Greybull, Wyoming
The Hideout Lodge and Guest Ranch
About the ranch
All-Inclusive & Upscale - All about horses & riding
The Hideout Lodge & Guest Ranch is all-inclusive, luxury, and focused on riding, horsemanship, and especially caring deeply about your ranch riding experience. Limited to around 23 riders weekly, the ranch is in the tiny hamlet of Shell, Wyoming, east of Cody and Yellowstone National Park at the foot of the little-known Big Horn Mountains and National Forest. With a backyard of 650,000 acres in an area with a tremendous diversity of scenery and altitudes ranging from 4,200 to 13,100 feet, you will seldom see the same trail twice. Since its beginnings, The Hideout has always been a clean, organized, intimate and well-maintained guest ranch. More an equestrian destination than the traditional guest or dude ranch. While upscale, The Hideout is not a resort.
The Hideout offers a number of non-riding activities such as trapshooting, fly-fishing, biking, hiking and relaxing in our hot tub or take a dip in 60 x18 lap pool. However the main reason guests from the US and around the world return year after year is to ride and enjoy the very personal attention to detail and great care for guests and horses.
Affiliations
North American Dude Ranch Association, Wyoming Dude Ranch Association, Top 50 Ranches, Top 10 Best Ranches of North America, etc.
Ranch type
Also offers
Guest capacity
25
Best for
Kids - age 8+
Months open
Apr-Oct
Watch the ranch
The Hideout
History & hosts
The Hideout started in 1995 as the new Trapper Creek Guest Ranch, named after one of the first guest ranches in the area, The Trapper Creek Guest Ranch. Located down the road from the current ranch location, Trapper Creek Guest Ranch was one of the first guest ranches in the area and operated from 1899 through 1932. Famous guests that stayed at this ranch were Owen Wister, Teddy Roosevelt, Hemmingway, N.C. Wyeth, Huxley, etc. Owned by the same owners as The Hideout, The Trapper Ranch is our AH Horsemanship Clinic and Training location.
Ranch founded
1899
Guest ranch since
1995
Owners
Peter & Marijn De Cabooter
Managers
Peter & Marijn De Cabooter
About the managers
Current owners Peter and Marijn De Cabooter moved over from Belgium in 2006. Born in the Belgian Congo, Peter worked most of his life in International Corporate Positions. Both Marijn and Peter are culturally astute and well-travelled. Both are very passionate about offering an excellent riding and horsemanship experience, surrounded by a hospitality culture focussed on attention to detail, authenticity and really caring about their guests, staff and horses. Marijn heads the riding program. She holds a Parelli Level 4. Marijn has ridden many years working cattle, taking guests out. Marijn is passionate about playing at Liberty with horses.
Your manager
Staff qualities
- Authentic with an honest “can do and make it happen’ attitude
- Character, Conduct and Competence
- The need to see Diversity as an Asset
Accommodation types
Western rustic chic, Luxury 5-Star
Gene Kilgore's notes
The setting
Our Culture of The 3 C's of Character, Conduct and Competence is our most important asset. What we say is what we do. What we commit to is what we will deliver on. Our crew is friendly, respectful, polite, authentic and really cares.The owners believe strongly that to enable to offer a great guest and hospitality experience for our guests, our entire crew (which includes people, horses, dogs,..) needs to feel cared for and respected. Only then they can care and fully concentrate on you as guests. We take pride, respect and care of our horses who are part of our team and we want our guests to treat out horses with equal respect.
Community
As a guest ranch located in the small community of Shell with population 83 we are involved with and support the community. We have bought and restored historial buildings in town that are key to the cultural, social and historical frame work of our little hamlet of Shell. We have moblised and involved a growing number of Hideout repeat guests to work with us and the community.
Conservation
We believe strongly in being caring long term stewards of the lands we use and manage. No matter if this is our own private land, BLM (Bureau of Land Management), National Forest, Wilderness or property and lands owned by other private owners.
Each year we plant more trees, we work on stream banks to improve fish habitat, improve pasture and grazing areas using low impact methods. We practice rotational grazing and try to conserve on water where possible and practical.
When to go
The Hideout's main season runs from the first week of April through the first week of November. Typically the ranch offers one or two winter riding weeks, limited to a small number of guests. Depending on interest, we also offer one or two weeks of horsemanship clinics in March. There is never a bad time to visit The Hideout as we offer a different, yet exceptional experience depending on the season you visit. Typically the number of riders will be smaller at the beginning and the end of the season. Given the high number of repeat guests, the ranch books up well ahead of the season.
Why we love it
- The staff at The Hideout will make your stay memorable; they are detail-oriented, down-to-earth and service-driven
- It's a 100-year-old, 250,000 acre Wyoming Cattle Ranch with a European touch when it comes to food and pampering
- Authentic working cowboys teach low-stress cattle handling and horsemanship
- A unique combination of upscale, near-customized attention combined with diverse terrain, it’s a rider and photographer's dream
What to consider
- There are no supervised children's programs, as The Hideout encourages families to spend time together
