family vacation | North Fork Ranch

North Fork Ranch a “Bucket Must” in 2013

January 25, 2013 By Karen May

Happy New Year from all of us at North Fork Ranch & Fishing Lodge!

All is calm & bright at the ranch…quiet, peaceful & white this time of year! Just hard to believe it is three weeks into January already! We hope this finds you enjoying each day & that the spirit of the past holiday season, family & friends remains with you throughout the year! We are all busy with our resolutions & Bucket List’s this time of year….we hope you will put North Fork in as your “Bucket Must”!!

The ranch is picturesque this time of year as each season brings to us a new wonderful Colorado look! Right now we have views of beautiful snow capped Colorado Rocky Mountains, gentle water flowing in the North Fork of the South Platte River which is decorated with a little ice, soft snow & colorful festive lights lining the fences. All of our horses are enjoying grazing leisurely in winter pastures and have grown a full coat of extra winter hair to keep them warm! They will most certainly be happy to see you & anxiously wait to take you horseback riding on your next ranch holiday or family vacation!

Snow may be on the ground but we are already looking forward to our upcoming ranch season & continue to strive to offer you something better or new. The addition of zip line & our new western dance night to our program were a big success. What an honor it was this year to be awarded “The Best Fly Fishing Dude Ranch in the USA & Canada”!! You just can’t beat fly fishing in Colorado…in particular at North Fork Ranch!

Speaking of new; Dean is busy remodeling a bathroom (a walk in shower & heated tile floors) in the Wildhorse Lodge in between plowing snow, feeding horses & other minor fix & update projects. We can’t wait to show you the new doors he recently replaced into the lodge as well!! Many enjoyed the remodeled bathrooms inStonehenge mansion last summer. We always look forward to greeting you with a fresh new look each season!

We are beginning our hiring of yet another fabulous North Fork Ranch staff for our 29^th year! You will see some familiar faces along with energetic new ones! They too are looking forward to enjoying with you horseback riding, whitewater rafting, hiking, fly fishing, zip line, trap shooting & all the fun adventures offered at North Fork Ranch!

Those of you that have joined us know that a Colorado Dude Ranch vacation is a unique experience. If you missed out last year and have been saying, “we must return”, this is your year to join us for your Colorado Adventure! We have added an extra incentive…we’ve lowered our 2013 rates…give us a call or look on our website!!

As we begin our 29^th ranch season, we look back with Great memories & say “Thank You” for sharing your families & lives with us! We look forward to seeing you soon!

Spring Has Sprung

March 18, 2012 By Karen May

The Grass is Always Greener on the other side of the fence!! Hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!!

Greetings from our entire herd & in particular, Scotch, our newest addition! He certainly has this concept down already…leaning right over the fence for that patch of green grass! You can see the pool & hot tub in the background…it won’t be long until it is surrounded by green grass & sounds of laughter & fun!

It IS Dude Ranch Vacation time!!

We are thrilled about our upcoming 27th season! The horses have a spring in their step enjoying our warm temperatures, the river is beginning to thaw…the kitchen & ranch is getting a deep clean…a wonderful fun filled staff is being lined up! We are SO ready to have all of you with us!!

Planning is simpled at North Fork Ranch; the perfect Colorado family vacation!! All you have to do is join us…we’ll take care of the rest!!

We are thrilled to be adding several New activities for you to enjoy (like there wasn’t enough to do)! Your new selections are: Mountain Biking, a Jeep Tour & Zip Line!! These will be in addition to all of our already popular & familiar activities; horseback riding, whitewater rafting, fly fishing, hiking & kids activities including the always busy petting zoo.

In my last blog I showed you a picture of Dean remodeling the 1940 bathroom in the Stonehenge, he is delighted to report the new walk in shower & tile work is complete! It is a Great new look & quite stunning as one of our Colorado Lodging options! We will also be adding new wooden southwestern headboards which will polish off this wonderful showpiece mansion! Make sure you follow us on Facebook to see the pictures of all of the happenings at North Fork Ranch & Fishing Lodge!

