Our Dude Ranch vacation includes various exciting activities that doesn’t involve phones or any electronics. It is a complete family vacation where you will be learning horseback riding, grooming and saddling, and driving the cattle. Located in the beautiful Smoky Mountains, our Dude Ranch offers great views, something that you will see every day of your stay. From fishing to pioneer games to square dancing, you will have complete fun filled vacation here. Our ranch is surrounded by nature and is completely authentic – nothing is artificial.
About French Broad Outpost Dude Ranch
Don’t let the lack of customer service at booking prevent you from enjoying a memorable getaway. The owners and staff are overworked and understaffed since the pandemic. I did not feel like this impacted the quality of our stay. I like to constantly be doing something, but I was never bored. It was clean, and we had everything we needed. It might be helpful for others to know that there is absolutely no phone or internet service, no bottled water, and anyone close to the weight limit should probably book a different trip. The only other dude ranch I have stayed at was Rocking Horse Ranch in NY, but French Broad Outpost felt much more authentic. Myself, my son, and the other guests we met had a wonderful time. Penning the cattle was everyone’s favorite activity.
I would not reccomend I own horses and have riding experience. We came for a girls getaway & to explore Tennessee. The week we chose was 50% off and we confirmed with the Ranch that was due to the week after 4th of July is a slow week. The things I liked about the trip were cattle drive, team penning, evening events, friendly guest & wranglers Kayla and Drake. I also loved that the farm rescues horses from slaughter. I thanked and made sure Kayla & Drake knew they really did a great job. I also made sure I thanked the owner after the cattle drive & team penning experience. There are several reasons I would not recommend this Ranch at this time. First there should be riding helmets available. Horse riding continues to be found more dangerous than motorcycling, skiing, & football . As a rider and someone that took a flight to the ranch - I assumed they would have certified riding helmets available. They did not have helmets & that was a learning for me to always bring a riding helmet. Since most attendees were new to riding and several children this was concerning. The second safety issue is the lack of staff/wranglers on riding activities. The two wranglers did their best but it is challenging with new riders & children. There were three children on the cattle drive that were having a difficult time and were crying at different times. At no time did anyone from the Ranch notice. Also, on the ride back to the Ranch the line of horses got mixed up. There were two horses that had a bubble (which means they kick). One horse kicked out and luckily the child riding to close to the horse did not get kicked. The Ranch has a high turnover rate as shared by employees. Third safety issue was the experience of the staff. The lead Wrangler only had four weeks of riding experience which was the amount of time she worked at the Ranch. She was a natural and a hard worker and made the trip for many. The guest rooms only lock when you are inside the room. When you leave your room the doors are unlocked since they don’t lock from the outside. There is also no safe in the room to lock up passports, credit cards & money. Another big reason I would not recommend the Ranch at this time is the environment. When arriving several of us noted that the owner didn’t even say hello and introduce himself. Instead was greeted by sign the liability waiver. You go on vacation to relax and get away from office issues. Just sitting on the porch you can hear yelling over the Ranch walkie talkies, employees walking around upset. In addition, at dinner the owner shared how mad he was that there was a guest who wrote a review & lied. It is also a problem when a business is not open to feedback - they take feedback as an attack or lie. If they looked at the feedback and could see that there are some themes. The business does not realize their responses just confirm the negative feedback they are receiving.
It’s been about a year since we stayed here and sometimes I still think back on how horrible of a stay this was. We did not get what we paid for. Know your payment is non refundable even if you don’t get a majority of the services you paid for (our issue had nothing to do with their weight limit). On top of this, we were treated poorly, including our two toddler girls. We were ready to leave after two days but paid for the whole week - this isn’t a vacation. The only redeeming factor was the hired help there (NOT management), the other guests, and our family time.
Love love love this place !! Shawn and JoAnn are wonderful people and they sure do love their animals !! We had plenty to eat, plenty of activities and clean rooms. The staff was very nice and helpful. My 17 year old daughter loves it there so much.. it truly made an impact on her life. The first time we were there last year she was dreading the trip because of no cell phone service. By the end of the week she left there a completely different young lady. Something about that place allowed her to truly find out who she was. We've been back two more times since then and each time we love it a little bit more. Thank you so much Shawn and JoAnn for sharing your horses with us.
The staff and accommodations were first rate! The rooms were spacious and comfortable. Shawn and his staff, although busy with the ranches needs, were extremely helpful in taking care of us as guests. Jo Ann kept herself busy in the kitchen and kept us well fed with amazing food for the duration of our stay. I cannot wait to return to this hidden gem of a vacation spot!