Rancho Las Cascadas

Photo Gallery (12 photos)

I forget how many horses are on the property, but there are a lot of them! Mostly local breeds - Criollo, Mestizo, Quarter Horse, and two unregistered Aztecas. They all stay together in a giant pasture on the property. They look quite happy and chill most of the time and seem to be well taken care of.

However…my first horse started rolling with me on top halfway through the first hike. I didn’t feel super unsafe but I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t instinctively jumped out of the way. After that ride the wrangler decided to give me someone else. I tried a few other horses who were all good before meeting a stallion named Hermes. He stood out for his looks and his speed and I requested him for the rest of my rides, although they did say he needed a break on one of the remaining days. Aside from the one rolling issue the horses were great to ride - responsive enough for an advanced rider but also able to just follow the leader for a beginner.

I was a little confused by the care - the horses remained fully tacked during breaks, which concerned me given the length of some rides and lunch break (over an hour). While the ranch cites wind protection as the reason, I would have preferred to see horses given relief from saddle pressure, even if that meant using blankets as an alternative. Also the saddles themselves were not great for the humans (see my notes in the next section) - I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t great for the horses either.

IMPORTANT: Saddle Incompatibility Issues

One big problem I noticed while I was there is the tack. Mexican saddles are kind of like Western saddles but way less comfortable because they are bigger. They look comfortable and I think beginners love them because the horn is as big as a desert plate - so you think you’ll just hold on instead of falling off.

But the downside of the heft of these saddles is that it is very easy to get sore! Over half of the people at the ranch with me while I was there developed bad rashes or sores that made them cancel rides. And the ranch really didn’t have anything to help with such problems, plus it was far from the pharmacy…making the problem even worse! Guests would end up losing a whole day to just sitting around the pool waiting for someone to drive them to the pharmacy.

There were sheepskin that one could request but they were REALLY run down and didn’t do much. Some repeat guests had resorted to bringing their own saddle seat saver equipment.

They did have some basic stuff for guests to borrow - helmets, cowboy hats, half chaps. I would really recommend bringing your own helmet though.

I’d really expect a ranch that wants people to have a good time to at least have some basics on hand instead of having to go to the pharmacy for every incident but alas! I would definitely recommend bringing lots of big gauze pads, anti-chafe ointments, etc if you go just in case.

You get to go on two rides a day - a long morning ride (2-3 hours) and usually a shorter afternoon ride (1-2 hours). They also sometimes switch the long and short rides. The nice thing is that they give everyone the option of a fast or slow ride so you can decide what general pace you want to take. Every morning the manager will come over during breakfast, asking about your ride preferences for the day as well as any horse requests. The fast rides include gallops and the slow rides are mostly walking though you can ask the wrangler for some canters if everyone else is ok with it. I did mostly fast rides - the terrain is mostly very even and there are a fair amount of canters - probably half a dozen in the morning and 3-4 in the afternoon.

Horses are tacked for you, you basically just need to show up and get on the mounting block. There are even some helmets, cowboy hats and half chaps you can borrow but I wouldn’t count on it since supplies are limited. Also I really wouldn’t trust helmets in these types of settings - I bring my own.

Participating in any of the horse care is actively discouraged but you are allowed to go hang out with them while they are in the pasture and give them treats (I brought some apples and carrots with me).

I was told it’s a no trotting stable, to make it easier for beginners to go fast since it’s easier for them to sit a canter than a trot. Which sounds odd to me, but I guess that’s what a dude ranch has to do? Now I don’t think it’s super strict - I requested a few trots when I noticed that my beginner husband was not quite up for a canter and they obliged so you can do whatever you really want to do. One morning I even went out on my own with a wrangler and it was totally fine (though a bit boring). I wouldn’t say it’s entirely a nose to tail ride because you can spread out and catch up as you want but you are expected to kinda stay in a line.

The scenery was really interesting for about 3 days. I still get amused by my pictures of sheep next to giant aloe vera plants. The mountains in the background together with the appropriately dressed wranglers make you feel like you're in a cowboy film. But it got a little old after a while. The routes varied daily, but the landscape remained similar enough that it felt a little repetitive by day 5 I think on the last days we even repeated some long stretches a few times.

I was lucky to be staying at the same time as a group of experienced riders who were at the ranch for a second time and remembered some nice day trips. When they enquired about repeating a few, they were told the current wranglers were fairly new and didn’t know all the routes yet but they did take us on one full day trip.

The day trip was more interesting - it was slower because the terrain became very mountainous after we crossed a few fields. At some points we even had to get off the horses because it was really rocky. Then we had a break in a nice area with woods and a stream and had some fruit. We also got to see some cool stone formations. I thought the fruit was lunch but on the way back we ended up at some small restaurant where the wrangler ordered us some huge dishes of local food. It was cool to just tie our horses up and order enchiladas. We also passed some wild mustangs in the distance. Overall, it was a really nice ride and I definitely recommend asking about their daylong trips if you go!

Another note is that English is really quite limited for most of the wranglers - you can request going somewhere or a canter or something but more involved conversations will require you to learn some Spanish.

Ok so the first thing to note about the accommodation is the design! The whole place is just so beautifully done with local artisan touches everywhere you look, it truly feels like you entered some fairy tale. There are big ceramic animals hanging out next to flower pots, the gardens have glass sculptures swaying from the trees, etc. The pictures really don’t do it justice - you kind of have to go experience it for yourself. And the owner seems to be continuously working on it - when I was there she was obsessing about a new carp pond that she had installed with some cute benches for just hanging around and watching fish during the day.

