Ranch Rudolf

Fun place to snowmobile. We go usually at least once a year. It’s dated but clean. Don’t expect a modern 5 star resort here but if you like the small western town type atmosphere with fun snowmobile trails you’ll have fun here. The restaurant is cool.

My son and I wen to Ranch Rudolf to buy some drinks at their camp store (not very much in there)
There was nobody at the counter. We searched around and finally just left money for the two sodas we bought.
We went to the main desk to inquire about a car spotting service and get some advice about kayaking the Boardman.
She was wildly unhelpful and a tad bit rude.
She either couldn’t or wouldn’t answer my simple questions about put in and haul out points.
This was our first visit and absolutely our last. Rinky dink, dirty, unprofessional operation.

Ton was all alone in the wilderness. He had been driving on this dirt road for hours it seemed. Until he stumbled upon Ranch Rudolph. The lady there was very nice and so was the campsite. It was an exquisite experience. He was the only one on the campsite and was free to do, whatever, he pleased. Needless to say, he had a great time.

Went on a fly fishing trip here and had a great time. The staff is amazing! hey, the place opened up in 1966 so expect that it’s old, but that’s part of the charm. What’s more important is that they have a great friendly staff and great food and a bar.

My extended family and I recently stayed at Ranch Rudolf in the bunk house.
In short, it was not what we’d hoped. While the location is quite nice — we enjoyed the river and the peace and quiet — the management style is rough around the edges at best.
We kept hearing from the staff all week that «This is our start up week,» and therefore certain services that are ordinarily offered to guests wouldn’t be available to us. Note that this was mid-​June, and we were never told any such thing upon making reservations months in advance.
For starters, we were informed upon our arrival that the restaurant and bar in the lodge — which looked very inviting! — wouldn’t be open during our stay, a detail that was mysteriously never mentioned when we booked our accommodations. It would’ve been nice to have this information when doing so. My family considered this an egregious managerial oversight.
Second, I would not recommend the bunkhouse for an extended family of many generations and sub-​families. Although advertised to «sleep 10,» this is in fact in 1 large, stuffy bedroom. My partner and I had to sleep in the same room as my sister, brother-​in-​law, nephews, etc. etc. etc. Also, no air conditioning and one very rustic bathroom.
In addition, the trail rides that we all looked forward to and which are so vigorously advertised on the website were only available to us once during the week. Upon our arrival at Ranch Rudolf one staff member told us that a «horse camp» was starting that week and there wouldn’t be enough staff on-​hand to run the trail rides. Again, this is information that would’ve been nice to have prior to booking our stay. Much of the reason my family considered Ranch Rudolf as a setting for our summer vacation was the horseback riding. You can imagine our surprise then when it turned out that horseback riding wouldn’t be available to us, or at least far less available than the website had led us to believe. Also, when I asked to run the horse I was riding — who clearly wanted to run — I was ignored by the person leading our trail ride. Although it was my nephew’s first time riding, the guide should be able to accommodate different experience levels within the same group.
All told, these things wouldn’t have been such a huge inconvenience had the staff been more helpful and accommodating. While they were plenty friendly, they were also totally, utterly unhelpful. In fact, as a group, they were not in possession of a single piece of useful information. Each and every time one of my family members approached staff for details about trail rides, the restaurant, when the swimming pool would open, you name it, they were met with a cascade of shrugs and «I don’t knows.» And not once did the staff express anything like contrition. Not once did they apologize for the lack of services. Not once did they offer a single apology for any inconvenience. Frankly, they were either profoundly clueless or in over their heads, or both.
Two last, smaller items: 1). Ranch Rudolf should reconsider its «no catch-​and-​release» rule on the two stocked trout pounds. We understand the desire to monetize what’s essentially shooting fish in a barrel. My stepfather caught two rainbow trout there within about 30 seconds of our arrival. But the «no catch-​and-​release» rule shortchanges certain guests, like my nephews, for instance, ages 6 and 8, who would’ve loved the chance to learn to fish for trout, but not if it meant the wholesale slaughter of fish. 2). On the afternoon of June 16, the U.S. played Ghana in its first World Cup match. When my brother inquired at the Ranch Rudolf front desk if he could perhaps watch the game on the bar’s television — which nobody was using — he was told «No,» and that people would be arriving soon to plan a wedding event in the bar, although, as it turned out, these people didn’t arrive until the game was nearly over. Again, not a huge inconvenience, but it typified your staff’s dealings with me and my family all week. Very little if any thought or effort was given to accommodating us, and it made us all feel unwelcome.
On our next trip Up North, we will be staying in town — Traverse City– or on Lelanau Peninsula somewhere (probably Glen Arbor).

