Working Cattle Ranches

If you're a horseback rider who enjoys spending hours in the saddle and getting your hands dirty, a vacation at a working ranch or helping during a cattle drive could be the trip of a lifetime. What you do, whether it's moving cattle between pastures or helping with daily chores, depends upon what the ranchers needs. One thing's for sure: you'll be tired and hungry when you reach the dinner table(or chow wagon) after a day of riding on a working cattle ranch or during a cattle drive.

At the Hunewill Ranch, a working cattle ranch just east of Yosemite National Park, guests can learn to help cowboys gather and sort some of the 1,200 cattle that must be herded into corrals for vaccinating or branding. Riders with advanced horsemanship skills may learn to rope and help with more advanced maneuvers. The traditional fall cattle drive to winter quarters in Nevada covers 60 miles. Week-long packages start at $1,071 for adults; rates are less for shorter visits in the fall.

For total immersion join a Cowboy Adventure week at the Colorado Adventure Company. Mornings at this working cattle ranch, you’ll join the ranchers handling daily chores, such as helping collect cattle, brand calves, check the fences, water and salt, and whatever else must be done the week you are there. Afternoons, you can learn team penning, cutting roping and other activities just for fun. The six-day weeks are $1,649 per person. Shorter visits may be available off season for $329 a day.

Be as involved as you want with driving cattle to new pastures, checking fences, shearing sheep and weaning calves and lambs for market at the Burnt Well Guest Ranch, a working cattle ranch where there's only room for 10 guests. Old-fashioned cattle drives are held a few times each year. Contact the ranch directly for dates and more information.

This special 87,000 acre working cattle ranch, located 35 minutes south of Colorado Springs, offers a variety of packages, including a Working Ranch Experience, an Advanced Ranch Experience (where a higher level of horsemanship is required while helping herd and brand cattle), and the BoxT Cowboy Camps where you live on the land to work with the cattle. Six-day packages for Advanced experiences are $1,495 for adults; for a Box T Cowboy Camp the six-day package is $1,750.

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