Planning Your Trip

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Tumbling River feels as far away from the hustle and bustle of life as anywhere on Earth, yet it’s only a few hours from a major metropolitan area and international airport. There’s no need for you to be a travel genius to plan your vacation.

Tumbling River is accessible by airline flights and a few hours of scenic driving. Nowhere else in the world can you feel this far away, yet be so close.
We are truly high in the heart of the Rockies, with the snow-capped peaks of the Continental Divide within riding distance to the west, Mt. Evans and Mt. Bierstadt to the east. Pike’s Peak can often be seen to the south.

Fly directly into Denver International Airport & be relaxing in your cabin at Tumbling River Ranch within two hours. We are 75 miles from the DIA terminal.

We are surrounded by Pike National Forest with many of the highest peaks in the Rockies. There are literally millions of acres of secluded, unspoiled country to enjoy; alpine meadows colored with wildflowers, cascading streams and deep blue mountain lakes far from any sign of civilization.

Twenty miles to the north is historic Georgetown which a century ago became known as the “Silver Queen” — the silver mining capital of the Rockies. Its old homes and stores are extremely well preserved.

Directions

If you are driving from Denver or the Denver International Airport, the easiest and most direct route is Highway 285.

Directions from Denver International Airport:

  • Exit via Peña Boulevard.
  • Merge onto 1-70 going West.
  • Exit onto C-470 (Exit 260), Southbound.
  • Exit onto Highway 285, Southbound toward Fairplay. This will take an hour.
  • Look for the town of Grant, about 15 miles outside of Bailey, CO. When you enter the town of Grant, look for Guanella Pass Road also known as Geneva Rd #62. Turn right onto Guanella Pass road and look for our sign on the left. We are four miles from Hwy 285

Arrival Details

Arrival and Departure Times

Check-in time is 3:00 pm. We recommend renting a car and driving to the ranch and ask that you arrive between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm (dinner is at 7:00 pm, following a 6:00 pm orientation). Please schedule your flight accordingly.  

Departure on Saturday follows a pancake cookout starting at 8:30 am.  We ask guests to depart by 10 am.  

If you would like to arrange transportation, please contact us

Leave No Trace Colorado

The Tumbling River Ranch is blessed to be in one of the most scenic parts of the U.S. — and we want to keep it that way for generations to come! Which is why we are proud to support the “Care for Colorado, Leave No Trace” initiative. Watch the video below or read more here to learn more about this important program.

We realize that planning and packing for a dude ranch vacation can be challenging. We are here to help and eager to welcome you and your families.  Should you have any questions, call us and we will be happy to help with the planning process.

Weather: Colorado is noted for crisp dry air and low summertime precipitation with warm days and cool, often chilly nights. Mountain weather can be unpredictable, put for planning purposes, please consult a weekly weather forecast.

Clothing: Dress is casual and jeans are always in order; daily temperature may reach 80 degrees and could drop to 50 at night. We are located at 9200 feet in elevation, which means that the weather can be unpredictable. Therefore, we recommend the layering technique, so that you can shed or add clothing as the weather changes during the day.

Other items you may need: Western boots are suggested for horseback riding. Feel free to visit our “boot barn” and use some of TRR’s finest cowboy boots for the week. Other boots with a heel are fine, but no lug soles (that just means a shoe with very deep treads); tennis shoes are not good for horseback riding. Hiking boots are great for our hikes and tennis shoes are great for kids when they aren’t wearing their boots! Should you go on the overnight, we provide everything except clothing & personal items. Each room has shampoo, lotion and soaps, hair dryers, irons and ironing boards. 

Activities: Each evening we will discuss the following day’s activities and you will be asked to sign up for the activities in which you wish to participate. It is critical for you to sign up in advance so that we have the correct number of people for each activity.

**Weekly Schedule is up for change**

Meals: Dinners are typically at 6:30 pm in the ranch house. Breakfast is served at 8:00 am and runs until 8:30 am and most lunches are at 12:30 pm. We work on the “bell system” so you will hear a fifteen-minute bell prior to each meal. Dress for meals is casual and family style.

All about our food: I hope you’ve had a chance to visit the Tumbling River TripAdvisor page. You will read lots of guest comments regarding our outstanding home-cooked meals! A few things to note: we do serve most of our meals family style (with the exception of two dinners). Family style means that kids and adults sit together and enjoy the same meal. It also means that we have prepared a set entrée verses a menu to choose from.

