I booked this tour in after seeing the details on The Sagebrush Ranch website, which looks fantastic....unfortunately, very misleading!!
The day before the scheduled ride Las Vegas experienced heavy snow, rain, and very cold temperatures. The couple we were travelling with contacted the Ranch to see if we could cancel our booking as similar weather was forecasted for the next day. They were given the run around and told to phone back several times and couldn't get a straight answer from anyone. I should note that switching the ride date was not an option for us as we were all leaving Vegas the following day. To make a long story shorter they would not cancel our trip so we ended up going despite the freezing temps. Big mistake...it would've been better to just forfeit the money and have spent the day doing something fun.
We started off with hotel pick up and a drive through heavy traffic that lasted about 1.5hrs. We finally arrived at the "ranch" to find a a locked gate. The driver turned around and went in through an aternate road which is actually the entrance a garbage dump (literally) that is on the property,. He proceeds to tell us that this a dump used by the city of Las Vegas. Why he felt he had to share that disgusting piece of info is beyond me. The rest of the property is strewn with pipes, old vehicles, and numerous disgusting things. The whole time we were driving we were looking for the "ranch"....well, suprise...there never was one!
We were let off in the middle of a field with a port-a-pottie and a large metal storage container placed on it. We were then loaded up on tired looking horses who had seen better days. During the ride itself the horses would do nothing other than follow one another on a worn path. Trying to direct them to turn, go, or stop was useless. The ride itself was definately not as described on the website; rather than being a guided tour along places on interest in the area you are actually just making a circle through a flat field strewn with garbage, broken pipes, old clothes washers/dryers and other nasty treats. What a joke!
After the ride we were fed supper, which was just "ok". It was way too cold (and wet )to eat outside, but there was nowhere else to go seeing as there are no buildings on the property at all. We had a choice of wet metal folding chairs or soggy hay bails to sit on. As noted in previous posts the menu is also not as described...must be an apple pie shortage in the area amongst other menu malfunctions. After the meal our driver/cook proceeds to gather the garbage from the trip and throws the stinking mess into the fire being used to keep us from freezing to death. At that point we were so beyond ready to leave we all hopped into the van in hopes that we could return to our hotels. This is where the real "adventure" started....
By the time we left it was pitch-black outside. We were driving on a narrow road with a steady flow of traffic coming at us from the opposite direction. The van itself is poorly maintained and would shudder badly when driving at anything above a few mph. Our driver must've had something important to tend to at home in Vegas as he proceeded to drive at 110mph while the posted speed limit was 70mph!!! It felt like the wheels were going to fall off any second. To top it off he had a habit of blinding the oncoming drivers with his highbeams if they left their own on a little to long for his liking. He wouldn't simply "flash" his as a warning, but would intentionally turn them on as the car past by to blind them as they crossed our path. I have never been so afraid in a vehicle in my life. I honestly felt as though we would not make it back to Vegas. My husband finally had to ask him to slow down by expressing that we did not wish to be in an accident while on our vacation. This was absolutely not acceptable, I hope no one else has to go through such a hairy experience.
We were travelling from Canada, where we use kms instead of mph. I was shocked beyond belief when I learned that the 110mph that I saw on the speedometer converted to 160kms! Who in their right mind drives that fast??
I should also note that the return drive should take aprox 55 minutes (based on distance and posted speed limit), but it took only 30 minutes total! Had we not asked him to slow down I am porsitve we never would've made it back.
Please think twice before booking with this place, it is not worth the risk and is dissapointing in every regard.