hat creek ranch

A great place to enjoy nature, culture and days gone by. Great stories and legends are encompassed in this virtually on touched hotel. Step back into the gold rush days then discover the culture of the Bonaparte First Nation. We enjoyed spending the night in a tee pee and breakfast at the ranch. Our group loved finding arrowheads and roaming the pioneer ranch.

A great attraction, this historic site has been maintained as it was back in 1910. Originally a stage coach stop, you get a real feel for how people lived back in these days, complete with a saloon, hotel rooms, kitchen, farm and blacksmiths (the kids lost their hand made nails to airport security - so if you are travelling internationally make sure they go in your luggage). A First Nations information area, well done, and a chance to try your hand at gold panning. All guides are in period dress and are friendly and informative. A stage coach takes you from one area to another. Very reasonably priced with a lovely tea rooms and gift store.

We stopped here on our Canadian Rockies tour for brunch and a leg stretch and were welcomed with smiles and great food. It was like stepping back into the old days with a stage coach doing laps of the compound, period costumes, authentic style buildings and good old hospitality. Take the time to wander the grounds and immerse yourself in the gold rush era. Don't miss the sausage rolls or blueberry scones sold at the restaurant, they are delicious and all baked on site. An interesting educational program is offered for school groups along with guided trail rides and don't miss the visit to the Native Village where First Nations people share their culture and history. Located between Kamloops and Whistler, Hat Creek Ranch is a perfect place to take a break and spend a few memorable moments (hours) appreciating our ancestors struggles and triumphs during the gold rush times. All the staff are incredibly friendly, courteous and helpful, facilities are spotlessly clean and the food is great! The onsite camp ground accommodates motorhomes and caravans and is one of the accommodation options.

Great old ranch style set up around old coaching in which was actually in use until 1957! Authentic rooms, furniture, fittings, clothing and the like. Excellent peep into the past mining days etc. Good selection of outbuildings, small First Nations site and stage coach ride around the whole area.

My family lives in the lovely town of Ashcroft which is just a short 20 minute drive South of Hat Creek Ranch. I have lived here for 6 years and never visited Hat Creek until my neighbour told me about it. I took my girls ages 1& 4 there in the afternoon and ended up staying for almost 3 hours. We paid for the season pass since it was worth it for us since the girls loved it so. Uh and we we knew we would be back this season. The season pass does not cover the price of the pony rides which are an extra $15. My oldest (4) wanted to ride the pony so the employee Sara helped her put on her helmet and got her on the horse. She was extremely friendly, my daughter liked her so much we came back a month later to ride again. Another fun thing to do is the stage coach ride. We rode it twice. Once inside and once on the top. You can go as long or as little as you would like. The driver, can't remember his name, has been working for Hat Creek for ever and has so many stories to tell about the museum. I heard Hat Creek is going to open up the heritage house in the evenings for guest to stay the night in. Now that is something I would interested in doing! I hope they do. Don't forget to tour the museum, eat the ice cream, pan for gold, eat an apple from the orchard, admire all the antiques (most all are originals!), feed the chickens, and take your photo my the bridge.

We visited here with a tour group and were treated to a display of dancing by First Nation people.We loved the dancing and the traditional dress and the way the ranch is set up with historical displays. Thankyou to everyone involved.

Stopped here as part of our tour on the way to Whistler - we only intended to stay for a quick bite and toilet break but spent two hours here and could have spent much more time.There are lots of interesti8nmg facts about when this was a way station and how it developed, the First nation village exhibition and guides were superb and the overall atmosphere was very welcoming.Lunch was excellent , good value and quick service. All very fresh and tasty - it set us up for the 160 mile trip to Whistler.We are hoping we can fit in another visit on our next trip if our itinerary permits. but would love to spend more time there. The Show looked good and I would expect if you have kids with you, you could easily spend 4-5 hours here.Very friendly and welcoming staff. - do stop in if you are passing - it is worth it.

Spent 2 hours at this Heritage B.C. museum. It was absolutely wonderful with many unique antiques. The employees, who were all in costume, have great stories to tell of the Gold Rush and the various owners. The stagecoach ride was awesome, beware if you have back difficulties, no springs back in the day.... Very entertaining!

The restaurant food was good, It cost $25 for a family which was a fair price I thought. However the $15 for a 5 minute horse ride I thought was high. There were people dressed in period clothes that were available for private tours. We had a great tour of the Native village. The stage coach was there to drive you to the next venue or you could walk. The stage coach was fun. There was a short 15 minute skit put on by the snake skin oil salesman, the kids enjoyed the ruby mining in the water/gold panning area set up. The blacksmith shop was closed. The road house was still original wall paper etc. and authentic. It is quite small compared to Barkerville or Fort Steele, but we took about 2 hours to go through everything.

