CLazyU Colorado Guest Ranch (2009)

Yee haw!  For our 2009 summer vacation the Larison family stayed in their home state of Colorado for a fun week long adventure at the C-Lazy-U Guest Ranch near Granby.  We experienced horseback riding, camping, and many other activities in our time at C-Lazy-U all backed with the Ranch’s friendly Western Hospitality.
By
Tim Larison, Travel Agent

with contributions by Anne Larison, Travel Agent
Andrew Larison (age 15), Josh Larison (age 15)

Click below to see a video slideshow of our whole trip.

History
C-Lazy-U has been open since 1919– one of the oldest guest ranches in the country.  Growing up in Colorado I had always read about C-Lazy-U in my family’s yearly copy of the Mobil Travel Guide.  C-Lazy-U was one of the nation’s few Mobil “5 star” award winners, Mobil’s highest rating and only one of two 5 star properties in Colorado (the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is the other).  I was excited to experience this resort I had read about for so many years!

Activities
Horseback riding
I can’t think of a better place to learn how to ride a horse than at C-Lazy-U.  Andrew and Josh had never rode a horse before, and by the end of the week they were totally comfortable with horse riding and wanted more!  Anne and I had very limited experience riding horses (three times in our lifetimes) and we also found C-Lazy-U a great place to be reintroduced to the sport.
On our first night we talked with head ranch hand Bill who asked us about our riding experience and what we wanted to learn during the week.  We were then matched with horses appropriate to our abilities.  C-Lazy-U had many different riding programs, including ones specifically geared for kids (Andrew and Josh were in the teen group) and different levels for adults.  Anne and I chose the most basic group, slow scenic riding.  There were other groups for those who wanted more adventurous rides.
My first ride on Monday morning was the most spectacular I had ever been on.  We ventured out through lush valleys, up mountains with amazing scenic overlooks, and through streams (riding a horse through a river was an exhilarating experience!).  Being away from horse riding for many years I found some muscles to be very sore after my first ride, so I limited my riding for the rest of the week to a few select scenic rides.  Anne and the boys were more active – riding almost every day.  The Ranch offered morning and afternoon rides daily in addition to some special rides (like an all day ride with a supplied lunch on Thursday, and a cattle pushing clinic on Wednesday). There was no shortage of scenery to see from horseback as ClazyU has access to thousands of acres in the Colorado Rockies.
The highlight for me was a family ride we did on Friday.  We rode to the entrance of the ranch and up a nearby mountain.  It was great to see how much Andrew and Josh had learned during the week – by Friday they were definitely more accomplished riders than Dad!

Anne says:
“I was excited about having the opportunity to learn more about riding horses and I feel good about the skills I acquired during our stay.  Not only does Bill match you with a horse to meet your experience level – you ride that horse the entire week!  My horse, Domino, and I got along very well.  He was gentle but willing to step-it-up as I learned to trot and lope.  Depending upon the day and how many people in your skill level were riding, the groups ranged in size from 10 to 1 down to 1 to 1.  The friendly (and patient) wranglers who work at the ranch ride with the adults and take the time to give instruction when needed.
Each day the group I was riding in went a different direction on the ranch and each and every ride was beautiful.  The weather in the mountains can get up to the low 80’s on warm days and we often rode in tree covered paths, which kept us cool even on the warmer days.”

Josh says:
“Before I came to C Lazy U, I had never rode a horse before.  It took me a little while to figure out how to control it at the beginning of the week, but I learned quickly with the help of the great teen counselors.  I went on at least one ride every day of the vacation.  My favorite part about it was the scenery because it was simply amazing on every trail.”

