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Just made my 3rd visit to Bar M Ranch. I now go every year, & try to go twice a year. I will return this weekend, with friends.
Here's what you get:
Dark skies at night, filled with stars. Extraordinary sunsets from the deck of the new cabin, where you can sip tea, & let your mind rest, & watch deer & young calves stroll by. Trail rides into the hills, where you cross streams, explore woods, & rest by tranquil lakes of green water.
Movies to watch at night, a full kitchen for leisurely cooking & experimentation. Trisha's company: an extraordinary woman who's sensitive to horses, understands human nature deeply, & ensures you feel completely at ease & secure on a long trail ride.
Trisha's horses: each one a character, full of spirit, generosity, gentleness. Nowanna, who had a hard life & a hard history, before Trisha found him, & who's now the kindest, biggest-hearted horse around, with beautiful manners. Toby, who's playful, hilarious, easygoing & a clown. Shiloh, incredibly smart, interactive, alert & vital.
I love feeding them apples & carrots.
The new cabin: which has everything you need, from a fast & efficient washer/dryer to delicious drinking water on demand, central heat & air conditioning, 2 bathrooms, deep, comfortable sofas, a thoughtfully designed layout & a great bedroom, & a deck with fantastic views. And right next to the corral, so you walk over easily for your trail rides.
Bandera: a charming town, with friendly people, & kayaking on the river in the weekends. Right now, full of twinkly Christmas lights.
Trisha & Mike's gorgeous land: hundreds of acres of woods, meadows, creeks, hills, crags, waterfalls, with Native American artifacts, & trees hundreds of years old---amazing natural beauty that will bring joy into your heart and mind.
If you live in a city, like I do, Bar M Ranch is an oasis for the heart, mind, soul. I return as often as I can.
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Date of stay: December 2015
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Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:There are no bad rooms. The new cabin is fabulous; the older bunkhouse is comfortable & great.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We were making our first trip to Texas. Full of vacation expectation we landed in Austin from Ireland and drove straight away to Bar M Ranch stopping on the way to buy a pair of western riding boots. Anne had them on in no time and we were down in the Corral with Trisha explaining carefully the difference between European riding style and the Western one. We were most attentive as one tends to be in the presence of a first class teacher. I was soon mounting Toby correctly and Anne was up on Donwanna. The first of our rides was exhilirating as here was the opportunity to put into practice the morning's lessons. What fun and how responsive our horses were to our hands, legs and voice. The next day we rode out after a great night's sleep in our comfortable and spotless bunkhouse to enjoy riding thru spectacular scenery guided by Trisha with stories of horses and Hill Country life. We loved looking at landscapes with wild flora, grazing antelope and deer and for us the sounds and sights of unfamiliar birds. Thank you Trisha for a wonderful welcome to Bar M Ranch and thru your lovely ranch to Bandera and indeed to Texas. We will be back! Patrick with Anne.
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Date of stay: April 2016Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great place to stay. Spacious accommodation, clean and well appointed. Nice scenery, deer watching, pretty cattle. They offer trail rides I've heard are great. Just 3 miles from the cowboy capital of Texas, Bandera. We will be going back!
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Date of stay: April 2016Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had a wonderful time at the Bar M. Trisha was a very patient and experienced horsewoman. She spent a lot of time explaining everything about the horses and making sure that we were comfortable. As I am a newbie, I appreciated her very thoughtful instructions. The 3 hour ride went by in a flash! The accommodations were very comfortable, with a fully stocked kitchen and video library. We loved the peace and quiet, the animals and the amazing stargazing!
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Date of stay: February 2016
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I specifically looked for a guest ranch that was peaceful & restful, without a lot of noisy group activity, but with trail rides, & found Bar M in Bandera on Trip Advisor. Trisha can teach anyone how to ride--she's an extraordinary teacher, with an empathy for horses that earns respect.
The horses are wonderful, with adorable personalities, & they nudge & nuzzle you when they like you. My horse, Nuanna, took care to walk at a gentle pace for me, a newbie at this, but sneaked snacks of tender leaves along the way when he thought I wasn't looking. You get to give the horses treats after the ride. I forgot to bring the mini carrots I had in the fridge, but Trisha & Mike have high protein "cookies" the horses really like.
They treat their horses with real understanding & respect here. It shows in how well these horses behave, & how good they are with people. After the riding, the horses run free & browse in beautiful huge open fields. They don't work on the cattle ranch, & they don't get killed or sold when they're too old to ride. If you care about animals, you'll be very happy here with how these working animals are treated. This is not your average guest ranch or dude ranch in Texas.
The guest house has everything you'll need, even detergent for your laundry, & spices in the larder for cooking. We watched part 1 of James Michener's "Texas" last night, & will watch the 2nd half tonight (writing this while we're still here). We plan to be back in the fall. One nice thing is that I can bring my dog with me. This way, we all get to go on vacation.
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Date of stay: April 2014Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Highly recommend this experience no matter what your skill level is. Horses are well trained, loved and trusting. The owner will teach the rider whatever is needed and is very patient to answer all questions.
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Date of stay: May 2013
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My husband and I spent two nights in early April in the bunkhouse at Bar M and took a 3 hour trail ride. Bar M is only a few minutes from the town of Bandera, which is really handy for eating out or getting groceries, especially carrots for treats for the horses. Trisha is wonderful and has really well-trained horses. Whether you are an experienced rider or a novice, you will be in safe hands with a woman who knows everything about horses and who also cares about her guests. This is a 'get away from it all' location and you will have a great ride in beautiful countryside. We wish we were there now.
