Bighorn Hideout

Introduction
Wyoming USA
Hidden Trails is proud to offer this wonderful authentic 100-year old working cattle and horse ranch with generations of ranching experience just an hour from the city of Cody. On the way in you will drive through true wild horse country to reach the ranch. You will appreciate the vastness of the ranch's landscape, which spreads across approximately 300,000 acres of private, Big Horn National Forest and BLM land.

Guests here enjoy high-end pampering by the professional staff with excellent daily menus created by Le Cordon Bleu Culinary schooled chefs. A great glass of wine after a long days ride at 8200 feet altitude is something that makes for great relaxation and memories, before turning in for the night and a good night sleep in a most comfortable bed.  They aim to offer our guests a great combination of traditional ranching culture with high quality hospitality every time they visit. By limiting the number of guests to 25  maximum, they can ensure an authentic ranch boutique experience with well maintained accommodations, highly professional staff, excellent horses and trails while also keeping it personal and intimate. If horseback riding, herding cattle and enjoying the great outdoors in Wyoming is your idea of a perfect vacation, then you’ll be pleased with many top quality horses and wranglers available for your riding pleasure. These horses will be some of the best you have ever ridden on a guest ranch. All the cattle work offered is real - not made up for "dudes" - and there is plenty of it. It certainly is not a “Nose to Trail” dude ranch, they boast their own Quarter Horse breeding program and the carefully and personally train each of there horse with Natural Horsemanship. The cowboys are all highly skilled and have a great diversity of insight about horses to share. Some have attended Pat Parelli schools and we continue to invest in their skills for you to enjoy during your stay. Many riders and photographers come here because of the diversity of scenery in a relatively small (by Wyoming standards) area. A big draw are the remote Big Horn Mountains, out of the way of mainstream tourists, with its formations and many prehistoric sites, which are popular with paleontologists. During your stay you can ride through semi desert, rocky and green canyons, alpine forest, mountain pastures and lake country - at elevations that range from 4,200 feet to 13,100 feet in Cloud Peak Wilderness. You may ride with your own close friends, foreign travelers from around the world, and their well known repeat guests who keep returning for more, always in a culture of friendship, warmth, genuineness, in a personal, yet professional environment. You will have the opportunity to be a cowboy and you will ride and work aside authentic ones. They are eager to share and explain what they know keeping it light, having fun and being able to be very personable.

Here they offer the unique experience of living the lifestyle of the remote outdoors and yet being pampered, but doing it in a much more personal way than a typical resort with the same high standards as they have the passion to excel. This ranch comes with a “western ranching” flare, a special mix of 100 year-old Wyoming ranch culture with the hospitality of European flare. This makes it a spiritual experience and no visit is the same as the last one... You will feel you are part of the place and that feeling will stay with you long after you leave!

For non riders, this area allows for a variety of outdoor activities like fly-fishing, archery, trapshooting, hiking, 4x4 vehicle tours, biking, dinosaur site visits - in the winter snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. The ranch is within comfortable driving distance of the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

Accomodation


Accommodations
On this stationary ride, all nights are spent at the same location.

Description
At the ranch, you are treated like a guest of the family and not just a client or a customer. Each year, guests from around the world return to partake of our authentic Western experience and warm Wyoming hospitality. They recreate, rejuvenate and renew friendships at their home away from home.
There are complimentary laundry facilities for the convenience of the guests and free Wi-Fi is available anywhere on the property.


The Lodge
The Main Lodge building is a large, Western-style log structure built in 1992. This building contains the Gift Shop, the office, a spacious dining room with nearby pantry and kitchen, and loft bar. The Main Lodge has large windows and porches overlooking lush green lawns and ponds and offer ever-changing vistas. The view from the dining room of Shell Canyon and the Big Horn Mountains is simply spectacular, sure to enhance your dining experience.
On the lower level of the Main Lodge are additional guest facilities including comfy armchairs, books, table for games, pool table, foosball table and ping pong table. There's an entertainment area with a big-screen TV and a guest computer with high-speed internet access.
The lodge is surrounded by well-groomed lawns, shade trees, and refreshing ponds. Paved walkways that are lit after dark, lead you to the casitas, cabins and other amenities such as the outdoor hot tub and shower facilities. Shell Creek winds through the property, which along with the fishing ponds, provide catch-and-release fishing right on the grounds.

