Despite the rapid growth of its urban centers, much of Western Canada is still untamed frontier. One of those areas is the Wells Gray Park, 5500 sq. kilometres of protected wilderness in Central British Columbia.

Bounded on the north and east by the Cariboo Mountains, and on the west by an upland plateau, the Wells Gray Park encompasses a broad spectrum of mountain scenery. The area is abundant in flora and fauna. Caribou, moose, black bear, beaver and wolf freely roam the park, and local streams are well stocked with trout.

The Wells Gray Guest Ranch is located inside the park boundaries approximately 25 km from Clearwater, BC along side the park road. Horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, fishing, mountain biking, river rafting and especially wildlife viewing are all part of the ranch's daily summer routine. In the winter the most popular activities are dog-sledding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and wildlife viewing. Your skilled guide will lead you to adventures on remote mountains, valleys and lakes in a setting as spectacular as it is challenging.

The friendliness and hospitality, vital for survival in this remote area during pioneer days is maintained until today. You will find the Old West alive in our Black Horse Saloon and enjoy the Western Style family atmosphere in the homesteader's lodge. The lodge built by settlers to the area in 1912, now serves as the ranch's kitchen and breakfast room with two guest rooms upstairs.

Its link with the romantic past, however, is still the most appealing quality of Wells Gray Park. It retains to this day a sense of challenges and pleasures of pioneering. Relax in the quiet times at Wells Gray Guest Ranch. Meet your friends at the campfire and swap exciting stories or listen to the call of a coyote echoing over the valley.

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YOU TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION TO STAY WITH US:

The Log Cabin Rooms

The Ranch has two duplex and two triplex log cabins available for your comfort. The rooms are arranged side by side with separate entrances and a common front porch facing the horse pasture and forest covered hills. They are nicely furnished with the deluxe rooms 1 to 4 sleeping up to 4-6 guests in queen or double beds and double futon, standard rooms 5 to 7 sleeping 2 in one queen bed and standard rooms 8 to 10 sleeping 2 in two single beds. They are all equipped with en-suite shower/WC. Deluxe rooms 1 to 4 feature cozy propane fire places and standard rooms 5 to 10 kitchenettes (small refrigerator, 2-burner stove top, kitchen-sink and cabinets, basic kitchen utensils supplied).  All rooms are equipped with an apartment fridge and complimentary coffee/tea bar.

The Ranch House Rooms

There are two nicely furnished rooms upstairs in the ranch house which are called the "Family Suite". They feature a shared shower/WC and one room is equipped with one queen bed and the other one with 1 single, 1 double and 1 double futon sleeping a total of 5. A complimentary coffee/tea bar is provided for your convenience. These rooms are also sold separately.

Front Desk, Check in and Check out

Please accept that we are a small operation and cannot be compared to a regular hotel with all the 24 hour services. Our office hours are daily from 08.00 - 11.00 a.m. and 04.00 - 08.00 p.m. Check in time is from 04.00 - 08.00 p.m., check out time from 08.00 - 11.00 a.m. at which time the rooms have to be vacated for cleaning.

House Keeping

We have adopted the movement to preserve water and energy and try to reduce the impact on nature by reducing water and detergent use. We do not offer daily maid service for short stays. For longer stays of more than three nights we clean the rooms and change bedding & towels half way through your stay. If you do need extra towels or coffee & tea we please ask you to contact the desk during business hours. If you do prefer daily maid service it is available for a surcharge of $ 15.00 per night. Please inform the front desk at arrival.

Minimum Stay

Contrary to many other establishments in the industry we decided not to switch to a minimum stay policy but do ask for a one night cleaning surcharge of $ 15.00 per room if you are deciding to stay only one night at the ranch. 

The Bunkhouses

Our bunkhouses are only open to groups of a minimum of 8 guests and are set back in a remote area of the Ranch with two primitive outhouses nearby. The closest facility with WC and showers is on our campground approximately 3 minutes walk from this location. The bunkhouses are small and like the old ranch-hand accommodations very basic with no electricity or running water. They feature one window and a lockable door, a small table and chair, propane lighting, and four to twelve wooden bunks with vinyl covered mattresses. You have to bring your own pillow, sleeping bag and a good flashlight is recommended for finding your way to and from the area in the dark. Please contact us for reservations and our very reasonable group rates.

The Campground

We are well organized for tent campers being it individuals or groups. We provide three nice lawn areas for camping with roomy BBQ-shelters. We do have four sites for RV campers or motor homes where we only provide a picnic table, a fire pit, firewood and the use of our shower house. We do not have any electrical, sewer or water hook-ups. Our campground is operated on a first come, first serve basis and unless for groups, reservations are not accepted.

The Shower House

Our newly renovated shower house services the bunkhouses, tent & RV Campground. It features 2 WC, four showers and  2 sinks with running hot and cold water each for Cowgirls and Cowboys. We also feature a dishwashing station and a fresh water station outside the shower house.

The Black Horse Saloon & Restaurant
 

This very authentic Western Saloon is open 6 days a week from 05.00 - 09.00 p.m. We are fully licensed and serve buffet style dinners at 07.00 p.m. There is one choice of main dish per day and it alternates between Western Deluxe Steak BBQ, Native Style Baked Pacific Salmon, Grandma's Oven Roasted Chicken and the traditional Wrangler's Pork Chop Dinner. These are all served with Side Dish, Vegetables, a variety of Salads, Dinner Buns & Margarine, and alternating with Soup & Crackers or Dessert. In addition we also offer a vegetarian choice. Coffee & Tea is always complimentary. On days where our kitchen & saloon staff has to take some time off we recommend to try one of the other two restaurants near by for dinner.

Breakfast we serve buffet style on 7 days a week in our breakfast room. The cold buffet includes a choice of Muffins or Pastry, Bagels, Cream Cheese, Cherry Tomatoes, hard boiled Eggs, a variety of Cereals, Dried Fruit & Nuts, Milk and Yoghurt, Fruit Salad, Orange or Apple Juice, White or Multigrain Toast, Butter or Margarine, a selection of Jams, Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate. Packed lunches to enjoy during your day of exploring the park are also available in the morning.
 

Communication and in Room Entertainment

We strongly do believe in the old western style tranquility of our setting and as a matter of principle do not supply telephone, television, DVD player, radio or CD player. There is only a radio alarm clock in the room but we do not get any regular radio reception in our area. Please also note that there is no cell phone reception at all locations in the park. A public telephone is on site and we do sell phone cards which give you the opportunity to call world wide for very little cost. To be able to do business in this modern world we unfortunately were forced to install wireless satellite internet at the ranch. For that reason our Saloon and Reception area, the Ranch House Rooms and the Deluxe Rooms (with strong lab tops) have free wireless internet access. Our Standard Room guests are welcome to use the reception area free of charge. For camping and off the road guests there is a charge of $ 5.00 for the use of the internet. Please bring your own computer as there is no rental available.

Activities

We guide wilderness activities in Wells Gray Park since 1984 and offer daily horseback riding, canoeing, hiking and wildlife viewing. White Water Rafting, Jet Boat Tours, Fishing, River Kayaking and Mountain Biking are also offered in the park by other outfitters. We gladly help you with the reservation of such trips with these organisations. All activities have to be arranged with the desk during business hours the day before.

Please note that our trips have to be suitable for the amateur adventurer and therefore we do not trot or gallop horses and our canoe trips are either for the total novice (The Appetizer) or the a little more conditioned paddlers (Canoe Wells Gray). Our hiking (Nature Wells Gray) and wildlife viewing trips (The Wildlife Experience) are also rated easy and require only below medium physical condition.