Today, my brother and I returned from a long Labor Day weekend stay at Coulter Lake Ranch, and I couldn't wait to write a review. I am so happy this place exists. In short, this was the most perfect vacation, and I couldn't have asked for a better setting for our sibling getaway. I hadn't been to a guest ranch previously, so I did a lot of research before choosing Coulter Lake Guest Ranch. In Colorado and elsewhere, there are a lot of guest ranches, many of which might offer more amenities (spa, pool, etc.) at a much higher cost. If you're looking for a chill, secluded, gorgeous, friendly setting and staff members that help you find your own adventure, at a very reasonable cost, this is it. I felt as though I was visiting family friends who owned a ranch. Unlike some other ranches (from what I understand), there isn't much of a schedule here--you set it yourself based on what you'd like, and they make it happen. We went on two horseback rides in three days, we learned how to shoot, and Tim helped us find an amazing nearby hike when we asked about trails. Their horses are SO sweet and well cared for. I didn't have any riding experience and felt very comfortable after the first five minutes. Staying here is really about what you want to do. It's pretty flexible. My brother and I had a great time building campfires by the lake, taking the canoe for a spin, playing with the dogs...it's a true choose-your-own-adventure vacation. There are certainly "activities" for you to choose from, but to me this place is also about quiet relaxation, enjoying the wilderness, and getting away from everything. It helps that there's no cell service. I want to also note that the staff (Patti and Pam especially) went out of their way to accommodate our food needs (gluten and soy allergies, vegetarian, etc.), and everything was delicious. Also worth noting is that upon our arrival we promptly got my car stuck in a ditch (oops), and Tim and the gang were pulling it out with their tractor in no time. Thanks y'all! It was a perfect weekend. We can't wait to return. read more

My Fiancé and gave Randy and Barb a $2,500.00 deposit to have our wedding there this summer. They gladly took our money and said we had the ranch reserved for the weekend in August. We later tried contacting them with some simple questions and received no response for over a month. We tried calling, the phone numbers were disconnected, the website was down and they did not return any of our emails. Apparently they have gone out of business and taken our money. We had over 100 people rsvp and make flight rental car hotel reservations etc to come to our wedding. They couldn't even give us a heads up they were closing and taking our money. I'm sure we weren't the only ones. The least they could have done was alert us so we could make other plans. Now all other venues are booked. These people are not to be trusted. read more

Does anyone know if this Ranch is still in business? We have been trying to contact them for the past month but none of the phone numbers work and they are not responding to email! We are supposed to have an event here in August and need to make other arrangements if they are closed!! read more

I came here almost five years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!) on my very first big-girl, solo, self-paid vacation. When I was first looking for dude ranches, I called a few places and asked about rates, what breed of horses they had, what the trails were like, how far they were located from the airport, what was included, etc. The man I spoke to, Tim Weller, said he would be happy to send some info in the mail, and a few days later I received a brochure. Not only that, but a few months after the mailing, I received a personal voicemail asking if I was still interested in a stay and if I had any more questions. What service! I called back and booked my vacation for a week in late August. I transferred flights from Denver to Grand Junction, and wow, when I got off that plane, the views of the mountains were incredible! I was still an hour from the ranch, and Pam, Tim's wife and co-manager on the ranch, was waiting for me and drove me to where Coulter Lake. We hit it off right away and chatted the whole time. It was a little extra to pay for that door to door service, but totally worth it. In an incredible twist of luck, I was the only guest that whole week! I had the entire place to myself. I was given my very own two-bedroom cabin with a working fireplace, which I took advantage of every night, sparking kindling until it grew into a hearty flame large enough to read by before time for bed. The food was incredible, cowgirl-sized breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, enough to keep me full and full of energy for all of the trails I went on that week. An experienced rider with over twelve years of private lessons, they didn't patronize me or dictate any rules. They could tell right away I knew what I was doing, and while I wasn't allowed to tack my own horse (which I guess is kind of a courtesy, and I am probably the only crazy nut who complains about less work on a vacation), I had a great time riding Mr. Fox, a chestnut quarter horse with a sweet disposition and wonderful gate. I had never ridden western before, but that didn't stop me, and by the third day I was loping through grassy meadows as Indian paintbrushes whizzed by me. During my week I was also able to go to local farm stands, each fresh peaches, go white water rafting down the Colorado River, check out a local vineyard with some of the best ice wine I've ever had, and chat about everything from politics to religion to networking and career advice from the tight-knit owners, another married couple, Jack and Pam Allard, Jack's dad who was also visiting for the summer, and the managers Tim and Sue. When I left it really felt like I was saying goodbye to family - thank goodness for Facebook and Yelp! The week went by way too fast, but I knew I found a place that I wanted to return to as soon as I had a little extra time and money. Loved my first visit to Colorado, and this place was the best way to experience it all! read more

