A Bar A Ranch

A Bar A Ranch lies along the North Platte River at about 7,500 feet in the Medicine Bow Mountains of southern Wyoming, near Encampment. Established in 1926, it is one of the oldest guest ranches in the country and one of the largest, with nearly 100,000 acres for guests plus the surrounding national forest and wilderness. Up to 110 guests stay each week from June through September, and with a return rate of around 92 percent the ranch suggests requesting the following summer before October 1.

Hundreds of miles of trails run from relaxed family rides for beginners to challenging routes for experts, with wrangler-guided and self-guided options, horsemanship lessons and faster trotting and loping rides; trail riding starts at age 6. There is fishing, hiking, a zip line, yoga, pickleball and tennis, golf, trap, skeet and sporting clays, a heated pool and massages. Children’s and teen programs cover ages 2 to 17, and babysitting is available.

Guests stay in three guest houses, sixteen cabins or lodge rooms, without TVs or phones. Chef-created menus use organic produce and natural meats, and there is a wine cellar and saloon. Summer stays are seven nights (three nights from late August), the ranch has its own paved airstrip, and Laramie Regional Airport is about 83 miles away. Payment is by check rather than card. Ask the ranch for current rates.