Guest Cabins
Western-style log cabins, built in 1992, are decorated with excellent furnishings in warm colors that are kept sparkling and well maintained. All cabins feature a private bathroom with shower, king-size bed or two double beds, air conditioning/heater, wireless internet, cable TV, and phone. There is also a mini-fridge filled with complimentary soft drinks re-stocked every day.



Guest Casitas
The Casitas are one and two bed-bedroom cabins. They are located in a two-story, four-unit log building with back porches overlooking the orchard and Shell Creek. They have all been recently renovated.
The Casitas are complete with private bathroom with shower, a king-size bed and sofa, air conditioning/heater, wireless internet, cable TV, phone, washer and dryer. There is also a mini-fridge filled with complimentary soft drinks re-stocked every day.
Two of the Casitas have one bedroom, a living room with sofa and kitchen.
Two other of the Casitas have no kitchen, but instead one main room with a king bed and sitting area and a second separate bedroom with a queen size bed.



The Bar
Guests typically gather every evening for cocktail hour in the loft bar. Complimentary appetizers are served while enjoying your beverage of choice and reviewing the photos of the day shown on a large screen. Guests are then served a gourmet dinner in the dining room, at large tables so you can mingle with fellow guests. One evening a week, there is after-dinner entertainment with cowboy singers. Entertainment area
On the lower level of the Main Lodge are additional guest facilities including comfy armchairs, books, table for games, pool table, foosball table and ping pong table. There is a big-screen TV and a guest computer with high-speed internet access. There are also laundry facilities for the convenience of the guests.

Room Occupancy
The single supplement fee is mandatory for solo travelers.



Meals
All meals are included in your package.

Our hearty Western fare and gourmet dinners are one of the reasons our guests return every year. We can assure you that excellent dining is taken seriously. Each item is prepared with only the best and freshest ingredients.

Our breakfasts are hearty to assure you make it through an active day or riding activities. Each morning our chef creates a homemade made to order breakfast, which is complimented by a selection on the breakfast buffet.
For all-day rides, hearty sandwiches are freshly prepared in the morning. Otherwise, a scrumptious hot lunch is served in the dining room of the Main Lodge.
In the evening, we serve our guests western-style gourmet food, elegantly presented, with either wine or beverage of your choice. Once a week (weather permitting) there is an outdoor cook-out where we serve juicy, marbled Certified Angus Beef amongst other tantalizing food. Wine, beer and mixed drinks are included at cocktail hour.

Wine is served with dinner. Outside of cocktail hour and dinner there is an honor bar. Guests are also welcome to bring their own beverages.

Dietary Restrictions
If you have special dietary requests, please let us know in advance, and we will make every effort to accommodate you.

This trip includes and can accommodate special dietary requests.

Riding



Riding Requirement
Riders need to be in good physical shape relative to their age. The riders also need to realize that some rides may be too challenging and trust our professionalism and experience to make that decision. Older riders will need to consider that although they were great riders or equestrians at young age, age takes its toll and they need to manage their expectations and limitations.
We have a firm limit of 230 pounds for all riders. Please consider your BMI and Weight / Height Index. This might impact the kind of rides you can participate in.
Our safety program requires all children 14 years of age and under to wear riding helmets without exception. Helmets are also encouraged for our adult riders, but not required.

Terrain
We ride on approximately 650,000 acres in elevations ranging from 4,200 feet in the Shell Valley to approximately 11,000 feet in the Cloud Peak Wilderness where the highest peak is 13,000 feet. There is a rarely seen diversity of scenery and terrain to ride and explore. Wide open prairie vistas, rugged foothills, canyons, high desert sage covered hills, creek bottoms and forests will greet you in the valley. The local red Chugwater formations look like the scenery in Sedona, Arizona. Up in the Big Horn Mountains you will ride through pine forests, creeks, alpine meadows and nearby lakes and reservoirs. The Shell Valley and Big Horns host one of the most challenging 100 Mile Endurance races on horseback. We ride in much of that same country. To explore this vast and exciting area, we use seven heavy duty diesel trucks and stock trailers to take out guests and horses.

