Ever worked on a Dude Ranch? What was your experience like?

November 28, 2006 9:52 PM

I want to know if anyone has ever spent a summer working on a dude ranch, if so what was your experience like?

I am a junior in college and pretty much have missed a opportunity to study abroad. However, I am on the east coast and have never been out west, and was considering working on a dude ranch this summer, most likely near Jackson Hole. I found a job claiming to pay 6,000 for the summer, 6 day work week, with free room and board and three meals a day. I was wondering is the labor so intense, i.e. 12-14 hour days? Overall what did you think of your experience? Would I have enough free time to hike and travel?

posted by bilbo baggins to Work & Money (3 answers total)

I say do it. My ex's younger brother went and worked on a ranch in Montana and loved it, returned summer after summer, going to college out there and being a mounted tour guide in Glacier National Park. I can't speak to the amount of work done, but I do remember him saying it can be rather solitary. But he's a bona fide cowboy these days.
posted by lannanh at 11:18 PM on November 28, 2006

Just to make sure we're on the same page: A dude ranch is a ranch run as a vacation destination, to let city boys experience the thrill of working a ranch. Is that what you mean, or do you just mean working on a ranch?

Trivially, a 6-day workweek on a summer job means you won't have time to travel.
posted by mendel at 4:35 AM on November 29, 2006

I don't know about a dude ranch per se, but I grew up on a working ranch. Cowboying is hard work at times, but you have a lot of down time. And with trucks, tractors, and such, you don't have quite as much physical labor as you used to. I really liked it, but its hard to support 4 kids on a cowboy's pay.

Now if you have to take care of a bunch of people who don't know whoa from giddyup, then you might have some trouble. I've seen lots of people get hurt doing rather simple jobs on a ranch and I would hate to be responsible for newbies. Especially if I was a newbie myself.

That said, I recommed that you go ahead and do it. There are often times when I wish I could leave the office, throw away my Blackberry and just do some honest work. The ranching life is really a lot of fun and I would love to be able to do it again.
posted by CRS at 8:25 AM on November 29, 2006