Cottonwood is a working horse and cattle ranch located in the remote northeastern corner of Nevada.  Five generations of the Smith family have owned and operated the Ranch, and now share ownership with Tom and Alecia Maxey.  For over fifty years Cottonwood Ranch has offered a warm, western welcome to the many guests who have shared this beautiful place that the Smiths and Maxeys call home. 

Located 30 miles from paved highway and 70 miles from the nearest town, Cottonwood Ranch is an unexpected hospitable sanctuary amid a sea of rolling sage covered hills and alpine mountains that seem to go on forever.

You'll feel as though you've stepped back into the "old west". Ride skilled horses and move cattle with the Cottonwood cowboys and cowgirls. The herds are moved almost daily from one area to another in order to maintain the health of the range. Spend all the time you want in the saddle as you drive the herds over the high desert or mountains of the Cottonwood grazing lands

Each day is a new adventure as you experience life on a working cattle and horse ranch. Take time for arena games, hay and buggy rides, fishing, barbecues and campouts. Enjoy evenings around a campfire where you may even be entertained by local cowhand poets or musicians.

Live the Mystique of the Old West

There's something to the mystery that surrounds riding the range, herding horses and cattle astride a good horse. It may be the expansive vistas, the mountain peaks, the high rock canyons.  It could be the pure, fresh air and ever-changing skies.  Perhaps it's the friendly, easy-going camaraderie between you and your horse, you and the cows and calves, you and the other cowhands, or you and the mountains, creeks and forests you're riding through.  It might be the congenial sharing of great grub, the swapping of yarns around a warm camp fire or the feeling you get when you look up at a sky ablaze with stars.  Possibly it's the sensation of power and awe that comes over you when you are surrounded by the varied manifestations of nature without a street light, traffic jam, skyscraper, subdivision, billboard or freeway within sight or hearing. Maybe it's simply the silence.

Cottonwood ranch affords you many opportunities to experience the life of a cowboy.  You can join the Horse Drive in the spring when the high desert is green and covered in wildflowers and the snow still glows on the mountain peaks.  In September you can join us as we round-up the herd and bring it down from "The Mountain" amidst stunning fall colors.  Throughout the spring and summer you can join our crew as we move cattle from one range to another.

Open 1 May-October 2012 £1065 pp plus £160 pp service 6 night ranch stay. Alternative activity weeks listed below. Plse e mail for up to date prices. 

Horse Drive/ Cattle Drive
June 17-23, July 8-14, August 19-25, September 9-15 2012.
Depending on weather & other factors, guests spend 3 or 4 days driving horses & the remaining day or two working cattle with the Cottonwood Cowboys at the ranch.  £1300 pp incl service and tax

Overnight Pack Trips & Trail Rides:
July 1 through Sept 30 2012.  Minimum 4 people.  Sleep in tents or outside

The Jarbridge High Trail Pack Trip
July 22 - 28 & 27 July - 4 August 2012
Spend a day being a cowboy at the ranch then pack up and ride up into the mountains where we'll spend 4 days and 3 nights camping & riding the high trail of the Jarbidge Wilderness. £1262 pp incl service and tax

Over the Mountains to Jarbridge 12-18 August 2012 £1337.00 pp incl service and tax (6 days)


The Jarbidge High Trail Pack Trip
August 22-28 (6 days) & 27 Aug - 4 Sept 2012 (8 days) £1262 pp inclu service and tax
Spend a day being a cowboy at the ranch - pack up and ride up into the mountains camping & riding the high trail of the Jarbidge Wilderness.

Fall Elk Bugle Pack Trip
September 23-29 2012 £1188 pp incl service and tax (6nights)
One of the most unique and exquisite adventure trips that we offer. Arrive at the ranch on September 19th.  ack up and head to camp on horseback on the 20th and spend 3 nights where we'll enjoy the brilliant fall foliage in the Jarbidge Wilderness.  We'll take beautiful day rides from camp & bugle in the bull elk during the height this spectacular season. 

Estimated driving times to Cottonwood Ranch from:    Reno, NV:  8 hrs; Las Vegas, NV: 9 hrs;Elko, NV 2.25 hrs, Twin Falls, ID: 2.5 hrs or Salt Lake City Utah 4.5 hrs. Transfers available $120 roundtrip Twin Fall or Elko Nevada Airports