Wonderful place, amazing people making us feel very comfortable and safe. We just stay few hours for the snowmobile and was very fun and finish with a hot coffee and chocolate in front of warm fire. Thanks!!! read more

Do not hunt out of Coulter Lake Guest Ranch. The ranch itself is OK and the scenery is beautiful but the price you pay for hunting is not worth the premium charged. I was there for four days and I did everything the guide asked me to including hiking several miles descending more than one thousand feet into a draw because I was determined to be successful. The guides are nice enough and did their best but they are competing with several hundred other hunters because the land hunted is public land and anyone can be out there. The vehicles they outfit the guides with are not well maintained and I missed out on at least a half of day of hunting because of multiple issues from the clutch failing the first day to failing to get us back to the lodge due to a fuel filter problem. When you add the cost of the tags from out of state the total amounts to more than five thousand dollars and for that amount of money you expect to at least take a shot at something and that was not the case. I know the owners can't control the availability of the animals nor the competition from other hunters so this review is simply to point out exactly that and your mileage may vary but based on conversations with the guides the success rates for multiple years have been well below what is being advertised so buyer beware. read more

My husband and I stayed here for 2 nights in August. We were here for my sister's wedding. This is an excellent place for a wedding. The ranch is beautiful. The staff is wonderful at helping coordinate the wedding. Our visit was very enjoyable. The place is comfortable and secluded. The cabin had a great deck with chairs overlooking the lake and trees. The food made by the ranch was all wonderful. My husband has food allergies, gluten and dairy. The staff went above and beyond to have delicious food for him to eat. We will definitely return and look forward to our next visit. read more

Coulter Lake Guest Ranch gets 0 stars from our hunting party. We just returned from a 4 day hunt. Not only did we not shoot at anything, we did not see anything to shoot. We met Randy Sloan at the Sacramento Sportsman Show in Jan of 2019. He led us to believe that on his ranch we would be 90% successful in landing bull elk and 75% on mule deer. We were led to believe we would be hunting on his private property but our guides took us to public land as Randy's place was a mere 5 acres. There was so much chaos with public hunters that we saw neither buck nor elk on the public land. Home empty handed and out $5500. read more

My boyfriend and I stayed here January 17-19, 2015. This place was amazing. We booked about a month in advance having conversations over the phone and via email. The staff is amazing! They were helpful every step of the way. We initially found it online after some research. The winter rates are very reasonable for what you get and the website does not do it justice!! We arrived at the trailhead parking lot in the afternoon. Tim was there waiting for us with a snowmobile that we were going to rent the next day. He let us ride it to the ranch so we could get some practice before our full day out. We had never been on a snowmobile so this was quite a treat. The ranch is beautiful!! It is a colorado hidden gem and a wonderful Colorado winter getaway! Our cabin was called "lakeside" and looked out over the lake. The lake was frozen and snowy. It made for a wonderful view! It was a two bedroom since they didn't have any one bedroom cabins left. It was rustic feeling and we absolutely LOVED the fireplace. They had our porch well stocked with plenty of wood. Meals are fantastic! The dinner bell rings at 6:30pm and is served family style. Saturday evening we had steaks, potatoes, salad, corn, bread and even bundt cake for dessert! There was PLENTY of food... they made 2 or 3 steaks a person! Dinner on Sunday was pork tenderloin with apricot glaze, salad, Brussel sprouts, bread and mini cheesecakes as dessert! They do not serve or have alcohol on the ranch but you are welcome to bring your own! We brought wine to dinner with us every night. Breakfasts are made to order and we the typical eggs, bacon or sausage, French toast, pancakes, hashbrowns and toast. DELISH! I can't say much for lunches because they packed us a to-go sandwich since we were snowmobiling the whole day. It worked out great so we didn't have to venture back to the ranch to get lunch. They were a little small and we probably should have ordered 2 each. They offered hot pockets too... some of the other snow mobilers visiting put the hot pockets on the engine while they were riding and it was warm by the time they ate it. I'm not totally familiar with snow mobiles so I don't know how that works out. Activities for winter are limited compared to summer but we NEVER felt bored. We went ice fishing a couple of times and were able to catch a lot of fish! Snow mobile renting is a must! The views were amazing and it was such a fun time. We went for a hike on some of the trails as the snowmobiles had packed the snow enough. There are snow shoes but we didn't need them. We also went sledding... very fun but scary for me. The staff was readily available to help you with anything but not over bearing. We loved that we were able to do the activities on our own and not feel like we had to have a guide everywhere we went. We will be back and recommending it to all of our friends! read more

