100 Best Ranch Vacations in North America: The Top Guest and Resort Ranches with Activities for All Ages

Expertly written by Gavin Ehringer (an award-winning columnist and features writer for "Western Horseman", among several other equine magazines), 100 Best Ranch Vacations In North America is an impressive guide to one hundred different guest ranches and packed with all the information one needs to know about selecting just the right ranch for particular budgets and tastes. Descriptions of the types of riding offered, details on ranch atmosphere and activities, profiles of typical guests, and a great deal more make 100 Best Ranch Vacations In North America a truly first-rate and highly recommended guide for anyone interested in experiencing an authentic taste of the Old West.

By Bill Marsano. The lure of the Old West and the Open Range is as powerful for those who want to get back in the saddle again as for those who have never so much as fallen off a horse in the first place. And so the dude ranch was born--a place where city slickers could go to grow saddle-sore and be laughed at, made mock by the few genuine cowboys--sorry, that should be "hands"--still on the ranch. Or spread. Well, that was then. Dude ranches have grown up so much that few use the term any more. These days what we have are ranch vacations.They're not all the same, and to tell them apart you need a guide like this, which covers 100 ranches in 19 states (including, oddly enough, New York) and two Canadian provinces. Now most anybody can fling together a lot of data--phone numbers, addresses, rates, etc.--but Gavin Ehringer has done a better and more complete job than most (in one entry he notes that a ranch accepts Visa but actually prefers personal checks). Ehringer gives a lot more. Each ranch is introduced by a one-page essay that captures the spirit of the place and helps you tell one from another. Do you want a family vacation, kids and all? A place where you break most of your broncos poolside? Or a real, tall-in-the-saddle spread that will make you earn your memories with a few blisters and sore muscles? Ehgringer helps you sort that out.And if that's not enough, there's a beautifully shot photo essay of vacation-ranch life that will have you humming "Don't Fence Me In" in no time.--Bill Marsano is an award-winning travel writer.