4 Best Dude Ranches in New York State

Society might have moved on into the technological age, but ranches are still a big part of American life and can be found all around the nation, particularly the Western and Southern States. Dude ranches have seen a real surge in popularity in recent years, offering an ideal getaway for people who simply want to spend some time in a relaxing environment, far from the noise and smoke of the city streets. These locations can be a wonderful way to while away the hours, offering calm settings and exciting activities for people of all ages to enjoy. Certain attractions may be temporarily closed or require advance reservations. Some restaurants are currently offering pickup only. Hours/availability may have changed.

4 Best Dude Ranches in New York State

• Overview, Photo: Terri Cage/stock.adobe.com
• The 1000 Acres Ranch Resort, Photo: NDABCREATIVITY/stock.adobe.com
• Ridin Hy Ranch Resort, Photo: vprotastchik/stock.adobe.com
• B&B Ranch, Photo: luckybusiness/stock.adobe.com
• Pine Ridge Dude Ranch, Photo: Windhound Photo/stock.adobe.com
• Cover Photo: Courtesy of nd3000 - Fotolia.com

Attraction Spotlight: Saratoga Spa State Park

Saratoga Spa State Park is a 2,400-acre state park and National Historic Landmark located in Saratoga County. Distinguished by its classical architecture and noted for its diverse aesthetic, cultural, and recreational resources, Saratoga Spa State Park is home to the Roosevelt Baths and Spa, the nationally-renowned Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Spa Little Theater. In addition to these popular attractions, the park also houses the Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa, the National Museum of Dance, and the Saratoga Automobile Museum.

The gently undulating terrain of the Park offers family-friendly picnic areas with picnic tables and benches, shaded streamside walking trails that are suitable for nature-lovers and casual walkers, as well as certified running courses that are used by more serious joggers, runners, and other athletes. Saratoga Spa State Park is also open during the winter and offers an array of activities, including miles of trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, ice skating, and ice hockey.

The Park is home to the Peerless Pool Complex, which consists of a central Olympic-size swimming pool, a separate slide pool with a double water slide and a unique children's wading pool with a mushroom fountain. The complex also has a historical Victorian surrounded by arched promenades, and both pool areas feature separate locker rooms, restrooms and showers, and food and beverage services.

The Saratoga Spa State Park features the only active spouting geysers in the east of the country. These fountains spring carbonated water rich in minerals and salts from fissures in the Saratoga Fault which vent in several areas, the most popular being Orenda Spring and Geyser Island Spouter along Geyser Creek. Orenda Spring is famous for its massive tufa dome, while Geyser Island Spouter first emerged in the early 1900s and spouts a plume of water 15 feet into the air. Other springs in operation include Hathorne, Hayes, Orenda, Charlie, State Seal, Polaris, and Lincoln.

The Saratoga Spa State Park features several theaters and museums and hosts a variety of events throughout the year. The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is based in the park and has been the summer home of New York Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra for 50 years. The Arts Center has an 110 foot high naturally curved amphitheater that can seat up to 5,000 guests and a manicured lawn that can seat an additional 25,000 people.

The park is also home to the Spa Little Theater, which is located on the north side of the park and hosts plays throughout the year. The park is also home to the Gideon Putnam, the Lincoln Mineral Baths and Spa, the Saratoga Automobile Museum, and the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.

The Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa is a historic Upstate New York resort and spa that offers luxurious, elegant accommodations, first-class facilities and amenities, award-winning dining, and an array of guest activities all surrounded by magnificent landscapes. Built in 1935 by Gideon Putnam, the hotel was established for health and wellness seekers to “take the waters” of Saratoga Springs.

The Saratoga Spa State Park offers an array of recreational activities ranging from several swimming pools and tennis courts to two golf courses. The Peerless Pool is a complex of three pools, including an Olympics-size swimming pool, a water slide pool, and a children’s pool, as well as a historic Victorian pool surrounded by covered arcades.

Two beautiful golf courses include a championship 18-hole course and a challenging 9-hole course, complete with pro shop and restaurant. The park also features several traditional park facilities, including volleyball courts, tennis courts, horseshoe pits, picnic areas, and several picnic pavilions are equipped with electricity and conveniently located restrooms.

