The Guest Ranch is a 12,000 acre family owned guest ranch located outside of Paso Robles, California near San Luis Obispo County.

A great place for a unique California family vacation or a California Guest Ranch experience. You could enjoy a New Zealand style farmstay / farm stay, or just spend part of your day experiencing a western style horseback ride through the various hills and valleys on the ranch.

This vacation experience puts you in touch with horses, cows, goats, chickens, horseback riding, old barns, hay stacks, fields of barley, grazing cattle, rolling grassy hills, majestic oaks, barn owls, an environmental stewardship discussions , and many opportunities for California wildlife photography and amazing sunsets.

"Thank you for sharing the magic of your home and family" - sBarbara

"What a great vacation. It felt more like being home than I have felt in years. We will be back." - Donna, Seattle, Washington

"The time spent there and with you all changed my whole perspective of life". - Raelyn

"You don’t just offer your guests a place to stay, you slice your life style open and ever so graciously allow your guests to step inside and feel what it’s like to live on the Work Ranch." - Richard and Mary

"Many thanks for a great ride. We were so pleased to learn about the country and about our trusty steeds. We appreciate the opportunity to visit this paradise." - Eveete and Matt, New Hampshire

Looking for a family vacation destination? Get the kids involved and try something off the beaten path. Keith and Melina Bellows of National Geographic offer some helpful hints.

WEEKEND ESCAPE
Where a rooster makes the wake-up call. A friendly Central California farm stay satisfies two urban parents and their tractor-loving toddler.
By Susan Carpenter, Times Staff Writer

Tractors do not yet rival cruise ships as vacation icons. But they would if my 2-year-old were in charge. Thanks to the obscure video "Farm Country Ahead," my son is obsessed with agricultural machinery, hay bales and cows. So my boyfriend, Chris, and I did what doting parents do: We set out to find him some. read more »»»

Featured Diarist in
"The Way We Live in California"
Column on page 42 in the April/May 2005 issue.

Recommended by Via - AAA Traveler's Companion

Head to the Central Coast
for merlot and the Mid-State Fair

By Christopher Hall

For years Paso Robles was a sleepy ranch town best known as a rest stop for motorists half-way between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. In 1954, two of the town's most famous visitors, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, spent the first night of their honeymoon in Paso Robles's Clifton Motel while en route from San Francisco to a lodge near Palm Springs.

These days, though, Paso Robles—or Paso, as the locals call it—is a destination unto itself. Located north of San Luis Obispo on Highway 101 and about 25 miles from the coast, it is the center of one of California's fastest-growing wine regions. People now come to taste a slew of award-winning vintages and discover plenty of other pleasures, from antiquing and Western trail rides to a big country fair and bandstand concerts in a shaded park.

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