Wind River Ranch is located seven miles south of the quaint town of Estes Park, Colorado. The ranch is perfectly located with Rocky Mountain National Park to the front and back of the property. This Colorado Christian Family Dude and Guest Ranch is nestled in the beautiful Tahosa Valley near the base of the majestic, snow-capped Long’s Peak (14,256’) mountain. The view is spectacular as seen in the photo slide show at the top of this page. 

This Colorado Christian Dude and Guest Ranch is an answer for families who want a true family vacation. So many times moms and dads come back from a family vacation emotionally and physically worn out. Here at Wind River Ranch, we specialize in providing a flexible family camp and dude ranch program that caters to each family member’s needs during a weeklong vacation. Parents don’t have to spend their vacation deciding and planning the next activity, transporting the family members to the next event, or deciding what restaurant appeals to everyone’s taste buds. At this Colorado Christian Dude and Guest Ranch, your whole family will gather around our new round dining tables at each home cooked meal. You will find yourself giggling along with your family as you re-tell the events of the day. Our amazing staff will bring out an incredible meal freshly prepared by our chef to your table. If you find that your child desires something special off of the kids menu, their request will not be a problem. Our chef and staff do a fantastic job making sure guest with special requests or food allergies have a specially prepared meal as well.

Picture this, when you roll out of your comfortable bed, your hot cup of coffee, latte’, hot chocolate, specialty teas or French vanilla is waiting for you in our lodge. The fire will be crackling as it warms the room and the leather couches next to the fireplace will give you a great place to put your feet up and enjoy the start to the day. The rocking chairs on your porch or the benches down by the barn where the wranglers are saddling the horses will have a spot for you to relax as well. After you finish with a wonderful breakfast with your family, the day is yours. Each member of the family can choose to be as busy as you want or as laid back as you desire. The morning Bible study on the porch of Ranch House starts at 9:30 am and it is optional. You can then choose to go on a morning horse ride into RMNP or enjoy one of the hammocks. When you return to your cabin, you will find your bed made and your cabin cleaned by the staff. If you take a moment to sit in one of the rocking chairs on your private porch and listen, you will hear your three year old giggling at the playground with our Little Buck-A-Roo’s counselors, your 8-year-old will be heard making a movie with our Kid’s Club staff that each family receives a copy of at the end of the week,  your 11 year old can also be heard at the Tween’s Program playing a friendly game of "lightning" with their counselors, and even your 16 year old can be heard “enjoying” fellowship and crazy ice breaker games at our Teens Program. WRR offers an age specific program for each child to participate with each morning along with our hand-picked staff . The staff are the kind of young adults that you want your children to be around and to look up to as role models in life.

Remember, each day offers new places to ride and unique activities to choose. Again, this is a vacation for each and every family member, but more importantly, it is a vacation for the family to create memories together. Our past guests speak of their vacation at the ranch as being like no other vacation place they have ever been. Wind River Ranch is unique because you can let your children have some freedom to enjoy being outside playing with other kids. This is not something that most of you can do in the city these days. It is a wonderful aspect of the ranch and it is a blessing to see kids playing and enjoying the outdoors the way we each got to enjoy when we were young.

The word’s I am writing to describe a day and week at the ranch, can’t summarize it, but only offer you a taste of what will be experienced. As the Executive Director of Wind River Ranch and Ministries, I am proud to say that in my 12 years here with this ministry, I have never seen a disappointed guest. This vacation is worth the investment and I feel 100% confident in stating this to new guests. I also feel confident that your family will always remember this vacation and if you give the children a choice on where they would like to go on vacation in the future, Wind River Ranch will always win! When you ask them why? Your heart will be warmed by their answer and you will smile knowing what a great investment this vacation was for your family.

Come and enjoy this special place that God has made for our enjoyment and your family’s memories. The entire staff looks forward to serving your family here in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Items to note on our site:

Please take a minute to view our new Promo Video found in the top right corner of this home page. You will also find two Testimonial Videos just below the Promo Video. Here at Wind River Ranch, we know that where you stay is very important to the overall experience. This is why we just completed master bedroom and master bathroom remodels on our deluxe cabins. Please go to the Cabin tab on the home page as well and also check out the cabin blue print tab found to the right of the main Cabin tab. Here you can see the unique layout of each cabin and photos. The ranch has updated the mattresses, added elegant western bedding and remodeled each master bedroom and master bathrooms with granite counter, copper sinks, slate walk in showers, and many other touches. We want you to immediately feel like you are home and start to enjoy your vacation.

Please call and book a vacation with us, our phone number is 1-800-523-4212.

THE HISTORY OF WIND RIVER RANCH

Wind River Ranch was founded by an itinerant pastor named E.J. Lamb. Our current recreation hall sits where his homestead once sat.  The only thing left from the original house is the fireplace in the recreational hall. The ranch is blessed to have the original log barn that was built somewhere around 1889.
 
The ranch was originally used as a mountain retreat when it was founded in the late 1880’s. E.J. Lamb put in a road continuing past the ranch at the time and was even able to charge a toll. It is rumored that he charged a toll coming and going. The ranch was then a working cattle ranch covering over 500 acres. Somewhere around 1930 the ranch was transformed by the Hutchinson’s into a Dude and Guest Ranch. In 1997 Wind River Ranch was transformed into a Christian Family Dude and Guest Ranch and is currently operated by a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization called Wind River Ministries.
 
The ranch has only had 7 owners that we know about. This is due to the fact that nobody truly wanted to move away from the view of the Rocky Mountains that is found on this property. The current property encompasses 110 acres and is nestled between the Twin Sisters Mountains and the majestic 14,256 feet tall Long’s Peak. Wind River Ranch is beautifully located in what is now known as the Tahosa Valley.

If you are curious what the word “Tahosa” means, it is an old Indian word for “refrigerator magnet.”  Other than that last little bit of trivia, the rest of the history shared above is true to the best of our knowledge. Please come and be part of the continued traditions of dude ranching here at Wind River Ranch and soak in the same views that drew E.J. Lamb to build his homestead here on this special piece of property.