Andrew says:
“Having never rode a horse before in my life, I expected the horseback riding to be challenging and frustrating.  I was wrong.  The counselors for the teen group did an amazing job at teaching you how to control and handle your horse.  They gave me a great horse named Icabod that didn’t stray off the path or cause much trouble at all.  When the other teens were ready to trot and lope with their horses, Josh and I didn’t really feel too comfortable going too fast so soon.  But the counselors understood and took us both out on a ride to get used to trotting and loping with a horse.  By the end of the week, I felt really comfortable with teens that had been riding for almost their entire lives. “

Ropes Course
Andrew says:
“The ropes course was definitely one of the best experiences of the entire vacation.  The course consisted of four parts:  A rock climbing wall, (with some surprises near the top) a ropes obstacle course, the leap of faith, and the zip line.  Let’s start with the rock climbing wall, which was one of the highest I’ve ever managed to climb.  The left side of the wall was slightly easier than the right side until you get to the top.  There are wooden wagon wheels attached to the wall that really throw you off unless you use them correctly.
The ropes obstacle course was the most physically demanding of all the obstacles on the course.  First, you had to climb a rope ladder onto a very thin wooden X- shaped structure.  Then you had to jump off of the structure onto one of three swinging wooden poles with handles. After you navigate from pole to pole you have to pull yourself up onto a wooden beam and then sit on the wooden seat above you.  I was the only one out of our group to make it to the seat at the top.
Next, we have the leap of faith.  Pretty straight forward right?  The person attempting the leap of faith has to climb a wooden pole and jump off of it to grab the trapeze bar in front of you.  Let’s just say that the pole is very wobbly and the trapeze is far away from the pole.  This was more of a mental obstacle than it was a physical one.
Last but certainly not least, is the zip line.  They bring you to the very top of the obstacle course and let you glide to a cliff right next to where our cabin was.  I did so perfectly that I got filmed and was put into a ‘recap video’ of the vacation which the one of the staff members created.”

Anne says:
“What motivated me to do the ropes course with Andrew was that I really wanted to try the Zip line.  What I found out after booking the session was that I also was expected to do all of the other challenging climbs and obstacles! Yikes.
I really pushed myself to do my best and try to conquer each obstacle.  The rock wall was fun and even though I hadn’t done any rock wall climbs in the past, this almost 50 year old got to the top!  One of the most intimidating was the leap of faith.  We had to climb up a pole (small metal rungs were positioned every few feet) and once we got to the top we had to stand erect on top of the pole.  A few feet away hung a trapeze bar and the challenge was to jump from the pole and grab the bar.  I was very proud to stand for several seconds on top of the very high, wobbly pole, but I was a little too short to reach the bar.
The one obstacle I couldn’t complete involved climbing a rope ladder to crossed poles, climb onto the cross and reach up to one of three dangling poles and eventually climb all of them to get to a very high box to climb through.  I did my best but I was unsuccessful (Andrew talks about his completing this difficult challenge above).
We were finally rewarded for our hard work with the zip line, a very fun end to our course.  Young or old this was a good opportunity to push yourself to your physical limits.”

Luxury Camping
C Lazy U offered “glamping” – a glamorous, luxury camping experience.  Not being campers we anxiously signed up for a night at campsite #1.  Shortly after dinner on Tuesday two CLazyU ranch hands drove us up to our campsite in a Polaris Ranger 4×4 (a golf cart like vehicle).  Waiting for us were two tents – one with a king sized bed for mom and dad, a second with three separate individual beds for the boys.  Our glampsite was the first of the three constructed at clazyu.  Our tents had plenty of blankets for us to keep warm in the night (nighttime temperatures in the Rockies can be in the 40’s in July).  The newer campsites 2 and 3 have woodburning stoves in the tents for additional comfort.
The ranchhands prepared a fire for us, and then left us alone to enjoy this remote setting.  We liked roasting marshmallows and making smores while we watched the sun set over the nearby mountains.  The stars were extra bright in the sky above on this clear night.  Even though we were a short distance from the main ranch it felt like we were out in the wilderness all alone.  I heard coyotes howling in the night as we went to sleep.
Seeing the morning sunrise was the most spectacular part of the camping experience for me.   The views of the surrounding mountains, valleys, and nearby lake were breathtaking at sunrise.  Soon we drove our “golf cart” back to our cabin in the ranch.   We enjoyed our night in the Rockies;  the luxury touches allowed us to enjoy the serene Colorado wilderness without “roughing it”!