Our selection does change, but during a typical week you can expect: pork, chicken, beef, fish and shellfish. We are the most kid-friendly ranch in Colorado, and will always have kid-friendly dining options on-hand (e.g. macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, PB&J, etc.). So, if you have a picky eater, allergies, religious restrictions, or any other special dietary restrictions, we ask that you take the time to fill out the “dietary needs” section on our advance guest form. We are able to handle most restrictions with enough notice, however we do have some limitations and some restrictions come with an additional fee. We can also prepare boxed lunches or lunches to go.

Smoking: As a courtesy to others, we ask that you not smoke indoors at the ranch or inside any of our buildings. If you need a sand can or your porch, please let us know and we will get you one right away. If you smoke outdoors, please pick up your cigarette butts. Smoking is not allowed on horseback rides.

Pets: We have wonderful ranch pets for you to love while at the ranch. Please leave your pets at home and while visiting the ranch, please do not allow ranch pets inside any buildings. Be on the lookout for a Golden Retriever, two donkeys and a whole critter pen full of ranch animals!

Trading Post: You don’t have to go far to find great shopping. The ranch Trading Post is stocked with: sodas, candy, Chap Stick, aspirin, bandanas, gloves, Cowboy gear, gifts, water bottles, postcards, cookbooks, jewelry, hoodies, and fleece. It is open day and night and is on the honor system.

Laundry: We provide laundry facilities for your use. If you have to do laundry on your vacation, we are going to make it as easy as possible. We provide the soap, stain stoppers, dryer sheets and baskets at no additional charge. The washers and dryers do not need money either. You will also find an ironing board and iron in the Guest Laundry facility, as well as in each cabin and rooms in the Ranch house. Happy washing!

Technology, phones and mail: Please note that cell phones do not work at the ranch. There are guest phones in the Ranch House. Any messages that come into the office will be brought to you at mealtime. We take and pick-up mail once a day. Please bring outgoing mail to the office and any incoming mail will be brought to you at mealtime. We do have WIFI, but it does not have the speed or heavy volume capacity that most people enjoy in everyday life. We only have 2 T1 lines and with our remote location and numbers of guests and staff, we have limited bandwidth available. You will be able to find pockets of time throughout your stay to be connected and check email. You will not be able to stream. Any live stream takes all of the bandwidth and seems to crash the system. Please keep this in mind when planning what technology you might bring. Please be aware that guests will need to bring their own laptops, as our business computer will not be available for guest use. This includes printing boarding passes, we really do not have a good way to do this without interrupting our business office.  

Guests that really need some strong WiFi for a work project have found success in one of two ways. The town closest to the ranch, called Bailey, has a great public library with strong WIFI and even private rooms. The library is about 20 minutes from the ranch and is open from 10 am-5 pm during the week. Secondly, guests with Verizon cell service have found that it works pretty well within about 5 miles from the ranch. Please keep in mind, we do not have a shuttle service or a car for these types of excursions so if this is a working vacation, please consider renting a car.  This will including checking into flights.

You can find more information about the Bailey Public library here.

Getting to Tumbling River Ranch: Denver International Airport is just 75 miles, a scenic two-hour drive. Again, our primary recommendation is to rent a car for your week.  We do have the ability to pick up 1 to 2 families a week at the Denver International Airport. Getting to Tumbling River Ranch: Denver International Airport is just 75 miles, a scenic two-hour drive. Again, our primary recommendation is to rent a car for your week.  We do have the ability to pick up 1 to 2 families a week at the Denver International Airport. Please reach out directly should you be interested.

Rental Cars:

We highly recommend renting a car for your week at Tumbling River.  Most guests are nervous about the high mountain roads, but we can assure you that Highway 285 is a paved road and a very easy drive all the way to the ranch.  We find that having a rental car gives guests flexibility during their week for fly-fishing excursions, driving to trailheads and the occasional need to get some cell service (again TRR DOES NOT have cell service on the ranch.  It does work just 4 miles into town).  

When driving to Tumbling River, please use the following physical address 3715 County Rd 62, Grant CO.  The easiest way to get to the ranch is via Highway 285.

 

Explore the beauty of Colorado at the Tumbling River Ranch.

Call us today for reservations:

303-838-5981

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