Ring Lake Ranch

10/29/2025

Remember summer? 💦☀️

Trail Lake, rafts, sunshine, laughter. As we move into the quiet of winter, we carry the memory of days spent with friends in sacred wilderness.

✨ Renewal doesn’t just happen in silence — sometimes it’s found in floating, resting, and letting joy bubble up.

Where will you seek renewal next summer? 🌲

10/23/2025

Dear Ring Lake Ranch Family,

We are writing to share that after 14 years of faithful service our Executive Director, Andy Blackmun, will be retiring in 2026. It is likely that for many of you, Andy is the only person you’ve known in that role. Andy’s work and ministry have provided so much that nourishes our renewal in the wilderness in so many ways:

Excellent programming/presenters
Deeply spiritual leadership in prayer and reflection
Construction, management, and extensive renovation of facilities
Staff recruitment, development, and management
Introduction to many poets and essayists
Andy’s welcoming presence - along with Katherine and their children Elizabeth, Christian, and Ben - fostered an environment in which both long-time and new guests at the Ranch were received into the larger family that makes up our community. We will miss him sincerely and deeply, and hope and pray that he and his family are wonderfully blessed in their next steps and stages.

The Ranch Board has begun working to assess the needs and possibilities that filling the role of Executive Director bring. We plan to use a consultant to support us in considering both current and future needs.

As each of us has been impacted by Andy’s work at the Ranch, we wish to honor him, and we invite you to consider doing so by:

a) Sending personal best wishes, memories, and thanks to him by email to [email protected].
b) Contributing in his honor to the general fund for Ranch projects.

The Board asks for your prayers and positive thoughts during this upcoming time of transition. We believe it is a wonderfully energetic and gifted gathering of folks – yet another testimony to Andy’s work among us – and that we are well equipped to help guide in this season of change.

Sincerely,



The Ring Lake Ranch Board of Directors

10/21/2025

Meet the Herd: Tank, our gentle (kinda) giant. 🐴❤️

A 16-year-old Suffolk Punch Draft gelding, Tank came to us in 2025 after journeys from an Amish Work Horse Rescue to an outfitter in Colorado Springs. Short, squatty, and THICK — with scars that tell of his past — he is living proof that renewal isn’t just for people.
Now, he’s discovering scratches, laughter, and life in sacred wilderness.

💛 Here’s to a new 4 legged friend.

10/16/2025

Close your eyes and you’re here again.

The clink of silverware. The hum of laughter. The sharp call of a Clark's Nutcracker outside the dining hall.

Meals at Ring Lake Ranch are more than food — they are circles of friendship, stories, and renewal.

🪶 What’s your favorite memory from the dining hall?

10/14/2025

Dear Friends,
I hope this email finds all of you well and happy as we move into the autumn months. We are grateful that so many of you attended a retreat last summer!
We are excited to announce our 2026 retreat schedule. Complete program descriptions are available here: https://ringlake.org/programs/.  
Ring Lake Ranch 2026 Schedule of Programs
May 24 – 30: Volunteer Week
May 31 – June 6: Laura Huff Hileman – Dreamwork: a Spiritual Practice  
June 14 – June 20: Melanie DeMore – Songs of Comfort and Calm
June 28 – July 4: Kaitlin Curtice – Journeying with Story 
July 12 – 18: Beth Maczka – Reclaim Mary Magdalene: An Embodied Journey through Scripture and Art History 
July 19 – 25: Julie Mavity Maddalena and Heidi Carrington Heath - Bodies of Worth: Social and Spiritual Resistance to Diet Culture and the Religion of Thinness 
July 26 – August 1 Carrie Newcomer and Helen Blier - What We Need is Here: The Art and Practice of Neighborliness 
August 2 –  8  Felicia Murrell - Living Wholeheartedly: The Practice of Compassionate Listening 
August 9 – 15: Paul Wallace - Science, Religion, and the Strangest Book of the Bible 
August 16 – 22: Pam Houston – Reconnecting with the More Than Human World
8/23 - 8/29: Sanctified Art Collective - Created for Creativity: Art as Spiritual Practice
8/30 - 9/5: Wind River Reservation: Contemporary Perspectives

10/14/2025

We are excited to announce our 2026 retreat schedule. Complete program descriptions are available here: https://ringlake.org/programs/.