Pace
If you want to come to the ranch to ride a couple hours at breakneck speed and only want to go fast, you are coming to the wrong place. We adapt the pace of rides to the terrain and out of respect to our horses and all riders. Weather will also dictate how fast we ride and where we ride. We will split up riders based on riding experience and ability to control their horse in all paces. If guests of different levels want to ride together, we will adapt the pace to the lowest riding level. Experienced guests will ride a higher level of horse than the beginners.



Horses
We have a variety of horses that are well taken care of and can be matched to any riding-level. Each rider will be matched to a horse based on their riding ability and will experience the vacation they are looking for.
Our horse program is managed by AH Horsemanship & Training and every year clinicians visit the ranch for training, clinics and to ride with our staff and guests. The key to Authentic Horsemanship is having an open mind towards horsemanship, riding and horses and the desire to continue learning where we can.
Our string of horses consists of excellent Quarter Horses of fine bloodlines, well-bred Paint Horses, cow and trail horses, and over the last few years we have been adding more and more well-trained Mustangs to our herd.

Low Stress Stockmanship and Natural Horsemanship
Our key staff is trained in the Bud Williams Low Stress Stockmanship concept of handling livestock. During your orientation on Monday morning you will learn the basic concepts. We can also organize a 1 day session during your stay given there are enough participants.
During the off-season we organize 3 day clinics as part of your stay  for those who are interested to learn more about this technique. Stockmanship teaches you to “read” the animal so that you can change your position and have the animal want to go where you want it to go. It is aimed at using the energy of the animal in a low stress manner to handle the animals in a more efficient manner.
One of the reasons why our pricing is somewhat higher than other guest ranches is because we are a real working cattle ranch, which involves a certain degree of logistics – all that are necessary to offer an authentic taste of the West to our guests.
Many of our wranglers are year round employees because it takes several years to learn the terrain and the skills to wrangle both guests and cattle and make it a worthwhile, safe and exciting experience. The ranch takes pride in the high number of repeat guests for whom part of the experience is to see familiar faces they trust year after year.

Tack
All the tack is of very good quality, well maintained, and there is plenty of it. Our tack room is very clean and organized. Unlike barns where outsiders are not allowed in the tack room, we welcome guests and showcase what we do and how it looks.

Riding Guides
The wranglers know the terrain well and offer a unique perspective about the trails and the landscape that you ride on. To make the most of your experience, we rotate wranglers to enhance your time spent in the saddle. Our year-round staff are cowboys with emotional intelligence who are eager to help you understand what we do, teach you and to make sure you are safe. We have riding staff from different walks of life to assure that all of our guests have a great time!

Itinerary


With close to 650,000 acres to explore you will seldom ride the same trail twice or feel crowded. The terrain in which we ride ranges from mountain tops to meadows, alpine forests to Sedona-like red rock country, high deserts to mountain creeks and lakes.
This is is not a 'nose to tail' riding experience, but safety is the number one concern. On your vacation, rides are diverse and customized according to riding skills and riding activity of the group.

We offer our guests a variety of riding options each day, for all riding levels:
- Advanced riders will find hundreds of thousands of acres to ride, on great horses with experienced and knowledgeable cowboys, wranglers and guides.
- Beginner riders will find patient teachers and instructors who enjoy sharing their love and passion for riding.



Trail Rides
Rides are subject to change depending on weather, location and difficulty of terrain.

High Desert and Canyons in the Shell Valley Rides:
Ranging in elevation from 4,200 – 5,400 feet, these rides are mostly in the valley riding through the wide-open prairies, juniper trees, and rocky hidden canyons. In the hidden canyons, refreshing creeks flow with century old cottonwood trees offering you and your horse well-deserved shade.

Mountain Pastures & Alpine Meadows Rides:
You will see a variety of terrain above 7,500 feet riding through sage brush and high grasses imagining you are one of the cowboys in the movie Open Range or Lonesome Dove.

High Mountain Alpine Country Rides:
Elevations in these high-altitude areas range from 8,500 to 13,200 feet. The High country offers alpine forests, mountain lakes, streams and granite rock formations. Area’s above 8,000 feet are usually snow covered from the end of September to mid-June depending on weather conditions

Devil’s Leap Ride:
This ride features undulating red clay hills capped by wild grasses, sage and cactus. This intermediate ride culminates in a breathtaking vista from atop the famed Devil’s Leap, which drops 800 feet beneath you. Dare to take a look over the edge…

White Creek & Trapper Creek Canyon Rides:
Step back in time 100 years. Your ride winds through a picturesque tree canopied path, past old timber corrals, over a wooden bridge and opens into a wide-open lane perfect for an easy lope. These trails are half-day rides and they let you snake through the canyons with several crossings of White and Trapper Creeks.

