Tanque Verde Dude Ranch
After cancelling / rescheduling last June/s trip due to a heatwave in Arizona and COVID worries, we finally go to head to Tucson and the Tanque Verde Dude Ranch ("TVGR").The TVGR sits on 60,000 acres, and is right next to the Saguaro National Park. Saguaro is the name of a cactus and is pronounced sa-wah-roe.
It was magical. We spent a week down there in a 2-bedroom casita, room #81. While it was 2 bedrooms, the second bedroom was the size of a shoe closet so we pulled the single bed out of there and the three kids slept in the living room area. It turned out to be absolutely fine because all of us were *so* tired that we were all asleep by 7:30pm each night. That's what riding and swimming and 12 hours of sunshine and fresh air will do to anyone!
We'd highly recommend Tanque Verde, with a couple of thoughts that aren't immediately obvious from their website. First of all, we were (un)pleasantly surprised to learn, just a few days before we arrived, that the "open to anyone, regardless of skill level" walk rides, which were the reason we booked this vacation, were in fact only open to those 12 and older. I lost a little sleep over it at first, but once we arrived and the kids realize that Kids Camp (which costs extra, but was part of the "all inclusive" for us) was amazing. They got to ride horses 2 times a day on most days so it worked out. But if your child is not ready to part with you and you had hoped to do family rides, you will be disappointed.
The other thing that worked out well for us because we did some age fibbing with our youngest, is that the Kids Camp for 4-6 year olds doesn't actually let them do trail rides. Their horse-riding experience will be only in the arena, with no shade, led by a counselor who is walking along-side and leading the horse. That may work for some kids, but for our almost-7 year old who (1) doesn't do anything without her sisters and (2) is physically taller and stronger than most 8 year olds, let along 4-6 year olds, it would not have worked. But she did enjoy the 7-9 age group and the trail rides she got to go on every day.
We had a Safeway delivery of snack stuff, since it didn't seem there would be a ton of snacks for kids between meals. The TVGR does offer fruit and granola bars, available 24/7. And the Doghouse Saloon, which opens at 4pm, has slushies and other snacks (french fries and such are available at 5pm we were told but we were heading to dinner by then). The dining room is large and the menu, led by Chef Janet (who is incredible and bent over backwards to make our vegetarian lifestyle delicious the entire week) is terrific. Most meals had a menu and also a buffet option, so we never went hungry! The TVGR also offered a "Cowboy Cookout" on Wednesday night and Satuday night which was SO FUN! And a family ride to breakfast on Monday and Friday mornings, which was also fantastic. For the breakfast ride, we got to ride horses up to a location where the staff had hot and tasty pancakes and other breakfast items ready to eat. We were overjoyed, at both the Cowboy Cookout and the breakfast ride to see javalinas, which we learned are *not* pigs and are closer relatives of the hippopotamus! Now for some pictures.
It was magical. We spent a week down there in a 2-bedroom casita, room #81. While it was 2 bedrooms, the second bedroom was the size of a shoe closet so we pulled the single bed out of there and the three kids slept in the living room area. It turned out to be absolutely fine because all of us were *so* tired that we were all asleep by 7:30pm each night. That's what riding and swimming and 12 hours of sunshine and fresh air will do to anyone!
We'd highly recommend Tanque Verde, with a couple of thoughts that aren't immediately obvious from their website. First of all, we were (un)pleasantly surprised to learn, just a few days before we arrived, that the "open to anyone, regardless of skill level" walk rides, which were the reason we booked this vacation, were in fact only open to those 12 and older. I lost a little sleep over it at first, but once we arrived and the kids realize that Kids Camp (which costs extra, but was part of the "all inclusive" for us) was amazing. They got to ride horses 2 times a day on most days so it worked out. But if your child is not ready to part with you and you had hoped to do family rides, you will be disappointed.
The other thing that worked out well for us because we
We had a Safeway delivery of snack stuff, since it didn't seem there would be a ton of snacks for kids between meals. The TVGR does offer fruit and granola bars, available 24/7. And the Doghouse Saloon, which opens at 4pm, has slushies and other snacks (french fries and such are available at 5pm we were told but we were heading to dinner by then). The dining room is large and the menu, led by Chef Janet (who is incredible and bent over backwards to make our vegetarian lifestyle delicious the entire week) is terrific. Most meals had a menu and also a buffet option, so we never went hungry! The TVGR also offered a "Cowboy Cookout" on Wednesday night and Satuday night which was SO FUN! And a family ride to breakfast on Monday and Friday mornings, which was also fantastic. For the breakfast ride, we got to ride horses up to a location where the staff had hot and tasty pancakes and other breakfast items ready to eat. We were overjoyed, at both the Cowboy Cookout and the breakfast ride to see javalinas, which we learned are *not* pigs and are closer relatives of the hippopotamus! Now for some pictures.
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