding at a slow pace will eventually get your butt sore. I brought spin shorts and would highly recommend these, or anything else that would cushion your buttock, for inexperienced riders.
All-Day Wednesday Rides
Because Urmi and I were both beginners, we didn’t think we had it in us to do 2 days of riding in a row, especially with the second day being an all-day ride. We opted out of the Wednesday all-day ride to spend the day in Jackson. For reasons that will be clear later in this article, if you have dietary requirements, be sure to double check that the staff packed your lunch properly before you depart. Once you’re out on the trail, you have no recourse if they didn’t pack an appropriate lunch for you.
Footwear
SHR doesn’t have any specific footwear requirement – I wore hiking boots and they were fine. I later learned from another guest, an experienced rider, that heeled boots are recommended so that your feet don’t accidentally slip forward through the stirrups.
Horseback Riding – Verdict
As guests and inexperienced riders, we had a positive experience with the horseback riding at SHR. They had a number of wranglers available to split groups up according to experience and specific requests. The horses seemed like they were well taken care of. Rides departed on time and wranglers were attentive to any and all needs. The scenery on the routes were beautiful and allowed for plenty of photo ops as well!
Astoria Hot Spring
Thursday mornings, Spotted Horse Ranch organizes trips to the Astoria Hot Spring, just about a 15 minute drive from the ranch. Astoria Hot Spring is a natural thermal spring, somewhat reminiscent of the thermal springs in Iceland (if you’ve ever been). The rate you pay to SHR includes the cost of the hot spring.
I don’t have much else to say about the venue itself. It was a pleasant and relaxing trip (as any hot spring would be!). I’d only note the following:
- Don’t let poor weather convince you not to do this unless it is exceptionally poor, e.g. lightning, in which case the staff will ask you to exit the water. We went on a 55 degree day with light rain, and I felt like it improved our experience, not worsened it. After all, who wants to be in a hot spring on a 90 degree day?
- If you have dietary restrictions, and are planning to do the afternoon rafting, triple check with the SHR staff that they accounted for your lunch. SHR did not pack our vegetarian lunches, and we got the impression from the staff was that this occurred at least once every single week.
- I’ll note here that the staff member who drove us that day went above and beyond, driving us back to the ranch, asking the chefs to make us our vegetarian sandwiches, and bringing us back to the hot spring, before taking us to the afternoon rafting. She didn’t have to do this and we were especially appreciative of her effort.
Scenic Rafting and Whitewater Rafting
On Thursday afternoons, you have the option to go rafting with Dave Hansen Water Sports. Much like that of the hot spring, your SHR rate includes the cost of the rafting (excluding gratuity). Note, you can only choose one of the scenic or whitewater, i.e. you can’t do both.
The whitewater rafting is exactly what you think it is! Urmi and I didn’t go, so my only commentary is on the scenic rafting trip.
The scenic route moves slowly down the Snake River and is a guided nature tour. You will stay *mostly* dry – your shoes may get wet, so wear waterproof shoes e.g. hiking boots if you own any. Moreover, it definitely felt colder and windier on the river than it did at the shop prior to leaving. I foolishly left my long underwear and balaclava at the ranch, and paid for it dearly on the river when it rained in 45 degree weather! Our guide told us that the trip runs even in snowstorms, so don’t worry about the trip canceling for weather.
Other than the miserable weather, I did enjoy the scenic raft. Urmi and I tried to even do it a second time, though unfortunately the agenda for the rest of our trip didn’t permit a second rafting trip.
Food
For all 3 meals, the food was generally good, but nothing to write home about. Our dietary requirements were definitely captured by the front office. It didn’t seem that that chefs always took care of us, though:
- It felt like there were 2 chefs during our 4-night stay, because we were fed vegetarian main courses for 2 nights, and the other 2 nights we were left to eat the sides that were given to everyone else at the table.
- As mentioned above, the kitchen staff didn’t pack our vegetarian lunches for the day trip.
The girls waiting the tables were awesome and helped us as best they could, including finding us other options from within the kitchen. If we made specific requests (e.g. veggie burgers, leftover pasta salad) they communicated to the chef and got it done for us.
We were definitely disappointed that the packed lunches were simple sandwiches with chips. The ranch didn’t even provide water – forewarned in advance on a small footnote on the sign-up sheet. No warning before you depart on your all-day trips. When you pay thousands of dollars for a relatively short trip, you expect better. By comparison, we were packed outstanding lunches to eat while on the road when we went on safari in the Serengeti. We struggle to see why this couldn’t be done at Spotted Horse Ranch.
When it came to food, Urmi and I ultimately felt like the quality and service (from the kitchen, not the wait staff) didn’t live up to the cost of what we paid for the trip.
Final Thoughts in our Review of Spotted Horse Ranch
Throughout the trip, there was a lot of chatter amongst the guests about a lack of information, and perceived disorganization amongst the staff. It was frustrating for the guests that nobody knew the details for Thursday – timing, where are people picked up, how we get to/from the ranch. Certainly for Urmi and me specifically, we were frustrated with our packed lunch situation. Urmi and I were not the only ones who thought things were disorganized, as many other guests made the same comments as well.
This is a tough one for me to score because I don’t think the experience was horrible; I just think that for the price tag, guests should have a seamless experience, and Spotted Horse Ranch fell short.
Score: 7/10
Insider Info:
- There is no cell service on the ranch, and the WiFi connection is spotty at best. Don’t expect to be able to respond to emails. Take the opportunity to relax off the grid. If you really need service, you’ll get decent signal if you drive about 5 minutes toward town.
- The ranch has complimentary beer and wine from 5-7 pm, but you’re also welcome to bring your own liquor. I personally bring liquor everywhere I travel as I find sharing it to be a great way to meet people and make new friends.
- Laundry on the ranch is free, so if you have other stops on a long trip, you’ll have a chance to wash your clothes.
- Morning rides are 2 1/2 hours and afternoon rides are 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you’re a first time rider, expect to have a sore butt and lower back by the end of the morning ride.
- On a related note, if you own cycling shorts, I’d highly recommend wearing them.
- You may find it useful to bring a flashlight (more powerful than your phone) to walk back to your cabin after dark. This isn’t entirely necessary; I found it useful and tend to bring a flashlight for hikes anyway, so I already had it in my luggage.