Anne says:
“As Tim indicated above, we are not a camping family, so this experience was fun and unique.  The tent has a wood floor and the beds are similar to the beds in the regular cabins, so there is really very little ‘hardship’ in this type of camping.  We had a flashlight for those middle of the night trips to the outhouse.  However without a flashlight there are a few ground light fixtures that lead the way to the outhouse, so even there we were taken care of well.  There are few times when our teenage boys will sit around and talk with us (they’d rather be doing something with music, tv or video), and since that wasn’t available, sitting around the campfire this night was a special time with the boys I will remember for a long time.”

Andrew says:

“’Glamping’ was one of the best nights that I had on the trip.  The Ranch Hands started a fire for us and gave us some smores ingredients and a golf cart to drive back in.  It was really nice to just sit around the campfire making smores and looking at the stars.  ‘Some’ of us even claimed they heard coyotes in the night.”

Josh says:
“Going “glamping” was a fun experience.  Our campsite had a nice view looking over the reservoir and we even were given all the supplies to make s’mores over our campfire.  I really liked the tents too.  They were huge on the inside and came with lights, beds, and a wooden floor.”

Tennis/basketball
CLazyU offered two tennis courts and a basketball court.  We love playing tennis back home and we intended to bring our rackets, but we forgot.  The rackets supplied by the Ranch weren’t as good but we found the courts to be in good condition.  We played a few games during the week here, and also shot some hoops on the nearby basketball court.

Anne says:
“Since we live in Colorado the high altitude and dry air did not affect us as much as some of the guests coming from other areas of the country.  Keep this in mind if you visit and plan to participate in active sports.  The other tip is that when visiting the high country of the Colorado mountains guests need to use lots of sunscreen, especially when outdoors playing tennis and basketball.”

Andrew says:
“The tennis at C-Lazy-U was just ok, the rackets were OK, the balls were just OK, nothing too special about the setup.  They did have an option in which you can take lessons from “Claus”, the Fisherman Tennis Phenom, who teaches how to deal with the high altitude game in Colorado.  The Basketball hoops were in very good condition and it was fun to shoot the ball around and play some Horse.”

Josh says:
“Both of the courts were in great condition and came with all of the equipment.  During the week they were never very crowded so there were no long waits to play.”

Archery
We tried CLazyU’s free archery program one afternoon.  Limited to groups of 5, our ranchhand Cale drove us to a wooded part of the property where two archery targets were set up.  Cale explained to us the different bows available, and we all tried our luck at a few rounds of shooting arrows at the targets.  Andrew got the only bullseye,  Dad hit the target a few times, but most of our arrows ended up behind the targets in the woods!

Anne says:
“Archery was fun and it is in a secluded area, so I didn’t have to worry about embarrassing myself in front of an audience. “

Andrew says:
“Cale, the ranch hand we had most of the week, drove us up to the wooded archery range to shoot a couple arrows on Tuesday afternoon.  There were two targets and two types of bows to choose from.  After just grazing the target for a good ten minutes we had to collect the arrows and start a new round.  BULLSEYE.  The  first shot of the second round was right in the middle of the target.  I don’t know how it happened, but I’m not complaining.”

Josh says:
“Although I wasn’t very good, the archery was still fun.  There was a large selection of bows and 2 targets to shoot at.  My only complaint was that there was nothing behind the targets to block stray arrows, so when everyone ran out we had to search for them in the woods.”

Game Room
In addition to all the wonderful outdoor activities CLazyU offered, we also enjoyed a small but well equipped game room.  We played multiple games of table tennis and pool.  While we often play ping pong on our trips it had been years since I had played pool.  We found the single ping pong table and single pool table available most times when we wanted to play.  We also got in a few family foosball games.
After an active day of horseriding and other activities it was nice to spend time in the gameroom after dinner for some more family fun.

