Aging Gracefully

C Lazy U Ranch celebrates 100 years of luxury dude ranch vacations in Colorado

Giddy Up! Colorado’s premier luxury guest ranch is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year with exclusive packages and plenty of reason to honor our western roots. 

Established in 1919, the locally and family-owned C Lazy U Ranch is rooted in the rich traditions of the American West, with core programming centered around horsemanship and family-friendly, year-round activities. To celebrate its centennial year, the ranch has unveiled multi-million-dollar renovations and created premier packages to connect guests with the essential spirit of the award-winning Colorado dude ranch and the traditions it’s maintained over the past century.

C Lazy U Ranch is both a place for adventure and a space to wind-down. Guests can make their own experience with the wide array of activities and acres of land. 

"In a world where real estate speculators appear to be gobbling up vacant land for condos and golf courses, C Lazy U offers its guest 8,500 acres to roam. The amazing view you see across the plateau of C Lazy U will be much the same in the next 100 years as it is today," says David Craig, the ranch's general manager.

The 8,500-acre property has year-round family activities, including Orvis-endorsed fly fishing, swimming, tennis, mountain biking, hunting, yoga, a zip line and ropes course, trap shooting, archery, hatchet throwing, Ranger jeep tours, snow tubing, ice hockey and skating on a Zamboni-groomed pond, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and more.

The Lazy You Spa, comprised of six luxurious treatment tents, offers guests traditional spa treatments, including massages, facials and nail services, along with signature treatments, such as the “Cowboy Soak,” a relaxing moonlit soak in therapeutic copper tubs, overlooking the spectacular Continental Divide and Rocky Mountains.

The ranch also serves up fabulous cuisine. Led by Executive Chef Dennis Kaniger, the ranch features longtime favorites and delicious regional specialties, such as Rocky Mountain trout, aged western beef and rosemary rack of lamb. Elise Blann, the ranch’s Certified Level II sommelier, pairs wine from the ranch’s award-winning collection with meals on a nightly basis to create a curated dining experience.

"Many guests have a preconceived notion that ranch food is all about burgers and beans, so they are always presently surprised when they are served chocolate rubbed elk tenderloin and lobster tails," says Craig. 

The Centennial celebrations include three exclusive packages for guests to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the ranch. Each package has special features, but all include luxury cabin accommodations, daily horseback riding, family-friendly activities and gourmet meals.

In honor of its milestone anniversary, C Lazy U has partnered with Colorado’s award-winning, family-owned and operated distillery, Leopold Bros. To celebrate, the C Lazy U team has selected an exclusive cask of Leopold Bros. Cask Select Four-Year Straight Bourbon – which was made in effort to revive Pre-Prohibition methods and ingredients – as the ranch’s 100-year whiskey.

Guests are invited to experience an exclusive whiskey package, the Year-Round Toast package, which includes a whiskey decanter and two whiskey high ball glasses, all branded with C Lazy U’s special 100^th anniversary logo and two Bougie Bootlegger cocktails, to be enjoyed at the Main Lodge Bar.

You will have the opportunity to bring a small piece of C Lazy U home. The ranch is working with the National Forest Service to rebuild portions of the forest on the property’s expansive 8,500-acres of land that have been affected by the Bark Beetle epidemic. As part of this package, guests will be able to take home a plank of beetle wood recovered from the nearby forest. This decorative wood piece will feature each family’s individual brand on one side and C Lazy U’s special centennial brand on the other side.

Families who book the This Land Is Your Land package will receive a block of Beetle Bark wood in their welcome bags, and be invited to create their own family brand using a selection of letters, numbers and symbols during their stay. There will be opportunities to brand hats, boots and more while on-property, alongside the Beetle Bark wood.

The magic of the wild west – and the intertwined history of railroads and dude ranches – comes alive with C Lazy U’s Trains, Horses & The Wild West package. Groups who book the package will receive roundtrip tickets for the entire family on the Winter Park Train from Denver’s Union Station, directly to C Lazy U’s hometown of Granby, Colorado and transportation to the ranch from the train station.

Guests will receive a mailed copy of C Lazy U Ranch, 1919-2019: A History by Thomas J. “Dr. Colorado” Noel and the ranch’s general manager, David Craig, and will enjoy two Bougie Bootlegger cocktails served in a keepsake engraved crystal rocks glass.

"Throughout its 100 year history, the ranch has been owned by families who have taken on the stewardship of the property, keeping the ranch land intact and pristine while maintaining the same level of service and hospitality that was established so long ago," says Paul Klees, assistant general manager of the ranch. 

For more information on the Centennial celebrations, click here.