My room

I requested a room with a view of the horses and I indeed got one with the back looking into the pasture. You could either have one closer to the horses or closer to where the bar/dining/common/pool area was. I was glad I picked the places next to the horses, while we didn’t have any rowdy guests. I think staying in the common area could get loud if you wanted to sleep before everyone else went to bed. The room was also arranged with a sitting area right next to the window facing the horses so it was really nice to just enjoy my cup of morning coffee while looking out at the herd.

The rooms were quite comfy and fitting the rest of the beautiful design. But it was also very rural accommodation so when they call it “luxury” I definitely would not expect RItz Carlton. There was no AC or heater, and since it was winter we basically relied on the stone to accumulate enough heat during the day to warm us at night. This actually worked really well but it left me wondering if the summer was as comfortable. There was also some plumbing issue where if you didn’t close the plug in the shower it could stink up your room. The windows also had no screen in front and very bright lights because the outside was dark so it was hard for me to sleep at first. Eventually I covered it by shutting off everyone's lights after they went to bed and then by placing a side table and my suitcase on top. Eventually I guess one of the maids noticed my dilemma and stapled a blanket over the window. It’s very nitpicky, I know, but it really amazes me how many hotels just don’t bother to make sure that all the windows can be closed off from street lights. But on the bright side the rural location meant there was very little noise to keep one up at night. Water was refilled in a pitcher every day and there was some instant coffee available.

Facilities

There is a pool on the premises that is used quite a bit. The pool was really nice for cooling off and there was lots of lounge seating to hang out with a book or a margarita. The dogs act as lifeguards which is really cute.

I remember the website advertised yoga classes. The yoga studio is really nice and I went there a few times to stretch but there were definitely no classes while I was there. There’s also talk of the sweat lodge in the website - this also seems to be all talk as a regular guest there told me they had no constructed it properly so it doesn’t really work as it should unfortunately.

The hiking around the area was really nice - it’s called “Las Cascadas” because there are two waterfalls on the property and I love being near falling water so that was a great perk. There are also a few waterfalls further away and the two ranch dogs will guide you to them which is really fun.

We also tried to get a massage once but honestly I wasn’t a huge fan. The cost was the same as a basic massage in NYC, the room was quite basic and I like to have some aromatherapy, and nice music, etc to relax. But I guess it’s nice to have the option if you’re really sore.

Location

As I alluded to the chafing earlier, a major downside I noticed was the remote location and lack of transportation options to pharmacies, etc. When riders felt like they needed to grab something from the pharmacy to keep riding they sometimes had to take a whole day off while they waited for a driver to become available or for the owner to go into town for an errand so they could tag along. This really seemed unfortunate and something that could be fixed, perhaps by keeping some supplies at the ranch and having more regular rides into town available.

The food (5 stars)

Three meals a day prepared by cooks on site. The breakfast was usually the same - avocado, eggs, toast, etc, - but quite good. Then lunch was always eaten outside in the garden and different every day. I especially loved the homemade guacamole - it was some of the best I’ve ever had. Dinner was served family-style at the same time every night and it was also varied by day and delicious. All very local and very fresh cuisine that I wouldn’t mind having for the rest of my life. I don’t think I had the same dinner twice and they always made sure to make me something special since I’m pescatarian. They also always offered seconds though I don’t think I ever felt like I needed that. Some of the guests mentioned that you could do cooking classes - I was already stretching my budget so didn’t enquire but it did sound like a cool idea because the kitchen staff was good at cooking and really nice.

There were unlimited soft drinks, topo chico, wine and tequila in the bar that you could have whenever you wanted and you could grab some fruit for snacks in the kitchen in between meals. The guests during my stay generally didn't go too crazy on the booze - I mostly made margaritas for other people because I enjoy mixing drinks more than drinking them. The one exception was when the ranch hosted a group of airline workers for a day visit. They paid to do a short ride and use the facilities, and all the tequila was gone in short order as the pool turned into a party. It was not my favorite day, but the peacefulness of the rest of the days made up for it.

The rates vary based on how long you stay, with discounts for longer stays. Keep in mind that tax & tip is on top of posted rates, so add around 30% plus two airport transfers at $100 each. The single supplement, I believe, is 20%, which would mean that your final price will be about 50% more than what you see on the rates page.

So the total cost ends up being higher than advertised because you are told after payment that a 15-25% tip on the total cost is expected. Now I understand that Mexico is a tipping culture, but that much on the entire trip seems a little crazy to me. It makes no sense on a total vacation cost, since a lot of the price is just paying for a room and renting a horse, so paying a standard percentage tip on an all-inclusive vacation seems really overboard. At the ranch, they basically force you to go to a private room to check out and tell them how much tip you’ll leave out loud. So awkward!

With the expected tip it’s not a terrible price compared to some others but honestly not the best deal either IMO. For example, Southern Cross Guest Ranch in Georgia seems to offer a similar experience for a lower cost per day - $325/day + transportation there if getting a weekly rate. I haven't been there and it is in the USA so there might be some tipping expectation but it's still half the price. And my favorite trip so far, Segovia, was a far better bargain if you’re not set on a cowboy experience. You also have to pay more for riding days, which makes sense, but decide on the days when you book otherwise it’s a lot more expensive. There were reviews that mentioned that rides got cancelled in inclement weather and money was not returned which I guess is something to keep in mind.