Saratoga Spa State Park is home to Geyser Creek which runs through the park and offers excellent opportunities for fishing, hiking along the banks and snowshoeing and ice-skating in the winter months. Additional facilities in the park include a gift shop.

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Attraction Spotlight: The Gideon Putnam, Saratoga Spa State Park

Based within the Saratoga Spa State Park in Delaware North, The Gideon Putnam is a luxury resort that offers comfortable lodging, elegant dining and a full range of premium amenities and services, including a full service spa. Built in 1935 by Gideon Putnam, the stylish hotel and resort also offer a broad variety of recreational and outdoor activities, such as swimming, horseback riding, golf, fishing, tennis, and wellness activities.

Guest Accommodations

The Gideon Putnam offers a range of beautifully appointed guest accommodations ranging from Standard and Deluxe Rooms to a selection of luxury suites. All guest rooms and suites have plush queen or king-sized pillow top beds with designer linens, en-suite bathrooms with soaking tub and shower combinations, thick bathrobes and deluxe bath products, work desks and chairs, comfy armchairs, and pullout sleeper sofas (suites only) for additional guests. Modern amenities include flat-screen cable televisions, AM/FM clock radios, air conditioning, coffee makers, direct dial telephones with voicemail services, hairdryers, irons and ironing boards, in-room safes and high-speed wireless Internet.

The Putnam Suite is the hotel’s largest and most luxurious suite and offers a king-sized pillow top bed with designer linens, two full bathrooms with soaking tub and shower combinations, thick bathrobes and deluxe bath products. The suite also features a spacious sitting and dining room and breathtaking views from its location on the fourth floor of the hotel.

Dining

The Gideon Putnam is home to Putnam’s Restaurant and Bar, which serves a delicious range of locally sourced and prepared cuisine, including ocean-fresh seafood, certified Angus Beef steaks, and house made burgers. The cuisine is accompanied by a variety of wines, spirits, and beers, including the local Putnam’s Pour Pale Ale and the restaurant and bar, are open all year round for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to both guests and visitors. Guests staying at the Gideon Putnam enjoy a complimentary breakfast every morning, which includes fresh fruit and juices, cereals, yogurt, hot and cold entrées, and freshly brewed coffee and tea.

Amenities

The Gideon Putnam boasts an array of first-class amenities, facilities and guest services to ensure every guest's need is met. Established in the mid-thirties, the Roosevelt Baths & Spa offers a transforming hydrotherapy spa experience with a variety of natural healing treatments, performed by professional staff. The Roosevelt Baths & Spa features 42 treatment rooms and a complete menu of services, including massages, mineral baths, body wraps, scrubs, and facials, and other salon services and guests enjoy complimentary use of the steam room, sauna, relaxation room, and locker room facilities during their stay.

Other amenities and facilities at The Gideon Putnam include a fully equipped fitness center and swimming pool (open seasonally), complimentary shuttle services, bell and concierge services, and a laundry service, and high-speed wireless Internet throughout the property. A full business center offers copying, printing, and faxing services, as well as high-speed wireless Internet, and complimentary newspapers are available at the front desk every day. Services also include a daily housekeeping service, room service, bike rentals, and valet parking.

Activities and outdoor recreation for guests range from hiking, biking, swimming, tennis, and golf to theater shows, exploring the local museums and art galleries, shopping, gambling and watching horseracing – all of which can be arranged at the concierge desk at the hotel.

Weddings & Events

The Gideon Putnam provides ideal spaces for special events and functions such as weddings, receptions, celebrations and corporate events. Featuring more than 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space, as well as multiple outdoor reception areas in the surrounding Saratoga Spa State Park, first-class accommodations, amenities, hospitality, and services, The Gideon Putnam promises a unique event. The hotel has a self-contained conference center that can accommodate up to 500 guests or delegates, and eight individual meeting rooms for smaller or more intimate functions, while outdoor spaces can be transformed to suit any need.