We stayed two nights in one of the cabins, and enjoyed everything the ranch had to offer. The family cabin is one room with 2 sets of bunk beds, front deck and full bathroom. No air conditioning like the 'deluxe' cabin, but that was fine. We arrived after the ranch was closed, and the cabin was left open for us as promised. After having camped for a few days, the full sized fridge was very much appreciated (and clean!). We had breakfast in the restaurant and really enjoyed it - no frills, homecooked breakfast. The staff was friendly and genuine. When visiting the historic ranch, we found the staff enthusiastic and welcoming, and clearly enjoying their roles. Daniel gave us a great tour - even kept the kids interested (ages 9 and 13)! We also attended his performance as a snake oil salesman - he did a fantastic job, delivering both information and getting laughs. The native village was really interesting as well, and again, the kids liked it. The kekuli was a particular hit. Overall, a restful, informative visit that was actually better than expected.

We stayed just one night in a cabin and spent most of the following day at the museum. The accommodation is basic - in fact we BBQ'd without much crockery or cutlery and the museum itself was closed, but that was all part of the fun. It was clean, excellent value for money and a great adventure.The museum itself is amazing, exceptionally well preserved saloon bar and house, enthusiastic and helpful staff and a well functioning restaurant.We particularly enjoyed the trail ride with Sam - great horses and a lot of fun. Would definitely return if we're ever in the area again.

Stopped in for an overnighter with our Scouts on the way to Bowron Lakes. Highly recommend a visit for several reasons: The staff was very friendly, informative, patient, engaged, and welcoming. We arrived a bit late from our appointment, but the staff stuck around to see us through the tour and stagecoach ride for the kids. We wanted something different for the kids so we rented the T-pee's and they loved them. We had picked one of the available dinner options from their kitchen to keep more time available for the boys after a very long day of driving and the two ladies were very helpful and the boys were well fed. Having them give us directions to a great swimming hole just a 10 min walk or so from the main ranch area was just what we all needed in the 100 degree heat. Kids loved the panning chute that was available with a few "planted" items in it. I found the office staff for my booking to be terrific and timely in helping me shape a experience for the boys and very flexible with our needs. As my title for this says it was way beyond my expectations and the cost was very reasonable for our group.

If you love all things cowboy? The Wild West? A place the children of all ages will be interested (I know it's tough to pull them out of their tablet....) and you want to teach them a little about ranch life? Hat Creek Ranch has it all.We did not eat at their restaurant, but took the tour around the property. There is also a stagecoach drawn by horses that comes around, but we were there at the wrong time. We did stop at their fine store upstairs. There's postcards, books on ranching life, paintings, clothing and lots of other fun things to tempt you into buying. We did get some ice cream and got the biggest scoops on a waffle cone I've ever seen! Well worth it. Very educational. The people who are there are very helpful, warm and sincere. This is a great place to see what a working ranch looks like. Put your cowboy hats on and your cowboy hat, and have fun. It takes about an hour for the tour. The food smells from the restaurant were great but we had just had lunch elsewhere. Otherwise, I would love to have sat down and tried their chow.

I have visited several of the forts such as Fort Steel and Fort Vancouver but I really liked this place. The 1st nation re created village on site was fun with a kind and informative local lady who was one of the local tribe who took us around and explained lots of things. Some very nice displays. Learnt a lot about the good relationships here between white settlers and native American people. The old hotel staging post with its never been changed wallpaper and room fittings including the bar was absolutely genuine and therefore special. the working blacksmith on site explained a lot about transportation and the frequency of horse changes for carriages. You get a free ride included in the entry price on a stage coach! Taught me to appreciate better modern car travel after that ride! Good facilities, toilets, food and drink

My wife and I were the first guests for the new season 2014 .we arrived at 4.45 pm on 01/05/2014 And we're given a great welcome ,and we booked a cabin for one night,it was already to go and we settled in for the evening. The cabin consisted of one double bedroom ,bathroom with bath shower ,and all the necessary!!!It could have slept at least 4 .It was so good we stayed a second night and went around the whole site( you do pay extra) but it was well worth the money and the information which was delivered was simply great,do try the ride on the stage coach,included in the price.We were allowed to light a campfire and a bar b que was provided for us to cook our evening meal.All the staff were incredibly welcoming and also showed concern that we were enjoying ourselves.I would recommend this attraction to anybody.Well done to Don and all his colleagues at Hatch Creek Ranch. We really enjoyed ourselves,thank you.L