Went here to horseback ride with our 11 and 8 year old kids on our trip to TC. Overall we had a very good experience and our wrangler was knowledgable about the horses and chose good matches for our group. We took a 1 hour ride and for us novice riders, that was certainly long enough. This is great if you’re interested in the novelty of a first ride for your children because overall it was quiet, peaceful, and on an easy trail. It was quite expensive however, at $ 152 for 4 people. I’d say all in all it was worth it because it’ll be a good memory for our kids. Don’t forget insect repellant!

We had high hopes for Ranch Rudolf since we booked our stay with another family one year in advance. We did that so that we could have the «Bunkhouse» over the 4^th of July weekend. We looked over the brochure and were excited that they offered so many activities in one location which was also relatively close to town so we could enjoy the Cherry Festival as well.
MUCH to our surprise, the bunkhouse does NOT have air conditioning so during a week with several days approaching 100 degrees we felt completely ripped off. Paying $ 260 per night to stay in a sweat lodge did not sit well. We found this out only when we called the night before to confirm our reservation. Fortunately we brought 6 fans to keep the air moving and were able to keep the temperature closer to 80 inside. At night with windows open it was tolerable but the staff chided us in the morning for running the tiny window unit with the other windows downstairs open. Puhleas!
In addition, they do not accept credit cards on location so they point you to the expensive ATM in the lobby and act as if everyone carries $ 1000 in cash with them at all times.
The on site activities were very expensive. For example, a one hour horse ride with my daughter cost us almost $ 80 and that was with the «guest» discount. We went tubing which required a $ 10 per tube deposit and $ 11 for the hour ride down the river. This was fun but hardly worth the expense. For a family of 4 you needed to plunk down $ 84 and then you got $ 40 back when you return the tube. Evidently there are hoards of people absconding with their tubes. We gave up on the activities after that.
To be fair, the young ladies that run the stables were exceptional. They treated my eight year old daughter with care and she had a wonderful first ride.
I second the other review that the creepy general store guy while unfriendly, also carried a cooler shaped like a fishing line bobber to the pool and cracked open beers while all the kids were in the pool. If I wasn’t there with my kids I may have informed the local sheriff. ugh!
The restaurant was way too expensive and — surprise! — always empty.
We will not be back. I hope this helps you avoid a serious waste of money. Go for the horse ride and then leave as fast as you can before you waste any more time.

The man at the general store was quite unfriendly. No signs on where to go to check into horseback riding. Once we were at the stable, the two young girls working there were super nice. Tessa was our tour guide and she was great! Trail was beautiful, loved the river crossing and the horses were all very well behaved and taken care of. We will be back again!

I attended a family function in which some went canoeing and others tubing. The results were mixed. The website does not describe the river in the canoeing section; however, it does describe the condition of the river in another section. As guest I did not know this information until after the trip. This river is fast and contains many turns. Many fallen sharp branches and sunken trees are present. This is not a friendly river for tubing. A party member quit tubing to seek safety within a canoe. Do not go tubing. A better disclosure should have been given. On the positive side we did notice some nice birds along the route. Overall, I wish we would have choose another company.

Took a great two hour trail ride here while on vacation. The trail itself was great fun and the trail guide was extremely competent and friendly. Horses were in good shape, we would definitely come here again.