After launching exciting new website, Wellness Ranches, Gene Kilgore, widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on ranch vacations, brings to you four top wellness ranch vacations in the United States and Canada.
Dedicated to ranches that offer spa and wellness experiences, Wellness Ranches celebrates the multi-billion dollar ‘mind, body, spirit’ phenomenon.
Says Kilgore: “This is the perfect moment to highlight the wellness work that some innovative ranches are focusing on.”
What is a wellness ranch vacation?
The Ranch at Rock Creek
His new wellness ranch vacations website shines the spotlight on 11 such ranches in North America that are breaking new ground in the wellness movement.
These guest ranches in Arizona, British Columbia, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Montana and Wyoming represent the best of the best in both traditional ranch activities (life in the saddle), and healthy wellness and spa-focused offerings.
He noted that the personal wellness movement is spurred on, in part, by the desire to recover from life under a pandemic and by a new-found appeal of America’s Wild West, its cowboys and ranch life, as evidenced by the popularity of Kevin Costner’s hit TV series ‘Yellowstone’.
“Originally”, explains Kilgore, “dude ranches only offered horseback riding activities for adults and families as the main focus of a ranch vacation.
"Today, guest ranches today are base camps for a whole host of exciting outdoor adventures. But now some are beefing up what they offer with new spa and wellness facilities and mind, body, spirit-type programs.”
What do you do in a wellness retreat?
Wellness Ranches is organized into the following categories:
And of course, in addition to the above, the ranches still offer all the other amazing outdoor activities, such as horse riding, hiking, mountain biking, campouts, winter sports, water sports, fly fishing vacations and much much more.
4 top wellness ranches in the United States and Canada
While there are multiple ranches to consider, here are Gene Kilgore’s top four wellness ranches in the United States and Canada
Silvies Valley Ranch
The Retreat, Links and Spa at Silvies Valley Ranch in beautiful Oregon offers guests the chance to truly relax into their vacation.
After a day in the great outdoors, wind down with any of their sumptuous services, including relaxation massage, deep tissue massage, rock treatments, couples massage, manicures, facials and pedicures.
Echo Valley Ranch and Spa
A small, luxury eco-ranch located in British Columbia, Echo Valley Ranch is known for its warm, sincere and anticipatory service.
When guests are not on horseback riding the spectacular backcountry, you may find them mountain biking, engaged in yoga, bird watching, hiking, archery, marksmanship, canyon tours and meditation, although a major draw is the spa, offering relaxation massage, deep tissue massage, couples massage, scrubs, manicures, facials and pedicures.
Bitterroot Ranch
Located near Dubois, Wyoming, yoga ranch Bitterroot Ranch retains its original commitment to making matches between riders, new and old, and their mounts.
The ranch’s yoga program focuses on stretching and conditioning muscles that are most engaged when riding.
Resident Yoga instructor, Hadley Fox is a certified Vinyasa Yoga teacher and on set weeks offers clinics with instructor Marc Holzman, a certified Ayurveda practitioner with over 18 years of experience teaching Hatha Yoga and Meditation.
Read about the surprising way horses will help improve your yoga practice.
The Ranch at Rock Creek
Located near historic Philipsburg, Montana, this Ultra Ranch offers yoga and golf, along with treatments at its Granite Spa, including relaxation massage, deep tissue massage, rock treatments, couples massage, scrubs, manicures, facials, pedicures and its signature Saddle Sore Soak.
How Wellness Ranches helps travelers
In addition to exploring the wellness-related features each ranch offers, the website provides the following services to potential guests:
Check Availability
Guests searching for a wellness ranch vacation complete this check availability form that is then sent to all ranches that match their search parameters (budget, dates of stay, party details and preferred location).
Ranch staff have committed to respond the same or next day.
Personalized Concierge Service
The Wellness Ranches Concierge assists those who require a little extra help in choosing the right ranch.
The goal is to give the user ideas that hopefully help and point them towards their perfect ‘home on the range’.
To use this service, visitors can call 707-217-5205 or complete the online form provided on Wellness Ranches. There are no fees for this service.
The Travel Advisor Center
Aimed at travel advisors, this special portal has been designed to help them expand their portfolios and business. There’s a simple interface for viewing select ranches, rates and more. Advisors simply log in or sign up via the online form to get started.
About Gene Kilgore, Founder and CEO
Gene Kilgore began his ranch journey some 40 years ago and has spent most of his adult life and professional career taking the ranch vacations message to the world.
He says, “Our ranch vacations websites reconnect travelers with unparalleled natural beauty, hospitality and a goodness that weary city folk are craving.
"The pandemic has only heightened this demand and for years to come, ranches will offer this magnificent way of life for all to enjoy.”
Kilgore also offers two other ranch and western lifestyle vacation-related websites to make the journey from research to booking as informed, fun and easy as possible: his Top50 Ranches have been personally vetted and selected for their high standards, and Ranchweb showcases ranches of all shapes and sizes, for every type of traveler.
Original article written by Widness & Wiggins PR
Co-written, edited and created by Kate Hammaren; luxury and adventure travel writer, editor and world traveler.