R&R at the ranch

Southern Living, May 1998 by Rada, Joe

Here's the fifth in our series of soft adventures for 1998.

Beams of morning sunlight paint the manes of Appaloosas grazing on spring grass that barely hides the rocky, rust-red ground of western Oklahoma. From a horse barn rings the hammer-on-anvil pounding of a farrier. The sound drifts up to a bunkhouse where rising guests take in a prairie view. A few idly knock the caked mud of yesterday's adventures from their boots.

A bell announces breakfast on the table and another day is underway at Coyote Hills Ranch.

People-especially family, church, company, and scout groups-come to this remote, 480-acre spread in the Black Kettle National Grasslands for the simple pleasures of ranchstyle rest and relaxation. The agenda nearly always includes trail rides along the ridges and eroded gulches of crumbling red-rock mesas.

Scrub oak, mesquite, and sagebrush mix with meadows of Indian blanket, Mexican hat, snakeroot, and other native flowers. Pink-hued alabaster boulders (known locally as spirit rocks) invite scrambling.

One startling view shows a scaffold of wooden poles, a ceremonial burial rack decorated with feathers, buckskins, arrows, and a buffalo skull. Elsewhere stands a cluster of canvas tepees where guests sometimes opt to bed down. Riders look up to spot red-tailed hawks circling, down to see dogs Max, Summer, Wiley, or Sam loping alongside, and out for possible glimpses of deer, bobcats, coyotes, and mountain lions.

Some visitors bring sturdy mountain bikes to bounce along paths and little-used ranch roads. Others take short hikes to the tops of surrounding hills, a few crowned with howling coyote shapes cut from metal, or pitch horseshoes in the shade of cottonwoods and live oaks.

Off-ranch adventures lead to the nearby Battle of the Washita National Park, where George Custer attacked a peaceful Cheyenne village in 1868; the Black Kettle Museum; the scenic Antelope Hills that once marked the Mexico border; and OK Honey Farm for tours.

Guests make sure to return in time for hay wagon rides. These often lead to chuckwagon meals at some serene spot.

Later in the day there's likely to be a string band playing country tunes and a dance floor cleared for action. A library and game room invites visitors to relax. Between activities, guests eventually hook up with Coyote Hills Ranch owner Kass Nickels for a conversation or two.

"My grandfather farmed this land," Kass says. "All but the steepest parts were plowed for cotton, maize, and wheat. Drought in the thirties blew the soil away and ended that. Taking care of people on vacation turns out to be much more reliableand a lot more fun too."

As for the ranch's name, Kass relates this tale. "Grandfather claimed he fell off his horse in a snowstorm once and stayed warm by gathering coyotes around him. He named the place as a tribute. It's not very believable, but it's a good enough story."

Sooner or later guests drift over to the 20-room bunkhouse. It's comfortable but not luxurious. Most rooms have twin beds, a bathroom, and a window-unit air conditioner. When dawn breaks there's wideopen views again, horses grazing until saddle-up time, and muddy boots on the porch to clean for another day's adventure. Joe Rada

Coyote Hills Ranch: PO. Box 99, Cheyenne, OK 73628; (580) 4973931. Location: Midway between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, Texas, about 35 miles north of I-40 Exit 20 via U.S. 283 and State 47. Rates: $85, including all meals and activities.