If You Go . . . -- Visiting The Flying U And Other Guest Ranches

The Flying U is one of Canada's oldest guest ranches, operating since the 1920s. Don't expect luxury. It's rustic, low-key, and still a working cattle ranch.

Guests stay in 23 log cabins, grouped in a "U" around a grassy lawn that spills down to a lake. Cabins sleep from two to eight people. Our one-room cabin had space for two single beds, a wood stove and a chair or two. There was a bare light bulb and bare wood floors. No private bathroom: the toilets and showers are in a central bathhouse.

Yet the cabin was all we needed since most of the time we were riding, eating or line-dancing at the ranch's lodge.

The ranch's atmosphere was blissfully peaceful. There was a rocking chair on the front porch, perfect for dozing after a day in the saddle. Horses roamed around the cabins, deer grazed along the lakeshore, and in the evening the doleful call of loons echoed across the water.

Some luxurious guest ranches have swimming pools, kids' programs and other recreation. But the Flying U is basically for people who want to ride - a lot - although guests can canoe, fish and swim in the 15-mile-long Greenlake. (The cabins are just across a little used road from the lake.)

In the evenings, there's sometimes a hay ride or square dance. The Fremlin family, which has run the ranch since 1980, are ranchers by day and musicians at night when they fire up the Flying U Band. There's also a Western-style saloon.

The Flying U is one of the few North American ranches that allows riders of all abilities to ride unsupervised. There are no formal riding lessons although wranglers are happy to give pointers. Guests are assigned a horse (the ranch has about 100) and can ride from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Roughly 100 miles of trails wind over 40,000 acres of the ranchland and adjoining lands. The terrain isn't as dramatic as some of the guest ranches in the Canadian or U.S. Rockies; this interior plateau of the Cariboo is mostly rolling hills, lakes and scrubby forests with mountains distant on the horizon.

We sampled only a small portion of the Flying U trails. Some wound through second-growth forest. Other more pleasant ones meandered past teardrop lakes and wildflowers.

Prices

The Flying U costs $100 Cdn. (about $72 U.S.) a night per adult, plus tax. Children ages 5-12 pay $65 Cdn. (about $47) a night. Children under 5 are free. There are reductions for weekly stays.

The ranch is open April 1 through October. There's a two-night minimum stay; three nights on long weekends.

Use of a horse and all meals are included in the price. The food is not fancy - pancakes for breakfast, peanut butter and jam sandwiches for a packed lunch, lasagna for dinner. But there's plenty of it.

For reservations contact the Flying U Ranch, Box 69, 70 Mile House, B.C., Canada V0K 2K0. Phone (604) 456-7717.

What to take

Pack clothes for all sorts of weather, from rain to hot sun. Take a hat with a brim for protection from sun (or rain). Wear boots with heels to keep your feet from slipping through the stirrups. The ranch has some riding boots that guests can borrow, but not all sizes are available. Don't forget sun glasses, sun screen and insect repellent. The black flies can be fierce. My horse was bleeding from some bites, but the bug dope kept the flies off me.

Getting there

The Flying U is in B.C.'s Cariboo region, near the small community of 70 Mile House. The ranch is about 270 miles, approximately a 5 1/2-hour drive, northeast of Vancouver, B.C.

One of the nicest ways to get to the ranch is by B.C. Rail. The train, which travels from North Vancouver to northern British Columbia, makes a flag stop near the Flying U; guests can be picked up from the train by prior arrangement with the ranch. The 8-hour train trip showcases the B.C. Coast Range scenery of inlets, lakes, forest and mountains. Phone B.C. Rail at (604) 984-5246 for details and bookings.

There also are train/guest ranch packages available for some of the larger Cariboo guest ranches (although not the Flying U). They can be booked through the province's Discover British Columbia tourism bureau, phone (800) 663-6000.

Other B.C. guest ranches

There are plenty of other guest ranches in British Columbia, in the Cariboo and other regions.

The province's tourism information bureau, Discover British Columbia, can provide a brochure that describes a dozen major ones that belong to the B.C. Guest Ranchers Association.

Discover British Columbia also lists guest ranches in its annual accommodations guide, and there's a description of regions in which guest ranches are concentrated (plus ads) in its "Outdoor & Adventure 1994" guide. (800) 663-6000. Information on U.S. guest ranches

For those who want to head to Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado or elsewhere in the U.S., there are hundreds of dude ranches to choose among. Some are basic (like the Flying U), others are more like resorts, with luxurious accommodations and recreation.

Various guidebooks describe North American guest ranches and are useful for comparison-shopping. Among the most useful are "Ranch Vacations" by Gene Kilgore (John Muir Publications) and "Farm, Ranch and Country Vacations" by Pat Dickerman (Adventure Guides).

The "Dude Rancher" is a useful magazine/directory that lists 110 member ranches in the U.S. West. A copy is $5. Contact the Dude Ranchers' Association, P.O. Box 471, La Porte, CO 80535. Phone (303) 223-8440.

State and provincial tourism offices often can provide information on dude ranches, cattle drives or the phone numbers of guest-ranch associations.

Here are some numbers for state tourism offices:

- Washington: phone (206) 586-2102 or (206) 586-2088.

- Idaho: (800) 635-7820.

- Oregon: (800) 547-7842.

- Montana: (800) 541-1447.

- Wyoming: (800) 225-5996.

- Colorado: (800) 265-6723. - Arizona: (800) 842-8257.