The Express-Times
"Find us a Dude Ranch that goes above and beyond for their guests.

Q. Please find us a Colorado dude ranch that goes above and beyond for their guests.
A. The energetic Hodgson family, known world-wide for their Ghurka line of leather goods, has brought the same insistence on quality to what was once a rundown Colorado dude ranch.

The Smith Fork Ranch, 7,000 feet high and nose to nose with the West Elk Wilderness and Gunnison National Forest, is now one of the best guest ranches in the West. And a river runs through it, where trout jump. There are miles of trails and your schedule of activities is theirs, not the other way around.
The food is the best I have ever experienced at a guest ranch. Kids are welcome and there are tepees for them to play in. Smith Fork Ranch seems isolated, but it's only seven miles from Crawford, one of the last of Colorado's old cow towns. You stay in snug rooms or comfy cabins.
Telephone 970-921-3454; visit smithforkranch.com

Sunday December 8, 2002