New News…The secret is out….We feel very honored to have been chosen to be included as one of the Top 50 Ranches in the world! You can see us at http://www.top50ranches.com/ Don’t forget to tell all of your friends about us & add us to your social media pages as well! A Big Thank You to all of you who have helped us along in our journey!

With summer right around the corner don’t wait to make your reservations & invite your friends to join you as well! http://www.northforkranch.com/ Your week at North Fork Ranch, the best Colorado Dude Ranch vacation is waiting!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Colorado, Colorado family vacation, colorado fly fishing lodges, dude ranch, dude ranch vacation, family vacation, guest ranch, horseback riding, North Fork Ranch, ranch holiday, whitewater rafting

In With The New…North Fork Ranch Year!!

January 18, 2012 By Karen May

Happy New Year from all of us at the Ranch!!

The holidays seem to have flown by & we certainly hope they were filled with joy, friends & of course lots of food!! The New Year is always filled with slogans of “loosing”; weight, bad habits, you’ve heard them! We’d like to twist that message for 2012 & encourage you to “gain”; creating memories of a lifetime, spending time with friends & family, taking time for yourself & reconnecting! North Fork is your perfect destination!

We are busy in preparation just for that! Winter at the ranch is moving quickly and we are already getting excited about our 27th season! Many of you have asked…what do you do in the winter? Well, here are a few of the improvements we have been working on getting ready for your dude ranch vacation!!
In our last blog, if you missed it, we have built new beautiful log benches around the campfire & at the trap shooting range. Make sure you scroll down to see the photo. Our classic Stonehenge was built between 1930-1940 & it is a challenge to make changes to. Dean has been chisling out the tile that has been in place for over 70 years…quite literaly! He is putting in a walk in shower, new southwest tile, a granite counter & sink in the upper unit, the Santa Fe. The two downstairs bathrooms both have had some more minor improvements with tile work, new stain on the cabinets in the Mesa & a new pedistal sink & counter adding more counter space in the Taos unit.

Our river is frozen over for the time being but brings on a new, different, beautiful look & sounds in the winter. Most days we see the local bald eagle fly through the valley…my goal is to capture a photo of him to share with you…be patient! We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Orvis as a premier Colorado Fishing Lodge. If you look in any of the Orvis Fly Fishing catalogs such as their Guide to Adventure, Orvis Fly Fishing or on their website you will see us featured as one of their promoted destinations.

Now that you know a little of what goes on behind the scene both during & off season…We want to personally invite each & everyone of you to help all of those you know “gain” in 2012! Spread the word about North Fork Ranch…any way you choose, Facebook, Twitter, tell a co-worker, neighbor, put a flier/brochure at your school/gym, drop a brochure to your local travel agent, newspaper, ask for our banner to put at a local event…the sky is the limit!! Contact us for any material you would like to have in hand….share your stories….Isn’t it time everyone heard about your Colorado Ranch Vacation? We can’t wait to meet your friends! Let’s Celebrate 2012 together, North Fork style!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: colorado fly fishing, colorado fly fishing lodges, dude ranch vacation, family reunion, family vacation, guest ranch colorado

Fall Treats

September 17, 2011 By Karen May

Our 26th dude season has wrapped up and we are now hosting our corporate & meeting groups and fishermen. Fall has arrived with cooler temperatures and there is snow on the mountain peaks in the distance.

The horses are making their way to winter pasture but not before they get one last treat. Here is a fun recipe that we like to “treat” our horses with before they go.

Horse Treats:

1 cup oats

1 cup bran

1 cup water

1 TBSP salt

1/8 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup grated carrots

1 apple and a small bit of apple sauce

Mix the oats, bran, water, salt, brown sugar, molasses and carrots together well. Roll into small balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Let cool and ice the cookies with apple sauce. You can then decorate the cookies with the apple peels and left over carrot peels.