Anne says:
“The game room is located in the basement of the main building – so it was easily accessible after meals and other free time.  Another tip – there are washers and dryers available for guests to use which are located adjacent to the game room.  This set up works great if you want to play a few games while waiting for your clothes to finish washing or drying. “

Andrew says:
“The set up for the game room was just about perfect.  The ping pong table is placed in the very center of the room and the ball was easy to retrieve once it fell out of play.  The also had a pool table, an air hockey machine, shuffleboard and foosball.  It was relaxing to get a drink from the bar upstairs and play some games after a long day of activities.”

Josh says:
“The game room was one of my favorite spots on the ranch.  I enjoyed playing pool, ping pong, foosball, air hockey, and a mini shuffleboard. Also, similar to the tennis and basketball, the tables were never very crowded and we almost always got to play without a wait.”

Spa
A recent addition to the CLazyU property is a well equipped spa.  While Anne and I did not sign up for any spa sessions during the week, we were impressed with the facility.  One spa tent, in particular, offered a scenic river view, and a see through floor where you could watch a mountain stream below while getting your massage.
In talking to some other guests they found the CLazyU Spa to be a perfect retreat for easing those aching muscles after a horseback ride.

Pool

At the main Patio House the ranch featured a small pool and hot tub.  With guests out horse riding and on other activities, we rarely found the pool area to be crowded.  We found the hot tub especially refreshing after our family horseback ride on Friday.  For those guests wanting a less active vacation than their family members, the pool area was a quiet spot to relax, take a swim, or read a book.

Teen Program
Andrew says:
“Best teen program. Period.  The counselors for our teen program were very relatable and friendly.  An average day for us in the teen program was usually riding in the morning and afternoon, eating dinner together and then an evening activity.  The evening activities were the highlights of the teen group.  One night we played capture the flag ( with the arena being the entire ranch. ).  Other nights we went to the rock climbing wall, had teen cookouts and campouts, as well as going to the rodeo on Saturday night.
You get to know the counselors and other teens very well because you spend almost the entire day with them.  By the end of the week it’s hard to say goodbye to some of the new people you have met.  Trust me you won’t be bored for a second in the teen group at C-Lazy-U Ranch.”

Josh says:
“The teen program was very fun.  The counselors were all funny and nice, and we did a lot of activities.  Aside from 2 horse rides available every day, we also went white water rafting, did a skit in the talent show, played capture the flag, and even went to the local rodeo.”

Other Activities
There were so many activities available at CLazyU that we did not have time to participate in them all.  Among these were Fishing, Guided Fly Fishing, Mountain Biking,  Yoga, Trap Shooting, White Water River Rafting, Hot air ballooning, Golf at nearby courses, and more.  A nice feature of the resort was that you could be as active or as relaxed as you wish.  Some guests were out on adventures every day, while others preferred a slower pace.

Anne says:
“Many people visit the ranch in the Winter.  In addition to skiing at nearby Winter Park Ski Resort, the ranch recently obtained a zamboni machine to keep the skating pond ready for ice skating and a Snow Cat to take Skiers up the mountains on the ranch.”

Andrew says:
“In addition to what the other activities already mentioned, they also have Horseshoes and Paddleboats.”