Willet Lake Ride:
A breathtaking high-altitude full-day day ride in The Big Horn National Forest which takes you through open alpine meadows and pine forests to a picturesque mountain lake surrounded by a gorgeous alpine meadow. This is a ride you will not want to miss.

Copman’s Tomb Ride:
This spectacular rock which you can see every day from the lodge, is one of the most popular rides for its million-dollar view and scenic picnic. Looking up from the valley you would never think you could make it there on horseback. On a clear day you can look from the top of Copman’s Tomb across the Big Horn Basin to other ranges of the Rockies and Yellowstone National Park.

The Painted Hills Ride:
This half-day ride wanders among mounds the Indians called The Painted Hills, which are hills wwith beautiful colors due to the vibrant, ancient minerals mixed with Bentonite. We reach these hills riding through the sage brush and grass prairies in the valley.

The Sedona Ride:
This area near Trapper Creek Ranch, offers a ride which feels like you are in the red desert of Arizona due to the red, exposed Chugwater formations and half-desert prairies – cactus, coyotes and rattle snakes included.

The Five Fingers Ride:
This popular and thrilling valley ride takes you through rocky canyons with juniper trees and high desert while traveling along the slopes of the Big Horn Mountains, which rise 2,000 feet along your trail as a huge granite wall. Some of the exposed Precambrian rock is over a billion years old

McCullough Peak Mustang Country:
During fall, winter and spring some of our cattle graze in a 100,000-acre pasture which is a high desert area shared with the McCullough Peak Mustangs. When riding through this country, you will probably be able to see wild horses grazing alongside antelope.



Cattle Work
When it comes to working cattle on the range guests should realize that all farm and ranch work is unpredictable and hard to plan. We are dealing with live animals, unpredictable and changing weather patterns and other organizations.
The art of working cattle is called stockmanship. When working cattle, we embrace the principles of low stress stockmanship using the methods of Bud Williams, Curt Pate and other stockmanship experts. As with good horsemanship, it is all about pressure and release. To teach these principles we keep a small herd of yearlings at the ranch or nearby for our guests to enjoy and learn the basics of stockmanship. The reasons we have yearlings available at the ranch is for our guests to work during weeks there is little or no cattle work on the range, or the cattle work is too challenging.
A fun day is learning the techniques of moving cattle in the arena and then riding out to gather cattle, driving them through the creek, uphill, through the woods and into the arena.
After this, guests can enjoy team penning, sorting and other “cattle games” on horseback. This is an ideal controlled setting to practice. Many guests prefer practicing cattle work with our small herd compared to the work on the range.
On the contrary to what most people think, cattle drives are done slowly and gently instead of “yahooing” and pushing the herd hard. On some occasions one will need to push the cattle herd (example going up a steep slope), however most of the time “slow is fast and fast is slow”.
Depending on the kind of terrain, duration of the rides and riding distance, cattle work can be enjoyed by all levels of riders. The novice rider might help keep the herd together while the other guests ride out with the wranglers to round up cattle and drive them towards the main herd. More advanced guests may go with wranglers to sort off neighbor’s cattle, get strays out of the timber or ride ahead to see if fences are open or closed.

Ranch work varies with the season. Our cattle work schedule is as follows.

Branding (April to May)
Cattle, cowboys, horses, and branding have been the foundations of ranching since the frontier days of long ago. A rancher's brand is his mark and his identity. Branding is not only a Western tradition, but an indelible and legal form of identification, necessary to prevent livestock rustling in such big country. Imagine a sea of cows, dust covered cowboys discernible only by their colorful neck silks blowing in the breeze, a well muscled horse wheeling and spinning helps his rider throw the perfect loop, thin veils of dust that seem to come alive beneath the hooves of bawling cows and calves. The smells of sweat and sage and the magical sounds of branding that make one proud to live a life on the range. If you long for a traditional, hands-on cowboy branding experience, then this is your season.

