Kamloops, British Columbia
Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort & Ranch
About the ranch
Looking for an extraordinary, off-the-beaten-path ranch adventure? Set in British Columbia's heartland amid rolling grasslands and rugged river canyons, the award-winning ‘Find Your Wild’ experience at Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort & Ranch offers you world-class horseback riding and nature-based adventures with your own private guide.
This robust, all-inclusive experience is rich in exclusivity and personalized service; when paired with a strong currency conversion, it delivers exceptional value compared to the top USA luxury ranches.
Siwash Lake is a boutique hideaway; an intimate, family-run operation, hosting no more than 12-16 guests at one time.
Authentic accommodations pair luxury amidst nature in lavish, safari-inspired Star Gazer tents and distinctive ranch house suites.
Siwash Lake's five-star culinary team serves up genuine farm-fresh, organic food grown on the ranch and foraged from the wilds nearby.
Guests explore a dynamic, regenerating wilderness on horseback as part of the Siwash Synergy With Horses™ riding program, awarded as a signature experience for Canada. This highly immersive and personalized experience focuses on the magical bond between horses and humans, for beginners and experts alike.
Beyond riding, Siwash Lake offers ecology studies, hiking, fly fishing, frontier games (shooting; hatchet throwing; 3D cross country archery), bush craft, biking, canoeing and waterfall exploration by paddle board.
Those seeking gentle wilderness pursuits can kayak on shimmering Siwash Lake, enjoy outdoor yoga, go birding, tour ranch gardens, or luxuriate with a wellness treatment.
Children of all ages are welcome and little ones will love our Free-Range Kids program!
Affiliations
Condé Nast Johansens Luxury Hotels; Luxury Wilderness Lodges of Canada; National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World; Indigenous Tourism Canada; Green Tourism Canada; Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism; and BC Wilderness Tourism Association.
Ranch type
Also offers
Guest capacity
16
Best for
People of all ages
Months open
May-Sep
Watch the ranch
Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort & Ranch
History & hosts
Ranch founded
1994
Guest ranch since
2001
Owners
Allyson Rogers & Family
About the owners
Unlike some other Canadian ranches where there are foreign influences, Siwash Lake is legitimately Canadian owned and operated. We have three generations of our family involved in the operation, and we assure you that your stay here will be a pure, authentic experience.
Roy and Allyson crafted the place from remote rangeland, in complete harmony with the surrounding wilderness, and have been running it as an eco-friendly, luxury guest ranch and working ranch for over a decade now.
Roy is part Native and is a fourth generation rancher and cowboy—a man’s man and an expert woodsman—overseeing Siwash's fly-fishing, shooting, wilderness survival and boating programs.
Allyson is a professional horse woman and an avid naturalist. She has a university degree in outdoor education and is the daughter of a mountaineer, founder of Outward Bound Canada. You will spend your entire first day with her as she personally introduces you to Siwas Lakes award-winning adventures on horseback.
Roy and Allyson, and their two teenagers, are hands-on with daily operations. As the ranch owners and hosts, they welcome like-minded people from all over the world to their home at Siwash Lake, where they share the joys of cowboy culture, and the heartfelt delights of their life lived close to nature.
Managers
Marshall Fremlin
About the managers
Allyson Rogers and her family welcome adventurers from around the world to their hidden gem in the wilds.
Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort & Ranch is the product of Allyson’s vision realized through passion, hard work and endless perseverance; built in harmony with the environment to preserve all that nature has to offer.
Crafted from raw wilderness, her family ranch has now been operating as a guest ranch for over 25 years. Allyson raised her children at Siwash Lake and as adults they both work in the business.
Her son, Marshall, is General Manager and her daughter, Jessica, is Director of Marketing.
Staff qualities
- Honest, loyal, respectful and hard working
- Knowledgeable and passionate about the local flora and fauna, our horses, and the experiences that we offer
- Great with people and their kids from all walks of life
Accommodation types
Ranch rustic, Tents, Glamping, Western rustic chic, Luxury 5-Star
Gene Kilgore's notes
The setting
Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort & Ranch has been rated a top eco-friendly luxury destination in Canada (the Globe & Mail) and was the first of only a few in the country to be awarded a Platinum certification for sustainability by Green Tourism Canada.
Siwash Lake is also a Biosphere Certified Destination. Both accolades involve rigorous and regular 3rd party audits.
The ranch is off-grid and runs off solar power. There are many other environmentally sensitive sytems in place: to name only a few, the ranch utilizes rainwater, has an extensive recycling and waste management program, produces organic food on site and advocates for land stewardship.
Conservation and preservation projects are ongoing. Rewilding is a core activity and is undertaken through the ranch's non-profit foundation.
Community
Siwash Lake hosts culture camps and youth empowerment camps for neighbouring indigenous communities.
Conservation
Tree planting, natural pest management for fir beetle fencing to protect riparian and wetland areas, aeration for aquatic habitat, creating land reserves, lobbying against mining in the area, invasive species control, pasture rotation, wildlife rescue (re-introduction of beavers), ecology studies for guests, interpretive trail etc.
When to go
June through September. Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort & Ranch welcomes a select number of guests from around the world during the most beautiful months of summer in British Columbia's Cariboo region.
Songbird Season (May-June) offers the best rates!