Dining
CLazyU is one of the few all inclusive resorts in the United States – where all your food and non-alcoholic drinks are included in the price!  This helps make the resort a great place for a family vacation – especially for us with two active teens.
I enjoyed the cooked to order breakfasts the best.  Breakfast was served in the Ranch House dining room most days where guests could choose from eggs, pancakes, omelets, breakfast burritos, and more.  There was always plenty to eat and the food was delicious;  the hearty breakfasts served us well for our full days of activities.
One morning the Ranch featured a special “woodsie” breakfast.  We rode a hay wagon up a nearby hill to a wonderful scenic overlook.  Here we were treated to special “woodsie” donuts, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and trout in the beautiful outdoors.  The woodsie breakfast was also superb and a nice change of pace from the other breakfasts during the week.
Lunch was typically served buffet style near the pool, with standard American fare.  I especially liked the grilled hamburgers one day (they looked to be ½ pounders to me)  A soup and salad were also offered daily for those who wanted healthy alternatives.
Dinner is a special occasion at the Ranch.  The adults eat separate from the kids most nights.  The adult dinners were served family style in the Ranch House dining room most nights.  Each night we had a fish entrée and a meat entrée to choose from (I sampled both each night).  The food generally was very good and I tried some different types of fish than I normally eat (like swordfish).  The dinner choices tended to be more exotic than the standard American food offered for lunch.  One of the best dinners of the week was a family cookout with prime rib and barbeque ribs outdoors.
The Ranch had set dining times.  Breakfast was served between 7:30 – 9 am where you could drop in at any time.  Lunch was at 1 pm for teens and adults.  Dinner time was fixed at 6 pm for the kids at 7:15 pm for the adults.
CLazyU offered a full service bar open in the afternoon and before/after dinner time.  A yummy complementary ice cream stand was open daily at 4 pm and 9 pm.  We had our fill of soft serve ice cream, hard ice cream scoops, and chocolate shakes throughout the week.

Anne says:
“Whenever and where ever we travel to as a family, I always look forward to meals (I don’t have to cook or clean!)  But I also love to eat.  I wasn’t disappointed at all in the food at C Lazy U.  As Tim mentioned above there was always plenty to eat and we had a good variety (one night offering NY strip steak and BBQ chicken and the next night offering swordfish and rack of lamb as the entrees). “

Andrew says:
“Breakfast was one of my personal favorite meals of the day.  They have enough options on the menu so that you could try a different dish every day.   My personal favorite was the Texas French Toast with a side of bacon.  The other meals we ate with the teens.  Lunch always seemed to have good options with a different themed buffet every day.  I enjoyed the Italian and Mexican Buffets along with the Classic BBQ and Burger buffets.
Dinner was a different story for the teens.  We basically got what the adults were having except it wasn’t as good.  For example, one night the adults were having pork and we received some of it as well, except it was extremely dry and we could only have one piece each.  Almost every night, the teens ditched our own dinner and went to eat chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks with the kids.  Overall the food at the Ranch was far beyond my expectations and I was definitely satisfied with it.
The bar was a great option as well because you could drink all the soda you wanted, however you wanted it.  You can have a mix of Coke, Sprite and Mr. Pibb if you really wanted to.”

Josh says:
“My favorite meal of the day on this trip was definitely breakfast because of the delicious pancakes and French toast. The ice cream bar was also very good with lots of flavors and toppings to choose from.”

Accommodations
We had a good sized two bedroom cabin for the week (Sunset unit A).  In one bedroom Mom and Dad had a king sized bed.  A second bedroom featured two bunk beds.  This unit could have easily fit a family of six – for our family of four Andrew and Josh each had their own bunk bed.  We really appreciated that each bedroom had its own bathroom.  This cabin was one of the farthest from the main lodge but we found the short 5 minute walk to the dining areas and horseback stables to be fine.
CLazyU gives you a chance to get away from city life – there are no televisions and no phones in the guest rooms.  We weren’t even given keys to the room, and left our cabin unlocked most of the week! (keys are available on request – we locked ours on the night we camped).  We liked having a week of family time without the TV and we didn’t miss the phone.  I did have to make a few business calls and I found the cell phone service to be spotty.  Verizon worked the best while my AT&T coverage was not good.  The Ranch staff did tell me they plan to install an AT&T tower in the future to provide better AT&T service.  For my few business calls the Ranch was glad to provide a phone for me to use in their office.
The Ranch does offer complementary wireless internet, and I found the internet access to be excellent in our cabin and around the pool area.
Housekeeping came in the mid morning and during the dinner hour.  While they kept the cabin clean the service was sometimes inconsistent.  We frequently ran out of kleenex that was not replaced, and we had to call two times to get a defective outside porch lamp to be fixed.  Despite these few glitches in the housekeeping we liked our cabin very much.

