A Delightfully Rugged Wyoming Ranch Offers An Elevated Culinary Getaway
This immersive experience allows you to see how your whiskey is distilled, your beef is raised, and your goat cheese is produced.
A flour-dusted apron covers my face as I concentrate on folding a tiny, decadent chicken mousse tortellini from a thin circle of fresh pasta dough.
The light pouring in from the massive picture windows behind Brush Creek Ranch's glossy demonstration counter illuminates my handiwork, and I take a moment to inspect my work. In south-central Wyoming, a rolling sagebrush prairie runs into the foothills of the Medicine Bow Mountains as it stretches for miles.
After Dylan Therrien demonstrates how to twist the ends firmly but carefully around my thumb, he tells me how to wrap them. We sat down for lunch to sample our creations after we had successfully crafted enough tortellini for everyone, with plenty of help from Therrien.
At the 30,000-acre luxury guest ranch in Wyoming's scenic North Platte River Valley, guests can learn a new skill while tapping into their inner chef or mixologist during hands-on pasta-making classes.
While Brush Creek offers all of the Wild West-inspired activities you could expect from a dude ranch, such as horseback riding, shooting sports, fly fishing, spa treatments, etc., it also offers guests a wide range of unexpected food and drink-related activities.
Through cooking classes, wine and spirits tastings, greenhouse tours and goat meet-and-greets, the ranch provides guests with the opportunity to get in on the action with its distillery, greenhouse, goat dairy and creamery and a variety of highly skilled culinary professionals. Besides cowboy fare, the ranch also serves a variety of sophisticated and seasonal “pasture-to-plate” dishes made from ingredients either grown, raised or made on the ranch.
Over the course of the 20th century, the property was operated as a cattle ranch under a handful of owners after originally being settled as a homestead in the 1880s. The ranch began to fall into disrepair in the late 1990s after cattle operations dwindled. The acreage was nabbed by hospitality veterans Bruce and Beth White in 2008 and they remodeled it, adding modern buildings and sumptuous amenities while maintaining its ruggedly beautiful, natural surroundings.
As a result, the ranch provides a wide range of outdoor recreation opportunities, including 55 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails, more than ten miles of Upper North Platte trails, and more than 38 bolted rock climbing routes. There's also a 600-acre ski and snowboarding mountain there.
He decided to pursue his lifelong dream of running a ranch in the American West after more than 20 years at White Lodging, a company that owns and operates dozens of hotels, restaurants, and bars in the country. From the tasteful Western-chic decor in the guest rooms and cabins to the friendly staff who greet each guest individually, his deep hospitality roots shine through in every corner of the ranch. Every meal or shared bottle at Brush Creek is an opportunity to escape the hustle of everyday life, slow down, and indulge in White's passion for food and drinks.
Three all-inclusive resorts are currently operating on the ranch, each with its own distinctive identity. A multigenerational family retreat that offers luxurious log cabins and lodge rooms, The Lodge & Spa is perfect for families looking to reconnect with nature and each other. There are a number of Relais & Châteaux members in the area, including Magee Homestead, which offers wellness-focused getaways for adults, and French Creek Sportsmen's Club, which offers secluded hunting and fly-fishing retreats.
In 2019, The Farm at Brush Creek Ranch opened, offering fine dining and immersive experiences to guests staying at any of the accommodations.
Along with visiting The Farm's greenhouse, guests can also dine at The Cheyenne Club restaurant, which also features fresh vegetables and herbs. Brush Creek's 100% American Wagyu program includes 40 Black Wagyu and 175 Red Akaushi. A dry-aging room controlled by temperature and humidity is used to age the animals, resulting in perfectly marbled ribeyes and tomahawk steaks. Ranchers pamper the animals before they are served.
Brush Creek Distillery offers cocktails made with Railway Rye whiskey and New American gin following dinner.
At Medicine Bow Creamery, Wyoming's first licensed Grade A goat dairy, guests can nuzzle the ranch's Alpine, Nubian, and Mini Nigerian goats, and learn how they make luscious cheeses, yogurts, and ice creams with their milk. Additionally, the Farm is home to a subterranean wine cellar containing 30,000 bottles and a sultry spirit vault filled with rare whiskeys.
As a result of these and other food-centric experiences, the ranch's attention to detail shines through in every bite and sip and, in the process, enhances the flavor of everything.
