This Spa Is Perched Above A Creek

A Granby guest ranch delivers your overwater-bungalow fantasies—with a Western twist—a lot closer to home

Any Western dude ranch worth its salt is skilled at inducing in guests symptoms that can only be soothed by a visit to a spa, from sun-parched skin and saddle-soreness to good old bone-tiredness. 

The C Lazy U Ranch is no exception. Its location on a 8,500-acre swath of Rocky Mountain wilderness near Granby, Colorado, is prime real estate for horseback riding, cattle-pushing, mountain biking, fly-fishing and ziplining in summer; and cross-country skiing, snow-tubing, ice-skating and snowshoeing in winter. 

A rustic sign made from a rusted circular-saw blade marks the unassuming entrance to the Lazy You Spa. 

What’s unique about this place is that it is equally adept at curing the aches and pains it encourages—and that vacationers happily come back for year after year. After a long day on the trails, some guests follow a dirt path past the ranch’s fishing pond and rodeo arena, over Colorado River-tributary Willow Creek, and through a grassy meadow to a ring of five canvas-walled tents that house the Lazy You Spa. There, for an hour or an afternoon, they are kneaded, stretched and scrubbed; rubbed with hot stones and soothed with herbal compresses; and soaked in copper tubs until their hours in the saddle are a hazy, happy memory.

The spa’s five tents surround a central seating area where guests can sit, relax, and enjoy their spa visit for just a bit longer. 

The spa’s unique design was developed by the ranch’s creative management team—led by director of operations Paul Klees—which built the tents’ wooden frames using reclaimed beetle-kill timbers. Each structure is topped with a wood-framed tin roof (which supports a heater and deters raindrops) and draped with white canvas that allows soft, natural light to filter in. Inside, a rustic yet tranquil design features heated stone-tile floors, antique furnishings, big cozy chairs and hair-on-hide rugs. One tent is outfitted with two copper tubs, which therapists fill with Epsom-salted water and mounds of bubbles; beyond the tent flaps, the Indian Peaks mountain range beckons. Even more enticing are two treatment tents that are cantilevered right over Willow Creek; during a massage, guests can peer down through a Plexiglas floor to watch rainbow, brown and brook trout glide through the water.

Two of the Lazy You Spa’s treatment tents are cantilevered above Willow Creek, which provides a soothing soundtrack for services that range from massages to detoxifying wraps. 

The multisensory spa experience draws equally from the talents of the spa’s therapists and the natural surroundings. “We wanted to be able to offer treatments in a space that would make use of the natural environment, like the sounds of the river and wind in the trees, the smell of fresh flowers, the sight of the Indian Peaks mountain range, and the fish in the river,” says David Craig, the ranch’s general manager. “It was easy for us to capitalize on the natural beauty of the creek.” 

A pair of classic copper cowboy tubs—where guests can soak alone or in tandem—are positioned to face views of the Indian Peaks mountain range. 

The Lazy You Spa’s therapists take pride in tailoring treatments to guests’ needs. For post-travel sniffles, try a Rain Drop Effect Massage (from $170 for 50 minutes) with essential oils. For stirrup-soreness, a 25-minute foot rub and soak ($75) might be in order. But for the ultimate unwind, spa manager Kelly Fowler suggests the 80-minute, deep-tissue Muscle Therapy Massage ($205), followed by a 25-minute copper-tub soak ($30 per person)—“the ideal treatment to soothe any aches and pains after being in the saddle all day,” she says. “Enjoy your soak with a chilled bottle of Champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries—it just doesn’t get any better than that!”

The spa’s creekside location is open to ranch guests in spring, summer and fall; come winter, the spa operates in one of the property’s historical cabins, for guests’ (heated) comfort. To learn more about the C Lazy U Ranch and Lazy You Spa, or to book your stay, visit clazyu.com.