What a ranch rate includes
Ranch rates cover very different things, so two prices side by side can mislead. This is what to check before you compare them.
Why Brand Book does not list prices
A rate only means something once you know what it covers, and ranches sell very different stays. One sells an all-inclusive week. Another sells a room and meals, with riding by the ride. A third sells a package without riding, or a cabin for a whole family. Many sell more than one at once, and rates change every season.
So the listings here leave prices out. Every listing links to the ranch's own website, where the current rates are, on a rates page or inside the booking engine.
What all-inclusive usually means
At a traditional dude ranch the rate is often a Full American Plan: your cabin or room, three meals a day and riding, for a set number of nights. Many ranches fold in the other activities on the property too, such as fishing, shooting or a kids program.
Other ranches sell less and charge less for it. Some price every ride separately. Some sell a bed-and-breakfast rate beside the full package, or price lodging, meals and rides each on their own.
What is often extra, even on an all-inclusive rate
- Tax, service charge and gratuity. Some ranches build them into the price, others add them at checkout, and a few do both. Together they can add a fifth or more to the bill.
- Getting there. Some ranches include the airport transfer. Many charge for it, by the person, the car or the room.
- Specialty weeks. At some ranches, cattle drives and round-ups are priced apart from the standard week.
- Riding lessons, alcohol and childcare, at many ranches.
Rates come in different units
Many ranches price per person for a week, based on two people sharing. Some price the whole cabin, and some price by the night with a minimum stay. Children, and at some ranches non-riders, often pay less, with age bands that differ from ranch to ranch.
To compare two ranches, work each one out the same way: what your whole group pays for the whole stay, after tax, service charge and transfers.