Anne says:
“All the small details were thought of by the staff, such as a boot cleaner at the door step for us to wipe our boots before entering the cabin (as you can imagine with all those horses and dirt roads the shoes get dirty).  There is a coffee pot in the room with coffee, tea and hot chocolate available to make.  There is also a fireplace in each cabin.  Being July and the temperature never went too low, we chose not to light a fire, but they make it very easy with logs in the fireplace and a fire-starter on the logs for convenience.  I slept very well and never felt cramped as you can sometimes feel in a standard hotel room with 4 people.  I did hear from a fellow guest from Miami that they kept their humidifier on at night in their cabin since they are not use to the dry air of Colorado (humidifiers are standard in each room).  Just a very well run ranch, in my opinion.”

Andrew says:
“Our cabin was very large, and it was very well managed by the cleaning staff other than a few inconviences here and there.  I found the twin bunk bed to be a little small, but it was very comfortable nevertheless.  My phone didn’t get that great of service out in Granby and neither did dads.  It was funny because the only time he got service was when we were out glamping in the woods.  Other than that the Ranch was very accommodating because it gave us fresh fruit and a fresh batch of cookies when we first arrived on site.  We didn’t have a key to our room which confused me but also gave me a sense of relief.  I guess I’m just so use to cruises and standard hotel rooms that it just caught me a little off guard.”

Josh says:
“I liked our cabin because it was fairly big and each bedroom had its own bathroom. There were no TVs, but we had enough entertainment because there was a deck of cards in the room when we arrived and free wireless internet.”

Entertainment
CLazyU offered entertainment after dinner each night.  One night featured a folk singer playing her guitar by a campfire, another night featured a kids carnival with various games of skill, a third night featured a talent show put on by the visiting kids (Andrew and Josh were in one skit) and by some of the staff.
On our first night we liked the astronomy session offered at  9 pm.  Through a $2400 telescope we saw the rings of Saturn, a star cluster, and the guide pointed out a number of constellations to us.  Being out of the city the stars were much brighter and clearer in the mountain air.
We chose sometimes to attend the entertainment, and other times to spend time on our own in the game room or elsewhere.

Anne says:
“Since all of the meals are family style and you go on group rides with the other guests, you get to know the other guests fairly well.  So, the entertainment felt like just another bonding opportunity.  Whether it was dancing to the music of the local band, sitting around the camp fire watching as hats, boots and belts were branded (with the C Lazy U logo) or just having another cocktail by the pool, by the end of the week you were no longer with a group of strangers, they had become like friends.”

Andrew says:
“The first night we went down to the spa and looked at Saturn, a star cluster and different constellations through a telescope.  I thought this was pretty cool because not a lot of people knew about it.  Other than that there were a couple singers and there was a rock band one night.
We were in the talent show on one of the nights and did a yoga act with the other teens. (I won’t go into detail) and we watched the littler kids do some dances and a McDonalds rap (this shows how obese America is).  There were only two great acts in the entire show: The cook playing guitar and Max the Wrangler singing and playing the piano.”

Josh says:
“The talent show was very fun because the kids and staff put on a lot of funny acts.  There were also a few musicians throughout the week including a guitar player and a rock and roll band.”

Shodeo
Saturday is a special day at the Ranch where guests have a chance to display their horsemanship skills in Clazyu’s version of a rodeo – the shodeo.  All the kids participated, including Andrew and Josh, in addition to a few adults.  The ranch hands and kids counselors also did some special rides on their horses.  I was amazed at how well all of the kids performed on their horses – I could tell they really learned a lot in just a few days of training from their counselors.

