“Canoes! We must have canoes for our fall collection photoshoot.”
This is the sentence that brought Wunderkin to discover a majestic 40-acre mountain retreat outside Vail, Colorado. Upon scouting locations for our fall photoshoot we stumbled upon a promotional photo of forest green canoes floating on a calm lake surrounded by awe-inspiring mountains. The location? Piney River Ranch!
And it’s true, Piney River Ranch was the absolute perfect backdrop for an adventurous Wunderkin shoot, but it’s also struck as the perfect family destination for our Wunderkindred followers. Piney River Ranch is open seasonally from June to September to both day and overnight visitors and offers a variety of rustic lakefront lodging options including glamping tents, cabins, and even a yurt!
Even though our Wunderkin team and “mini models” were only at Piney River Ranch for half of the day, we rented the glamping tent where we hung out for several hours. This tent was so adorable and perfect for a family. It featured a plush queen sized bed, two twin beds, a little eating table, and spacious porch with wooden chairs!
Each yurt, cabin and glamping tent is a short walk to a bathroom area with running water, toilets and mirrors. Private to only overnight visitors, it’s stays clean and is never too busy! Also in walking distance of sleeping quarters is an awesome barbecue restaurant. The meat is freshly smoked on the premises and the dining views are truly hard to beat.
Now, let’s get those green canoes!!! Piney River Ranch offers canoe rentals, paddle boarding rentals, horseback riding trail rides, fishing rentals, and AMAZING hiking experiences. Rentals are open to both overnight lodging guests of Piney River Ranch as well a day-visitors, but as overnight guests we received two free canoe rentals with our stay!
As a company built on social media it was bit ironic that we ended up shooting on a location with ZERO access to phones or Internet, but it’s because of this that we think Piney River Ranch is the perfect weekend trip for a family. It’s quite simply a perfect opportunity to unplug from technology, connect with each other, and take in the incomparable surroundings.
In the end, we at Wunderkin are glad we got “the canoe shot,” but we’re more even happy to have found this little amazing piece of nature.
If you’re headed to Piney River Ranch or a similar destination, we suggest the following pack list! Find out more and book your stay at www.pineyriveranch.com.
Maggie is the editor of the Wunderkindred blog and proud member of the Wunderkin family. She resides in Denver but hails from the great state of Texas. In her free time Maggie loves watching sports, cooking, baking and DIY home improvement.
