You'll feel as though you've stepped back into the "old west". Ride skilled horses and move cattle with the Cottonwood cowboys and cowgirls. The herds are moved almost daily from one area to another in order to maintain the health of the range. Spend all the time you want in the saddle as you drive the herds over the high desert or mountains of the Cottonwood grazing lands.

Each day is a new adventure as you experience life on a working cattle and horse ranch. Take time for arena games, hay and buggy rides, fishing, barbecues and campouts. Enjoy evenings around a campfire where you may even be entertained by local cowhand poets or musicians.

Live the Mystique of the Old West

There's something to the mystery that surrounds riding the range, herding horses and cattle astride a good horse. It may be the expansive vistas, the mountain peaks, the high rock canyons.  It could be the pure, fresh air and ever-changing skies.  Perhaps it's the friendly, easy-going camaraderie between you and your horse, you and the cows and calves, you and the other cowhands, or you and the mountains, creeks and forests you're riding through.  It might be the congenial sharing of great grub, the swapping of yarns around a warm camp fire or the feeling you get when you look up at a sky ablaze with stars.  Possibly it's the sensation of power and awe that comes over you when you are surrounded by the varied manifestations of nature without a street light, traffic jam, skyscraper, subdivision, billboard or freeway within sight or hearing. Maybe it's simply the silence.

Cottonwood ranch affords you many opportunities to experience the life of a cowboy.  You can join the Horse Drive in the spring when the high desert is green and covered in wildflowers and the snow still glows on the mountain peaks.  In September you can join us as we round-up the herd and bring it down from "The Mountain" amidst stunning fall colors.  Throughout the spring and summer you can join our crew as we move cattle from one range to another.

Cottonwood Ranch is committed to holistic range management, which means that cattle are moved frequently to ensure the health of this precious eco-system.