We hope wherever you are that you to are enjoying many fall sunsets.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: cabins, colorado fly fishing, duderanch, fall, family reunion, family vacation, guest ranch, lodges, North Fork Ranch, Northforkranch, Orvis, ranch holiday

Havin’ Fun at the Ranch

August 26, 2011 By Karen May

Even though the our dude season is drawing near and many of our summer staff have returned back to school, we are still having fun at the ranch. Riding throughout the Rocky Mountains, exciting whitewater rafting, breathtaking hikes (literally-haha), talent shows while square dancing and the most intense and laughter-filled games of Catchphrase on family game night still are taking place. The weather has been amazing as fall is approaching and the deer are even starting to sneak out of the woods again as the temperatures cool down.

And as many of you know, our staff are one of the key elements here at the ranch that do a great job of keeping our guests entertained, even down to the smallest detail. For example, our chalkboard in the dining room reveals the menu for the day and one of our wonderful staff members put a cute and creative twist to invite everyone to our Friday burger/brat cookout. Check it out and enjoy. Wishing you all were here!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Colorado, colorado fly fishing, dude ranch, duderanch, family reunion, family vacation, fly fishing, guest ranch, horseback riding, North Fork Ranch, Northforkranch, Orvis

A Days Work at North Fork Ranch

July 31, 2011 By Karen May

Can you believe August is here and summer is winding down? Wow! We’ve had such a wonderful summer already and have been enjoying our 26th season here at the ranch. So many terrific guests have joined us from all over the world and still so many to come.

As most of us all over the country have been experiencing “heat waves,” a few of our housekeeping/waitstaff girls decided to cool down one day and wash our cleaning van named, “Queenie.” This ol’ girl has helped up for us for so many years ensuring everyone’s accommodations are spic & span. So a little wash now and then makes her look brand new.

We are always having a great time at North Fork Ranch!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Colorado, colorado fly fishing, dude ranch, duderanch, family reunion, family vacation, fly fishing, guest ranch, North Fork Ranch, Northforkranch, Orvis

The Queen

July 7, 2011 By Karen May

The “queen of the ranch” finally has her crown!! Well, she believes she is the queen, but we all know Karen is the first lady around the ranch.

This young lady definitely thinks she “rules the roost” around here and has the personality to back it up. She is quite ornery at times and a little stubborn, but she is much happier now that she has her tiara to show everyone how beautiful she is and that she is in charge. How can you not love our miniature mule, Lily?

She can’t wait to show you all her beautiful jewels when you come and see her this summer.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Colorado, colorado fly fishing, dude ranch, duderanch, family reunion, family vacation, fishing, fly fishing, guest ranch, horseback riding, North Fork Ranch, Northforkranch, Orvis, wildlife

New Look

June 28, 2011 By Karen May

Our pool has received a makeover at the beginning of this summer. We now have a fence around the pool, more landscaping and a few more final touches are in the works. The fence along the river isn’t quite complete yet but will be soon. It will have railing like the new bridge so that everyone can still view and enjoy the sight and sound of the river. New gates were also installed that were custom made with our Bar Double Heart Bar brand within the railing. Check out the cool pictures.

Horses are now getting pastured outside the pool and will greet you as you head that way. Be sure to give them some tender, loving care on your way to take a dip. We hope you’ll be able to enjoy the new & improved pool at North Fork Ranch this summer.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Colorado, colorado fly fishing, dude ranch, duderanch, family reunion, family vacation, fly fishing, guest ranch, mountains, North Fork Ranch, Northforkranch, Orvis

Here We Go!!!

June 10, 2011 By Karen May

We are finishing up our second week of dude season here at the ranch and what a start we’ve had!! We’ve met so many new wonderful guests already and have enjoyed some fantastic returns as well. Great people and lasting memories for all. It’s crazy that it’s the middle of June already and we look forward to meeting everyone that will be here this summer. Please enjoy this photo of our 2011 Staff with some familiar faces as well as many new ones. Everyone is doing a great job!

Summer Vacation!!

May 26, 2011 By Karen May

There’s a certain feel in the air right now at the ranch……..excitement and anticipation. New staff have arrived, as well as some of our fantastic returns, the grass has been cut, the horses have arrived and are anxious to get out on the trail, the river is full of feisty fish and the mountain air is as clean and crisp as ever. We have been quite busy this spring with meeting groups and fisherman and are excited to get our summer vacation guests here on the ranch as well.