“By sharing these places and their stories with people you can work on conservation,” says Ryan. “Once people learn about them, they might start to care about and become involved in conservation efforts themselves.”
First-generation ranch owner, Suzanne Kimbel, understands this firsthand. In 2019, the former tech CEO purchased Rusty Hinges Ranch, in Petaluma, California, after six-months of renting a farm via Airbnb on nearby Sonoma Mountain, where she saw how intoxicating the natural environment was for her kids: “They would come home from school, throw their backpacks in the corner, and just go and run with the animals.” Today, Kimbel practices regenerative agriculture—which helps capture carbon dioxide by rebuilding soil and in turn, restore natural ecosystems—on her 124-acre property. Although the ranch isn’t currently open to overnight stays, Kimbel does host an open house every second Saturday of the month.
It’s a similar story for the co-owners of Colorado’s 8,500 acre C Lazy U Ranch. This all-inclusive guest ranch sits in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, right next to Rocky Mountain National Park, and is home to approximately 200 horses, many of which are for riding. The owners “fell in love” with the century-plus-old property, says Brady Johnson, the ranch’s director of sales and marketing, and its wide-open vista (“Not a home, condo, or golf course in sight,” he says) after vacationing here, inspiring them to start purchasing portions of neighboring land in order to preserve it, before buying a stake in the property itself. They’ve since set aside 2,200 acres as conservation easements, assuring that the land remains undeveloped and procuring critical habitat for local wildlife like moose, antelope, and deer.
Conservation isn’t a requirement among Explore Ranches’ landowners, says Ryan, though “it’s something that [myself, Jesse, and Jay] are each passionate about. We all come from conservation backgrounds, and the concept is ingrained in us.”
Renting an Explore Ranches’ property isn’t cheap; for example, a buyout of Green Valley Ranch’s 480-acre property in Montana runs $2,400/night November through May, though it sleeps 27 people. (Guests can also rent its smaller three-bedroom cabin as a standalone for $600/night, November through May). However, “you’re paying for the experience,” says Ryan. At the basic level, this includes clean and comfortable lodgings (“somewhere you’d want to gather with your friends or family for a few days,” she says) and use of the property, with guided excursions like fly fishing, hiking, or snowshoeing, though catered meals often run extra.
In the case of one ranch or homestead, this might mean mountain biking through the Chihuahuan Desert beside Big Bend National Park; for another, it could be experiencing a multi-day cattle drive. Some, like the 9-bedroom Green Valley Ranch in Montana, are what Ryan calls “outlier” properties, meaning many of the clients who are booking them are doing so for their access to nearby attractions (Green Valley is six miles south of Glacier National Park). Still, all of the listings have enough activities—either on the property or in the immediate vicinity—to keep visitors busy for two, three, or four days.
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