Probably good if your intention is fishing or hiking. Trout fishing in the lake was awesome. The food was great and we were happy with good drinking water and hot showers; however, don't ever go here for hunting. This place advertises elk hunting, but 11 hunters and five guides during an elk season in October 2018 never saw a single elk. Very disappointed and it was a frustrating experience. The public lands around the ranch were also full of other hunters and it resembled a pumpkin patch. We probably could have expanded our search area for elk, but the guide was content just driving us around in a truck on the same roads with no improvement in the outlook. The area was also patched with private ranches and residential property, which became the excuse where all the elk had gone. Don't waste your money or your time if you plan to hunt elk. read more

I normally just keep my mouth shut when I get shammed but after reading Barb's rebuttal to Gary's statement, I have no choice but to set things straight and worn others about the misinformation. First of all, when we talked to Randy at the Sacramento Sportsman Show, we were told that the success rate for bucks and Bull Elk was 70%-90%. We were led to believe that we were going to hunt on private land as well as public land. We hunted 0% on private land. There were hunters EVERYWHERE. You could not get away from them. When Barb refers to hunters not hunting the full time, let me explain. Only 3 out of the 8 hunters hunted everyday. The following are the reasons why I declined to participate after the 2nd morning.There was no game. Our guide told us that this was a total sham. He told us that we were not going to hunt any private land. He told us that we were not going to see or shoot any game. He was correct. The hunt cost $4400.00 for Randy's retirement fund. $1100.00 for the tags and license and $500.00 for fuel, meals and hotel rooms for our trip from California to Colorado. $6000.00 for a wasted week of your life. Barb mentioned the lack of game everywhere. We spent the night in Elko, Nevada on our trip home. We ran into 8 hunters who hunted a private ranch north of Rifle, Colorado. The 8 hunters bagged 12 deer and Elk. They said that Elk were running everywhere. Please check the reviews regarding the Coulter Lake Guest Ranch Outfitters before you make the same mistake that we did. I have no idea how they sleep at night. I would not accept a free trip to this ranch. CHECK THE REVIEWS--- Rick Watt read more

We signed up for a guided hunt at Coulter Lake. The ranch is beautiful and the cabins were very clean and well kept but the hunt was a disaster. It was funny because the owner and staff acted as though they could have cared less if we were there or not. For an additional charge you could pay to hunt private property that was adjacent to the ranch, however we were told this was not necessary when we booked our hunt. This seemed to be the only hunt/clients the guides had any interest in. Little did we know that the property behind the ranch was all public with easy access and was overrun with hunters. They would drive the rest of us to a ridge about a mile behind the house and drop us off in the morning and basically leave us on our own to hunt the rest of the day. We hunted this same spot for 5 days and never so much as saw an elk. When we complained to the owner he did not make any effort to get us to a different location that might be less crowded or hold animals, he simply didn't care. I think this is probably a great place to visit in the summer but don't hunt with them. read more

I am a memeber of a Paso Fino club and we took up the whole ranch last year. it was incredible to be able to bring our horses to the ranch and not have to think about a thing other than riding and eating the gourmet food they servce. We already booked again this year and plan on annual trips! If you can go, go! read more