Weekends in September and October, 2010 -- 3-night package

For Food lovers, wine lovers and those of you who simply savor the good life, come join us to celebrate the truly bountiful harvest here at Smith Fork Ranch on Colorado’s western slope of the Rockies.

Bring family or friends to our intimate mountain retreat where our chef prepares special dishes for every meal of your long weekend. Enjoy five -course dinners with selections from our extensive wine cellar. Visit SFR’s own farmstead with our gardener and harvest herbs and vegetables for your evening’s fare. Participate in hands-on cooking with our chef and extraordinary culinary team. It’s all part of your weekend culinary experience at Smith Fork Ranch.

The neighboring North Fork Valley is known as Colorado’s “breadbasket”, with numerous organic farms and some of our state’s best vineyards. Farm-to-table cuisine using locally grown organic fruits, vegetable, eggs, poultry, meat and game is part of our DNA. Mealtimes at the ranch, even cocktails, will often find you in some of the most spectacular settings around Smith Fork Ranch ….a streamside picnic below towering Saddle Mountain after fly fishing, or foraging for wild mushrooms in the back country…a horseback ride or hike to a mountain vista for hors d’oeuvres and wine… a complimentary wine tasting on the pavilion deck with the area’s signature geologic feature, Needle Rock in the background at sunset… and dinner near a cozy fire in the historic Old Elk Lodge.

 

Have fun exploring the ranch and all the area has to offer. Horseback ride and hike on endless trails around the ranch and up through golden Aspens in the national forest. Fly fish the Smith Fork just outside your cabin door or one of our six ponds, September and early October is prime time for rainbows, brown trout and brookies right here on the ranch. Or enjoy the crisp fall weather and scenery with a hike along the rim of the awesome Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

 

Nearby farms, orchards and wineries are open for touring, picking and tasting. Some of Colorado’s finest artists and craftsmen have their studios, workshops and galleries open and welcome your visit.

And when you return to the ranch, there is always cider, tea, hot coffee and fresh-baked cookies waiting for you by the big stone fireplace in the lodge. Evenings at Smith Fork Ranch are a special pleasure. Watching deer in the pasture as eagles and red-tailed hawks circle above in the sky, you sip a glass of wine on your deck as the sun slips down behind Needle Rock. After dinner, share the day's adventures with interesting folks as you sit around the fire in the lodge.

You’ll find SFR accommodations luxurious in the rustic, western tradition. Our vintage cabins and lodge have been comfortably appointed with special touches – slate-tiled bathrooms, handmade soaps and lotions, sumptuous robes and down comforters. Living quarters are furnished with American primitive antiques and furniture, original arts and crafts from the hands of the best western and Native American artists of the past 80 years.

Culinary Experience package includes:

• Accommodations for 3 nights in unpretentious luxury in Lodge or Cabin
• Welcome basket with culinary treats, and a glass of wine or evening cocktail on arrival
• Five-course candlelight dinner each evening with wine pairings from SFR wine cellar
• Saturday afternoon cooking class with Chef
• Gourmet picnic lunches
• Hearty ranch breakfast each morning
• One Half-Day of guided horseback riding and hiking on the ranch and in the surrounding Gunnison National Forest
• Saturday evening wine tasting or a late afternoon horseback ride to a ridge-top vista for wine and hors d’oeuvres, weather permitting
• Use of state of the art fly fishing equipment for fishing on the ranch
• Full use of the Old Elk Lodge for billiards, game room, fly tying table, fitness center and hot tub.

Executive Chef Matthew Dusharme heads our talented kitchen staff to provide you exceptional cuisine during your visit -- whether a foray on horseback into the back country with a picnic lunch or back at the ranch for a candle light dinner on our pavilion in full view of the mountains. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and a veteran of Five Diamond and Mobil Five Star restaurants, Chef Matthew centers his cuisine around the special ingredients from the Crawford area – superb fresh lamb, beef, game and fish and some of the country’s best fruits and vegetables grown in the nearby North Fork Valley and SFR’s own farmstead.