RANCH HOLIDAYS Feature


before-or-after the Stampede ranch stay. There are a number of ranches within


easy reach of Calgary including Willow Lane Ranch (willowlaneranch.com), 90 minutes from the city. At this working ranch the owners share their knowledge, experience and way of life with guests. The ranch has provided stock to the Stampede rodeos for more than 50 years and offers daily ranch activities including cattle drives and round-ups, rides to check the cattle, branding, fence mending and calving. It is sold through Ranch Rider (ranchrider. com), from £1,159pp for six nights. Also a 90-minutes' drive south of the


"Canada is all about experiences and many guests plan the rest of their trip around the ranch portion. Being able to do so many activities all in one spot makes things easy and efficient without the stress of a schedule"


offers a high-end luxury experience with an unusual twist. It won its Canadian Signature Experience (CSE) designation for its ‘Where the West meets the East’ concept, explains Marketing and Sales Manager, Konstanze Riede. “Once a week our Thai nights


showcase the flavours of the East and our spa offers both Thai and Western Spa therapies,” she says. Adds Riede: “We offer all the usual


western-style ranching experiences, along with high-end accommodation and gourmet cuisine based on the farm to fork concept: we raise our own cattle, pigs and chickens and have our own organic garden.” Working horses take riders into the Fraser Canyon and experienced wranglers are on hand to offer advice and guidance to both novices and


experts. Also on offer are the softest of adventure options – guided hikes, fly fishing in trout ponds and gold panning. The property is around a five-and-a- half-hour drive from Vancouver or clients with deeper pockets can fly directly into the ranch’s small airport. It is featured by Virgin Holidays, Audley Travel, Frontier and Trailfinders. Ranching is not always about the horses. Hills Guest Ranch (hillsguestranch. com), for example, offers over 40 fitness classes, workshops and hikes each week, year-round, as well as 16 treatment rooms at its spa. It is one of North America’s leading organic beef producers, with 1,200 head of cattle, and in addition to the over 150 km of marked/signed trails it runs a Horse Whispering Experience and a romantic ‘linen and lace’ champagne luncheon ride that's perfect for marriage proposals and anniversaries.


Facing page: Sunset at Echo Valley; this page clockwise from top: Clayoquot Wilderness; Three Bars Ranch and La Raeta, Saskatchewan


Alberta COWBOY COUNTRY The Calgary Stampede raises horseback skills to something of an art form with 10 days each July dedicated to the 'Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth'. As the world’s largest rodeo, complete with bareback and bronco riding, chuck wagon races and roping events, this annual extravaganza pushes Canada’s equestrian product to the fore and can be easily sold in combination with a


Selling Canada • Summer 2014 13


city, in Porcupine Hills, is the Lucasia working ranch (lucasiaranch.com), where visitors join in a branding week or take part in a cattle drive for some real insights into the modern rancher's life. Beginners can also learn the basic techniques of ranch roping, or take a break from the saddle to hike and spot plentiful birdlife and wildlife.


Saskatchewan HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES Ranch Rider reports Saskatchewan is performing particularly well and attributes this to growing demand for experiential and authentic stays. The province has two ranches ranked in the Canadian Signature Experience collection: La Reata Ranch (lareataranch. com) and Sturgeon River Ranch (sturgeonriverranch.com).


Guests at La Reata Ranch get a real hands-on experience by being a cowboy for a week, getting involved in season-


opening with cattle-relate ‘chores’, branding or round-up. Expected to groom and saddle their


own horse, guests ride out across a magnificent landscape of endless grassy terrain, uniquely dotted with cactuses. This is a family-owned working cattle ranch located on 5,000 acres of hilly countryside in the Saskatchewan River Valley, overlooking the shores of Lake Diefenbaker. One- to eight-day packages are available through Frontier Canada (frontier-canada.co.uk) priced from $1393pp for a week. Sturgeon River Ranch offers a North American 'safari product' within Prince Albert National Park. Guests ride among free-ranging bison and may also see wolves, elk, moose, deer, bears and countless birds. They also have a fair chance of viewing the Northern Lights and get some great star-gazing opportunities while sitting around the campfire at night. Two nights are spent in a tipi. Priced at $1050pp for four nights.


Yukon BACK TO BASICS For clients looking for the ultimate back- to-basics experience, check out Shine Valley (inthesaddle.com) in the Yukon. The territory's wilderness landscapes make for great horseback adventures among glacial valleys and pristine rivers, with the chance to spot moose, caribou and wolves. Clients stay in small two-man log cabins without electricity and running water, 1600m up in the boreal forest, and follow in the footsteps of the region’s last trappers.


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