Cattle Drives into the Mountains (late May to June)
After the snow has melted, we herd yearlings and younger cows up into the mountains, so if you like cattle drives this is a good time for you to come. The mountains are covered with beautiful colors of spring flowers.

Gathering and Sorting Cattle (July)
Early July is the time of year we move our older cows and their calves from the high desert in the basin to our high mountain pastures. We gather and sort cow/calf pairs by the truckload. Sorting cattle on open range is an art form. Then the cattle make the 40-mile trip up the mountain via Flitner Ranch semi-trucks. Upon arrival, the cows and calves need to be paired back up and herded in bunches by horseback to various alpine meadows.

High Mountain and National Forest Cattle Work (July to mid September)
Upon arrival, the cows and calves need to be paired back up and herded from horseback to their summer grazing meadows. This is one of the prettiest times to visit. Your travels will take you from high desert prairies surrounded by the beauty of the painted hills, up jagged trails cached between pinon pine and shale slides, through wide open mountain meadows and nestle you amid bowers of high pine forests. It is quite common to view an amazing variety of wildlife including elk, deer and moose. Spontaneous fishing breaks have been known to occur on the mountain.

Autumn Roundup & Indian Summer (mid September to October)
Enjoy the crisp fall mornings, marvel at the brilliant rainbow of colors as the aspen trees change from green to gold and of course prepare to bring cattle down the mountain. You will have plenty of opportunities to see elks and other wildlife, as they come down from the high country.


Winter Season  (November to March)
The ranch also opens for selective winter weeks.
Even during the winter, the ranch is blessed with a dry climate and clear blue skies - we don’t usually get much snow in the high desert of Shell Valley, Wyoming.
The riding days are shorter but what is more peaceful than reading a book or playing games in front of the open fire?
You can also take part in winter activities at the Snowshoe Lodge. Snowshoe Lodge is located near snowshoe pass and boasts over 400 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, but it’s the miles of fresh powder and un-groomed trails that really thrill the snowmobile enthusiasts.


Riding Lessons
We always have wranglers on staff who can give riding lessons in very small groups and if possible, individually. They will work with you in the arena and will start by explaining how a horse thinks, reacts and perceives things.
We make a difference between “understanding the horse” and “the technical ability to ride a horse”.
Understanding the basics of horsemanship will make you feel more comfortable being on and around the horse. This will enhance the learning environment and riding experience. It also makes it much more fun.


Mustang Rides
During Spring and Fall we regularly ride in the McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area where the McCullough Peaks Mustangs roam. During this ride for intermediate and experienced riders, it is always a treat when these curious and beautiful Mustangs circle our riders to satisfy their curiosity about the horses we are riding. Following BLM rules, we always stay at least 500 feet away from the wild horse herd.



Non-Riding Activities
With all the terrain to explore on private lands, BLM, The Big Horn National Forest and Cloud Peak Wilderness, The ranch is an adventure all on its own.
We offer an array of non-riding adventures such as fly-fishing with an expert guide, trapshooting (with .12 and .20 gauge Beretta shotguns), archery, attending The Cody Nite Rodeo (in season), hiking/biking, 4×4 tours, as well as ranch and farm visits.
In 2018 we added a lovely 60' x 18' heated lap pool. What is more refreshing after a long day in the saddle than swimming and relaxing with a stunning view of the Bighorn Mountains.
Some activities and the pool are weather permitting.

Fly Fishing  (April - October)
We fish over 10 miles of streams, creeks and lakes having access to approximately 650,000 acres in a variety of eco-systems. Our professional fishing guide can teach you how to tie a fly and the techniques of fly-fishing. Our program is fun for all, including beginning and intermediate fly-fishers. Don’t worry about waders, tack or flies. We have you covered.
One of our most popular activities is our Ride & Fish Program where we ride on horseback to a pristine mountain stream to go fishing.
All are included in your stay. The only thing you will need to buy is a daily fishing permit. We fish for Brown, Rainbow, Cutthroat and Brook Trout.

Rates and Dates for Bighorn Hideout

Dates Note: Sold Out Dates (as of 1/10/23): May 7-27, June 11-24, Jul 2 to Aug 5 & Aug 20 to Oct 7

Other Info
Meeting: Shell
Airport: Cody
Transfer:

Climate:
                                                Shell area