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Home Wildlife Vacations Custom-Guided Tours Photo Albums and Videos Guests' Remarks Nature and Wildlife of Riding Mountain About Our Ranch Ranch Location About Us Contact Us Registration Form About Riding Mountain Guest Ranch
We like to think of ourselves as the guest ranch with a 'natural' difference. What makes us stand out is our passion for Wildlife and Nature, and our desire to share our experience, the magnificent natural beauty of Riding Mountain and its' abundant wildlife. Consequently, our guests come to connect with nature and enjoy our natural history tours, watching wildlife from our special wildlife-viewing blinds and learning about the animals and their environment on wildlife safaris and nature walks. Some prefer private, tailor-made experiences so we offer custom-guided tours. Our guests share our 3 1/2-story ranch house and enjoy Candy's scrumptious home-cooked meals, lots of fresh baking and a friendly family-style atmosphere. The beautiful natural setting of our home, overlooking loon-inhabited Lake Wasamin, a private lake on the Ranch, makes our place a perfect setting for those wanting to connect with nature. You can explore the many natural features of the ranch on foot or by canoe or kayak. Or, simply enjoy the solitude of nature by sitting quietly in one of our safe and comfortable wildlife-viewing blinds and observing the lives of natures creatures, including our amazing black bears. To make things worry-free for our International guests, we offer return transportation from the Winnipeg International Airport to our Ranch. If you're looking for a friendly, personalized experience, we invite you to join us! Share some adventures and enjoy the wildlife and this beautiful natural part of the world. Meet our friendly neighbours. You don't have to be physically fit to thoroughly enjoy yourself! At Riding Mountain Guest Ranch, you can greet each day just for the fun of it! Unique Wildlife Viewing Facilities
At Riding mountain Guest Ranch, we have made it possible for you to observe and delight in the behavior of Nature's creatures at close range from the safety and comfort of blinds that we have established on the Ranch for viewing and photographing wildlife. Most wild animals fear humans and rightfully so, considering our long history of predation and willful destruction of other species. For those of us who would like to watch and photograph these fascinating creatures close-up, this poses a big problem because they hide, run away or fly off when they hear or see us. Consequently, when we hike, cycle or canoe in the wilds, we do not see much wildlife or we watch it from afar. As a wildlife biologist and photographer, who has spent many hours watching wildlife at close range from blinds, I thought others should share the pleasure of peering into the secret worlds of some of our timid fellow-beings. Old school buses provided the perfect solution. We converted them into blinds for wildlife viewing and can move it, when need be, to different locations. It proved very successful for bear watching. It is not only safe, it is comfortable to sit in and everyone has a window-seat. It worked so well, we obtained a second bus and parked it on the side of our lake fo viewing and photographing wetland wildlife. We have also built a couple of blinds on a beaver pond beside our house, where we have had great success watching and photographing beavers and many birds including Wood Ducks. Nature Appreciation Opportunities
In addition to viewing wildlife from our blinds, a host of other nature appreciation opportunities await you at Riding Mountain Guest Ranch. If you are interested in birds, there are many songbirds right around the yard. To the south, the house overlooks our private lake, Lake Wasamin, where wildlife abounds--loons, grebes, herons, shorebirds, ducks, geese, beavers, muskrats and occasionally swans, White pelicans and cormorants. You can easily explore the lake by canoe or by strolling around the shoreline. If you wander south of the lake onto the highland ridges, you can observe a prairie ecosystem of "gopher towns" inhabited by Richardson's Ground Squirrels (called gophers by prairie folk) and their predators--badgers, coyotes and hawks. There is are a couple of pairs of Red-tailed hawks nesting south of the lake. You can also investigate a colony of Red-sided Garter snakes and their denning area in a little gully on the east side of the lake. Just a few metres north of the house, hidden in the aspens, you will find a pristine pond with its own dynamic ecosystem--including an active beaver colony and nesting buffleheads, woodducks and teal. This is only one of a dozen prolific ponds and wetland areas that you can explore on the Ranch. A kilometre further north brings you to Clear Creek which runs across the Ranch, meandering through the trees over a chain of active beaver dams. Here you might see nesting Goldeneyes, Common mergansers, Wood ducks and Mallards, an Osprey or Bald Eagle overhead or perhaps a Great Blue Heron stalking in the shallows. You are also likely to find the tracks of a mink, raccoon, deer, elk, moose, coyote, wolf or bear along the banks. Walk through our hilly hay fields and pasture lands and be treated to spectacular hilltop panoramas of the rolling countryside as it unfolds in a beautiful patchwork of meadows, lakes and forests. Misty mornings and dramatic sunsets are common, as are crystal-clear starlit skies and dancing northern lights. The Ranch is a place where you can truly enjoy the serenities of nature -- clean fresh air, silence interrupted by the sounds of nature and miles of vistas devoid of buildings. Canoeing, Walking and Cycling
If you feel like being active, you can go canoeing or kayaking on our private lake (motors boats are not allowed) or go exploring the scenic meadows and woodlands on the Ranch or walk or cycle on our scenic, rolling country roads. Friendly Ranch Pets
If you are fascinated with animals, in addition to our herd of retired horses, we have a number of friendly pets you can visit -- a tame deer, goats, donkeys, assorted ducks, dogs and a cat plus there might be orphan raccoons or ducks which are raised and released as part of Candy‘s wildlife rehab program. Home Wildlife Vacations Custom-Guided Tours Photo Albums and Videos Guests' Remarks Nature and Wildlife of Riding Mountain About Our Ranch Ranch Location About Us Contact Us Registration Form
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Riding
Mountain Guest Ranch.
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