Buffalo Valley Ranch

It’s a beautiful ranch with a fun theme, close to Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks and plenty of horse activities. The horses look well cared for, and the ranch hands were friendly with the kids. If your family is into horses, like my in-laws’ girls, you may spend most of the day with them instead of visiting the parks. Just be ready for engines revving in the morning and horses running into camp at 7am. The stay itself was nicer than the marketing made it sound, and I’m glad we went. The wagon had WiFi, four outlets including two USB-C ports, pillows and thick fleece blankets for each mattress, and five beds: four twins and one king. We also had a small electric heater that was fine in August. The confirmation email made it sound like we were getting a bare tent or a wooden shelf, and I’d been told sheets would cost $20 extra when I asked about bed sizes. The gas heater came with warnings by email, phone, and a form we had to initial at arrival, so we didn’t use it. Planning was the hard part. The website wasn’t clear about what was included, and emails made it sound as if even WiFi wasn’t provided. The “confirmation” didn’t list our dates, price, booking type, number of guests, or number of units. It did list things that could earn fines and extras we could pay for, like horseback rides and a trail dinner. That left us unsure what supplies to bring, even though we’d overpacked. The email’s missing details mattered because there was an issue with our reservation. I’ve done bookkeeping for small businesses, and that email didn’t match the service we received; we could have disputed the charges and avoided a cancellation fee. I was ready to cancel after reading it and had to be talked out of it twice. A very bad first impression. The three shared bathrooms have lino over wood floors, with holes drilled through for drainage. It looks like the wood will rot underneath. I expected a tent with no running water or electricity and a sheltered place for my sleeping bag, so that part wasn’t a surprise. There’s no cooking on the property, which is a big thing to leave out when people are planning a week-long trip. Take a camp stove into the national park and make pancakes there. The bar and grill is a nice bar, but its plain coffee was chewy and burnt, at Starbucks espresso prices. Descale the percolator so it stops spilling grounds and running so hot. It’d save electricity and wear, too. If biscuits and gravy cost resort prices and sausage is extra, at least get the coffee right.