Where ranch season keeps going in winter
Most ranches shut at the end of September. 35 of the 111 here do not, and they are doing three very different things.
Winter is not one season
Thirty-five of the ranches here host guests at some point in December, January or February, and twenty-three never close at all. But those ranches are not offering the same thing. In Arizona and New Mexico winter is the main season and you ride every day. In Montana and Colorado winter is a different sport entirely.
The desert: winter is peak
Eleven Arizona ranches and five in New Mexico run through the winter, and for most of them winter is the main season. The classic Tucson and Wickenburg ranches ride the Sonoran Desert from fall to spring because summer is too hot.
Cold Creek near Clifton has guests gathering cattle from October through April. Burnt Well near Roswell runs cattle weeks outside the summer. Geronimo Trail sits at 6,500 feet in the Gila and calls its weather temperate year round.
On Brand Book: Cold Creek Ranch, Burnt Well Guest Ranch, Geronimo Trail Guest Ranch, Circle Z Ranch, Tombstone Monument Ranch & Cattle Co.
The north: the horses come second
Six Montana ranches and five in Colorado stay open, but expect the week to change shape. Lone Mountain trades trail rides for Nordic skiing. Devil's Thumb, C Lazy U and Vista Verde all run winter operations built around snow rather than saddles.
Latigo prices its winter stays by the day, with all tax and gratuity included and a two-night minimum.
On Brand Book: Lone Mountain Ranch, Devil's Thumb Ranch Resort & Spa, C Lazy U Ranch, Vista Verde Ranch, Latigo Ranch
Open all year
Twenty-three ranches list all twelve months. On the luxury side that means The Ranch at Rock Creek, The Resort at Paws Up, Triple Creek and Brush Creek, which run full winter programs. On the working side it means places like McGinnis Meadows and Paintbrush Adventures, where the cattle and the horses need tending whatever the calendar says, and spring brings calving and lambing. In the South, Southern Cross in Georgia and Shangrila in Virginia ride all year.
On Brand Book: The Ranch at Rock Creek, The Resort at Paws Up, Triple Creek Ranch, Brush Creek Ranch, McGinnis Meadows Cattle & Guest Ranch, Paintbrush Adventures (Barron Ranch), Southern Cross Guest Ranch, Shangrila Guest Ranch
What to check before you book a winter week
- Whether riding is actually running, or whether the week is skiing and snowshoeing with horses as an option.
- Whether the kids program runs. Most are built for summer and do not operate out of season.
- How you get there. Mountain passes close, and a two-hour summer drive is not a two-hour January drive.
- Whether the rate changes. Winter is often cheaper in the north and the top of the market in the desert.
One last thing
Open months on these listings come from what each ranch publishes, and a ranch that lists December is not promising a December you would enjoy. Confirm what is actually running in the week you want.