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Date of stay: April 2013
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent 3 nights in the bunk house at the Bar M Ranch and didn't want to leave! The bunk house itself is really lovely, clean and cozy and has brilliant amenities. We even did our clothes washing there because we were on a 3wk road-trip and there was plenty of laundry detergent etc for us to use. They also leave whatever condiments, herbs, spices, cooking oil etc. that people bring which is really useful. Definitely check the cupboards before you head out to the supermarket in Bandera which is only a couple of miles away. The surroundings are beautiful and peaceful and we felt so relaxed here. We saw plenty of deer and interesting birds while we were here. There's a fire pit so you can have a camp fire and there's also a BBQ (which we didn't use). Loads of videos and DVD's to watch as well, we settled in on our first night with a John Wayne film and a bottle of wine, perfect :-) As for the horseriding - amazing! We'd been left a welcome note by Trisha to meet her at the corrals at 8.45am and as neither myself nor my boyfriend had been on a horse before we were feeling a little aprehensive and nervous, we needn't have been though because Trisha was brilliant, she clearly adores her horses and is extremely patient and an excellent teacher, she spent a good hour teaching us the basics before we mounted and we did our best to do everything she taught us. The horses were so well trained, once we were on the trail we barely had to do anything, they seemed to know the trails really well and were perfectly behaved the whole time. We couldn't wait for the trail the next day now that we had the hang of it! Staying at Trisha and Mike's ranch was one of the highlights of our 3wk trip. I would whole heartedly recommend staying here... and to think we almost booked to stay at one of those commercial dude ranches! If you want peace and tranquility and a more intimate, one-to-one horseriding experience, definitely pay this ranch a visit.
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Date of stay: November 2015
Location
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My group was one of the first group to stay in the bunkhouse over 15yrs ago, the Bar-M has been our only vacation destination since then. We love Trish and Mike for not only the wonderful people they are but also for their dedication to always making the ranch a true working ranch, not a commercial gimic. The riding trails have some on the best views in Bandera county but the abundance of wildlife is incrediable. They have done a fantastic job of keeping all the activities authentic to cowboy culture but in the process have made safety uncompromising. You will never feel more relaxed and stress free no matter the activities you are blessed enough to experience at the Bar-M. The town of Bandera has great shopping, dining and the Medina River. I kayak year round, even in a wetsuit if needed, because I believe it is the best river in Texas. Then you come back to your lodging at the ranch and have everything you could ever need. A full size kitchen and bathrooms, a very comfortable bed, TV's with a wide variety a great movies and my favorite part(besides the price) a full size washer and dryer. They opened up another cabin this year and it should be featured in a magazine because of it's outstanding interior but also the views of the hills that can be enjoyed inside or outside on the best deck ever! I highly recommend it not only for the price, not only for the wildlife, horseback riding, the beauty of the hill country but it is the most relaxing place on earth. I truly believe it is heaven on earth! Thank you Trish and Mike for sharing the Bar-M with all of us, ya'll are the best!
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Date of stay: July 2015
Location
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Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Quiet and peaceful best describe the Bar M Guest Ranch experience. For many years now we’ve made this place our therapeutic retreat to help get us through all of the stress and pressures that go with life in the big city. This is an actual working ranch in a setting that features a picturesque backdrop of fertile farm and cattle pastures nestled against the hill country’s magnificent mountain ranges and panoramic vistas.
It’s a perfect place to just get away, relax, and breathe the fresh air from the front porch or deck of their lodging accommodations, but they offer much more for those who love hiking, exploring trails, campfires, or riding horses in a peaceful, tranquil, and unobtrusive setting.
Did I say horseback riding? Let me tell you, if you’ve never been on a trail ride you should try it at least once, and there’s no better place than with Trisha. She is an exceptional, well seasoned and caring instructor who will make sure your experience is memorable, exciting, relaxing, and stress free, no matter your level of expertise.
If you’re concerned about the quality or cost of lodging here, don’t be. You just can’t beat it. They now offer two lodging choices, a wonderful and well appointed guest cottage that includes all the amenities in the world you would need, and a newly constructed cabin that we had the pleasure of staying in for the first time this trip. It’s entirely secluded and features a remarkable panoramic deck view of their ranch property, complete with grazing deer, cattle, horses, and other wildlife. The cabin’s interior is comfortable, cozy, modern yet rustic, and equipped with everything you have at your own home … and it’s all new and in pristine condition.
For those who wish to shop around, the Bar M Guest Ranch prices will be extremely hard to beat, but why bother. Once you’ve met Trisha and Mike and witnessed firsthand their wonderful hospitality, you’ll forget about going anywhere else.
We highly recommend this place.
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Date of stay: November 2014
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
"The "cabin" sleeps four on very comfortable pull out couches(these are not your typical pull out couches,I would have one of these bed /couches for guests in my house,very comfortable).The bathroom is modern and very clean and the washer/dryer and full kitchen make the stay very convenient.The ranch is a very pretty and quiet place to stay and explore the hillcountry from."
There are more places to choose from in the Bandera area.
LOCATION
United StatesTexasBandera CountyBandera
NUMBER OF ROOMS
2
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Frequently Asked Questions about Bar M Guest Ranch, LLC
Which popular attractions are close to Bar M Guest Ranch, LLC?
Nearby attractions include Bandera Historical Rides (0.7 miles), Bandera Natural History & Art Museum (3.0 miles), and Frontier Times Museum (2.8 miles).