The historic hotel and picturesque Saratoga Spa State Park forest and lawns will set the stage for an unforgettable wedding with venues ranging from a grand ballroom to a tented pavilion that can both cater for up to 250 guests. The Gideon Putnam provides an array of exceptional services for any event, including professional planning and management teams, customized catering and award-winning cuisine, preferred vendor lists and more.

24 Gideon Putnam Road, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, Phone: 866-890-1171

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Attraction Spotlight: Tang Museum

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, aka the Tang Museum, in Saratoga Springs, NY is a teaching museum designed to inspire the community to take an interest in the richness and diversity of art and the experiences that can be enjoyed through it. The Museum does this by collecting various works of art and offering a range of educational programs that align with the mission of the museum.

The Museum is named after Frances Young Tang who was a graduate of Skidmore College in 1961 with a major in textile design. Tang and her husband were philanthropists and very generously made significant gifts to both Skidmore’s Chinese Studies Department and the Museum, after which she is named.

Designed by award-winning architect Antoine Predock, the layout of the Tang Museum echoes the overall teaching mission of the museum, as well as the interdisciplinary tradition at Skidmore College, with three main buildings and two walkways all reaching out in different directions. Appearing as if emerging from the earth, the building design stands as a symbol of Skidmore’s pledge to interdisciplinary study and the many facets of arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences that the university offers.

The building features two major gallery wings, the Malloy Wing and the Wachenheim Gallery, as well as two smaller galleries, namely the State Farm Mezzanine and the Winter Gallery. The Tang also features a unique exhibition in the elevator space where a continuing series of installation and sound art called Elevator Music is exhibited. The Tang has two multimedia-equipped classrooms that are used by Skidmore classes for a variety of disciplines, and the Payne Presentation Room is a vast multipurpose event space that is used for events and functions, such as film screenings, readings, receptions, musical events, family activities and other Tang and Skidmore events.

The Tang features a private collection of over 5,000 works hailing from Africa, the Americas, South Asia, and China. The collection includes works by renowned artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Francisco de Goya, Dorothy Dehner, Andy Warhol, William Hogarth, Nayland Blake, Roy Lichtenstein, David Smith, Wilhelmina Weber Furlong, Eugène Atget, Nan Goldin, and Garry Winogrand.

The Tang Museum features approximately 12 large-scale exhibitions and projects each year, including signature interdisciplinary exhibitions that involve faculty and students as curators and advisors. Shows include a variety of subject matter from Hudson River School landscapes, Rube Goldberg cartoons, and antique maps to Shaker furniture, scientific equipment, and new works of international contemporary art. The Tang also presents significant exhibitions of contemporary art, featuring leading emerging and established artists, and encompassing all types of media and objects, exploring the connections between the performing and visual arts, humanities, and natural sciences.

Notable scholarly exhibitions include ‘Molecules that Matter’, ‘Brushing the Present: Contemporary Academy Painting from China’, ‘Work: Shaker Design and Recent Art’, ‘From Pop to Now: Selections from the Sonnabend Collection’, and ‘The World According to the Newest and Most Exact Observations: Mapping Art and Science.’

The Tang Museum is committed to being an educational center for the whole community and offers an array of educational programs, workshops, classes, and community-based initiatives. In addition to visual arts exhibitions, the museum offers demonstrations, guided tours, hosts dance recitals, musical performances, and plays, presenting opportunities for students to enjoy interactive and hands-on activities and experiences.

Special events at the Museum include Carnegie Hall Premieres, Carr Distinguished Interdisciplinary Lecture Series, Greenberg Middle East Scholar-In-Residence, Fox-Adler Lectures (English Department), Fiscus Lectures (Government Department), Malloy Lectures (Art Department), and the Don and Judy McCormack Endowed Visiting Artist-Scholar Residency. Other notable events include the Jacob Perlow Series, Raab Visiting Artist Lectures, Speakers Bureau Series and Steloff Lectures (English Department)

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College is located at 815 North Broadway in Saratoga Springs and is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm with a late closing on Thursdays at 9:00 pm. The Tang encourage group visits and offers guides tours of the facility for adults, children and large groups. Visitors can also enjoy self-guided tours, and there are special academic groups for scholars and students from primary grades through higher education.

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815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, Phone: 518-580-8080

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