Rex Ranch Resort & Spa, on the edge of the Santa Cruz River Valley, in Arizona, began as a family ranch fifteen years ago. “We wanted to create a sanctuary for people,” says ranch owner Patricia Ross. The Ranch sits on fifty acres and offers hiking in the nearby Buenas Aires Preserve and horseback riding in the desert or the Santa Rita Mountains.
At the ranch’s Cielo Health Spa, the emphasis is on personal attention. “We want to pamper everybody. Spa therapists take time to really know each person,” says Ross. Facilities include a steam shower for two and soaking tub.
“We didn’t have money for a flashy facility,” Ross says. “But we hired people with lots of experience with alternative medicine.” Ranch treatments include Reiki, Shiatsu, traditional Chinese Tui Na massage, aromatherapy, and chakra balancing. The Rex Hot Rock treatment uses smooth, heated volcanic rocks harvested from Arizona river beds.
Rex Ranch focuses on preparing meals with organic and living foods, along with gourmet ranch entrees like filet mignon.
Wind Walker
Sprawling over 900,000 acres Wind Walker Ranch, ninety minutes southeast of Salt Lake City, includes the world’s largest ancient juniper forest. Guests have plenty of room for horseback riding, hiking, or fishing in some of the seventy lakes on the premises.
“The ranch gives space for people to be empowered and to step out and focus on what’s important again,” says ranch owner Loretta Johnson. “Nature is a wonderful facilitator and the energy of the land helps too.” Native Americans are known to have used this area for thousands of years for harvesting and healing ceremonies.
At the ranch, Native American medicine men and women occasionally conduct pipe ceremonies and Native Americans also lead nature walks, discussing their connection to the land. Johnson offers a sweat lodge ceremony and guides vortex tours to burial mounds, energy vortexes, and rock circles. “Usually guests want to stand in the energy vortexes and feel what they feel like in their body; some get memories or touch into some emotion,” Johnson says.
There are campfires at the end of the day, often featuring the talents of a cowboy singer. Guests can throw horseshoes or, for more of a cowboy experience, they can try their luck with the steel bulls and lassoing ropes near the recreation hall.
Massages and facials can be performed inside or out. Hot stone therapies, Reiki, and energy balancing are popular, as are such healing classes as emotion balancing with essential oils and hand writing analysis.
Wind Walker hosts various special events, including Murder Mystery weekend, a women’s weekend retreat, and adult singles only week.
Hidden Creek Ranch
Native American pipe and sweat lodge ceremonies are also a feature at Hidden Creek Ranch in northern Idaho. A guided Medicine Trail hike educates guests about plant remedies and recipes using some of the natural plants.
Although Hidden Creek once served as a cattle ranch, it has been solely a guest ranch since 1992. The ranch still keeps a small number of cattle, which guests can help herd. At the end of the week, guests are entertained with fun rodeo antics and on another night wranglers share cowboy stories.
The ranch focuses on its horse programs, including the Centered Riding Philosophy, which brings riders in touch with themselves and the horse. “A lot of people approach riding [believing they]need to train the horse, we [feel]that it’s advantageous to train the rider,” says Elaine Steele, public relations representative and senior riding instructor at Hidden Creek Ranch. People learn how body postures tell the horse things we don’t mean to say, according to Steele. The idea is to learn to release the habitual patterns in the body and allow the horse more freedom of movement.
For a more intense physical experience, Hidden Creek has a high ropes Adventure Challenge Course and a climbing wall. Turning inward, the ranch’s Body, Mind, & Spirit Well-Being program offers massage, reflexology, Reiki, Jin Shin Juytsu, lessons in breathing and relaxation, guided meditation, visualization exercises, and yoga classes.
“We truly believe if you invigorate the body, it gives people the chance to have access to and calm the soul. You can’t separate the two. If you just do things like meditation, you miss out on the well roundedness,” Steele says.
Families are welcome from mid-June through August and in winter. April through the first part of June and from September throughout October cater to adults only.
address book
Beaumont Ranch, (888) 864-6935; www.beaumontranch.com
Echo Valley Ranch, (800) 253-8831; www.evranch.com
Hidden Creek Ranch, (800) 446-3833; www.hiddencreek.com
Hills Health Ranch, (800) 668-2233; www.hillshealthranch.com
Lost Creek Ranch, (307) 733-3435; www.lostcreek.com
Rex Ranch, (888) REXRANCH; www.rexranch.com
Wind Walker Ranch, (888) 606-9463; www.windwalker.org
March/April 2004
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