Glamping North American Style
Originally Published June 7, 2017 on Prowdr.com
Glamping gives new meaning to a “Room with a View.” All the experience of nature in luxury and leisure, with bucolic surroundings to reinvigorate your mind, body and spirit. If your bucket list involves a “Brokeback Mountain” fantasy, here’s your opportunity. Get out your perfectly tattered oilskin duster (or buy one for your fashion repertoire), your favorite jeans and boots and live OUT the part. However, in this version, you come home to a massage, a beautifully designed meal by a top chef, a relaxing fire under the stars, perfect, yummy sheets and a cricket chorus that lulls you into a deep, satisfying sleep.
As you can imagine, there are just as many ways to experience glamping as there are distinct interests: wedding proposal opportunities, destination weddings, “family” bonding, romantic getaways all within rustic resorts, ranches, upscale campgrounds, yurts and cabins. Our friends at Ovation Travels have a few suggestions for your ultimate glamping experience.
Ranches and Resort Glamping
Triple Creek Ranch: This resort is a fantastic place to start. Triple Creek Ranch put glamping on the map about a decade ago. Located in the awe-inspiring Bitterroot Mountain Range of the Montana Rockies, this all-inclusive resort for adults (and children over 16) is rustic with breathtaking scenery, but also incredibly luxurious, which is a given for a Relais & Chateaux property like this one. Set on National Forest Service land, you will be guaranteed amazing outdoor experiences.
Instead of nylon tents, or drafty shanties, their private log cabins and exquisite dining will make even the most cosmopolitan guest feel at home. Think of this as adult summer camp, with every conceivable activity from horseback riding, nature safaris and white water rafting to cattle drives, dog sledding, in-cabin massages and cooking classes…just to name a few. Plus, they have special events like cowboy school and all-women riding events. The ranch features one- to three-bedroom cabins and ranch houses for its visitors.
Resort at Paws Up : A sprawling 37,000-acre working cattle ranch in Western Montana, this resort features 28 private vacation homes or 30 luxury safari-style tents. Whether you want to spend your day on horseback, fly-fishing or simply indulging yourself at their world-class spa…this is extravagance at its best.
Brush Creek Ranch: For those looking for the perfect place to get hitched, herein lies the beautiful heart of the Platte River Valley in Southeastern Wyoming. This 30,000-acre ranch was voted the #1 Resort in the USA by Condé Nast in 2016. Cowgirl up with your girlfriends and learn how to drive some cattle OUT on the range, then take a break for some skinny dipping in the river. This is also the perfect family vacation where your kids can do some bonding. The Lodge and Spa at Brush Creek Ranch is a luxury dude ranch, providing an authentic Western experience, with a sophisticated edge.
The comprehensive amenities of the ranch are “as vast as the Wyoming sky,” with fly-fishing excursions, miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding or biking, plus winter sports like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. If hunting is your thing, they also offer a big game adventure. At night, you can sit by a blazing campfire watching Wyoming’s spectacular sunsets. The Brush Creek Ranch offers both cabin and lodge accommodations for its guests.
Shadow Lake Lodge: Venturing to our neighbors to the north, this resort is situated in the Canadian Rockies of Banff National Park. Shadow Lake Lodge is an excellent base for exploring some of the best hiking the Canadian Rockies have to offer. This resort is not for the faint of heart, however, since it’s an eight- to sixteen-mile hike (depending on the trail you take) just to get there.
Once you arrive, however, you’re provided with a private log cabin with porch and outdoor log furniture set up to take advantage of sweeping views of the surrounding mountains. This is certainly more rustic than some of the other glamping options already mentioned with shared bathroom facilities and family-style dining, but as you sit around the fire for afternoon tea encircled by unspoiled wilderness and glacial lakes you may not care so much…
Of course, not all glamping destinations involve mountains. If you’re more of a summer-to-fall-resort-on-the-water type, then Stonewater Cove Resort and Spa on the shores of Table Rock Lake, Missouri, is a wonderful option. The hotel, a combination of 25 rooms and suites, is part of the Kiwi Collection—atravel collection of luxury hotels that “carefully select properties based on a rigorous methodology to ensure the highest standards”—so you know it’s superb. This resort offers a pool, hot tub, swim dock, boat dock, boat ramp, luxury boats for guided excursions, zip lines and over 20 miles of hand-created ATV and hiking trails.
Things You Absolutely Must Pack:
Oilskin Duster for Adults (Brown or Black)
Oilskin Duster for Kids (Brown or Black)
Oilskin Hat (Brown, Black or Tan)
Insect Repellant – doTERRA TerraShield and Geranium
Lip Protector- doTERRA Lip Balm
Sunblock (check out Gary’s Pics Here)
Other Essential Items:
Extra socks
Water bottle
Worn in hiking boots are essential!
This is just a sample of the many glamping options available. To book accommodations or any of the tours mentioned in this article, contact Jack Ezon, president and Prowdr partner at Ovation Vacations, or call 800-977-LUXE (5893) and mention prowdr.com.