Anne says:
“I felt good about learning to ride Domino as well as I did in a week, however, I was not ready to ride him around the obstacle course in the corral.  I was just happy to be able to watch all the kids and adults display their riding talents.  Again, C Lazy U supplied all the extras to make the experience even more special by opening the ice cream stand and also offering pop-corn and cotton candy!”

Andrew says:
“ My part in the shodeo was pretty intense, I was part of the teen relay race.  The race began with two of the teens racing on their horses around poles and then they each tagged us.  What we had to do was spin around a pool cue and had to race around the same poles except we were dizzy.  Other than that the shodeo featured little kids and adults competing on their horses. “

Josh says:
“The Shodeo was very entertaining to watch.  The kids rode horses through small courses with barrels and poles, the teens did a relay race, and the adults rode around a difficult course trying to get the best time.  Also, the ice cream bar offered some tasty treats exclusively for the Shodeo like popcorn and cotton candy.”

Service/Other Guests
We found the service of the ranch hands, dining staff, and resort management to be excellent.  All of the staff we met were friendly and went out of their way to accommodate us should we have any special requests.  On one day where the boys skipped a teen activity, for example, the ranch hands offered to setup a special family ride for us.  The Ranch General Manager, Brian Gardner, checked in with us daily asking us how our stay was and made suggestions on activities.
It was also interesting to meet other guests from around the country.  On our week CLazyU hosted about 70 to 80 guests.  With 80 employees this made for an excellent employee to guest ratio.  We made friends with many of the other guests during the week.  We thought staying at CLazyU was like staying at a large bed and breakfast – with a friendly family atmosphere – rather than staying at a big hotel where you rarely interact with other guests.

Anne says:
“I agree with Tim that the service was excellent.  Every ranch hand and staff member had a walkie-talkie and if you asked for anything, the request was sent to the appropriate person and before long we had what we needed. “

Andrew says:
“ Like I said earlier, the counselors were very relatable and easy to talk to.  One of the counselors named Kevin shared the same career interests as me and we talked a lot of sports on one of our rides.  The ranch hands were equally as friendly and did almost anything you asked of them.  For example, I had left my cap in the van the previous day when we went to the rodeo and the ranch hands quickly found it and returned it to me.  They also parked your car for you and gave you the option of bringing your car back to you.”

Josh says:
“The staff at C Lazy U were great.  All of the counselors for teens and kids were funny and nice.  The ranch hands were also very nice and helpful.”

Summary

For a family like ours used to taking cruises and Disney World trips, a week at CLazyU was a different vacation experience!  At week’s end we all agreed that CLazyU exceeded all of our expectations.  The focal point of the resort was the excellent horseback riding progam; we all enjoyed this even with our very limited equestrian experience.  The resort had plenty of other fun activities to keep us entertained and busy, and the food was very good.
We recommend CLazyU for anyone looking for a Western style vacation – it was fun living the cowboy lifestyle in comfort for a week!

Anne says:
“The week was awesome.  Since we were trying something new, I went in not knowing what to expect and I was a bit apprehensive knowing I would be riding a horse everyday.  After the first few days I was wishing our stay was longer than a week.  I would definitely return to C Lazy U if given the opportunity.”

Andrew says:
“CLazyU will go down as one of the best vacation experiences I’ve ever had.  It was just so unique and different and it had an activity for everyone.  When I ride a horse in the future, I know I can handle one properly and it’s all because of CLazyU.  The resort had so many pluses about it, it’s hard for anyone to say that this is a bad place to take the family and have a great time.  A great teen program combined with delicious food and many activities makes CLazyU Ranch the best Western Style vacation In America.”

Josh says:
“Overall, this was a good vacation.  My favorite parts were the horseback rides and the game room.  For the most part, the food was excellent and there was plenty to do during the week.  Every horse riding trail was scenic and we even saw some wild deer on one trail.  The teen group had fun activities and the staff was awesome.  The C Lazy U Ranch is definitely the best summer vacation spot in Colorado and I highly recommend it!”

© Larison Travel LLP, 2009.