Ring Lake Ranch 2026 Schedule of Programs
May 24 – 30: Volunteer Week
May 31 – June 6: Laura Huff Hileman – Dreamwork: a Spiritual Practice
June 14 – June 20: Melanie DeMore – Songs of Comfort and Calm
June 28 – July 4: Kaitlin Curtice – Journeying with Story
July 12 – 18: Beth Maczka – Reclaim Mary Magdalene: An Embodied Journey through Scripture and Art History
July 19 – 25: Julie Mavity Maddalena and Heidi Carrington Heath - Bodies of Worth: Social and Spiritual Resistance to Diet Culture and the Religion of Thinness
July 26 – August 1 Carrie Newcomer and Helen Blier - What We Need is Here: The Art and Practice of Neighborliness
August 2 – 8 Felicia Murrell - Living Wholeheartedly: The Practice of Compassionate Listening
August 9 – 15: Paul Wallace - Science, Religion, and the Strangest Book of the Bible
August 16 – 22: Pam Houston – Reconnecting with the More Than Human World
8/23 - 8/29: Sanctified Art Collective - Created for Creativity: Art as Spiritual Practice
8/30 - 9/5: Wind River Reservation: Contemporary Perspectives

To view the 2026 rates and register for a seminar, please visit our rates page: https://ringlake.org/cabins-rates/.

A couple of our 2026 sessions are full or nearly so. When ‘full session’ messages do appear, please consider contacting Alli at [email protected] to get on the waitlist. People’s plans often change over the intervening months and we almost always find that guests on the waitlist eventually have an opportunity to register. I also encourage you to consider the full range of session topics; each session will be full of opportunities for interesting insights and deep reflection.

We also want to note that, as we announced in the fall of 2024, we have increased our seminar fees 15% over last year. These fee increases are necessary to help us cover the actual costs of offering the Ring Lake Ranch experience to our guests (children 12 and under still attend for free and discounts for referring new guests and for attending two weeks will still apply). We will continue to make sure that anyone who wants to experience Ring Lake Ranch can do so. Scholarship assistance and volunteer opportunities will always be available; please just ask.

Create an account and register directly in our new registration system here: http://cwngui.campwise.com/Customer/ringlake/browser-check-reg.html
Please note that your cabin is not booked and your space is not reserved until we have received a deposit. Only then are you noted as “registered.”

If you have any questions, please contact Alli Moore, RLR Business Manager, at [email protected] or 307-455-2663.

We look forward to welcoming you to Ring Lake Ranch in 2026!

10/14/2025

Some views are timeless. 💙
Lake Louise has been a part of the Ranch’s story since the very beginning. Decades pass, but the still waters and mountain backdrop remind us that creation holds steady while we change and grow.
✨ Whether you came in 1984 when the second picture was taken, or you’ll come in 2026, this place whispers the same invitation: rest, renew, return.
➡️ Swipe to see 40 years of wonder.

10/09/2025

Maverick is spending the off-season in Fort Collins with Melanie Newkirk of MN Equestrian! We can’t wait to see all he learns this winter—Come see how far he’s come when he’s back at the Ranch next summer!

✨ Meet Maverick! ✨
This sweet 4-year-old Quarter Horse is here with us for the off-season, all the way from the beautiful Ring Lake Ranch in Dubois, Wyoming.

He may have two bright blue eyes that make him look a little wild 👀—but don’t let that fool you. Maverick is truly one of the kindest, most willing horses we’ve ever worked with.

While he’s in training to sharpen his skills for ranch life, he’s also part of our lesson program! We’re building his strength, confidence, and responsiveness so he can head back to the mountains even better than he came. 🏔️🐎

👉 Want to take a ride on this sweet boy and learn while he learns? Reach out today to schedule a lesson with Maverick! Spots are limited, and he’s a favorite in the making.

10/03/2025

“Where the road ends, renewal begins.” ✨

The Ring Lake Ranch sign has greeted seekers, riders, and wanderers for nearly 60 years. Bathed in the colors of the Wyoming sky, it feels less like an entrance and more like a welcome home.

🌲 Will you join us next summer in sacred wilderness?

05/07/2025

Hey friends, we've just had a two-person private bath cabin open up for our 7/13-19 session with Terri Tucker Schulz and Keith Schulz on "The Nature that Surrounds Us." This will be a great week exploring the environs around RLR with folks who know a ton about it, so grab the spot before it's gone!

You can find more info about the session here:

Programs & Retreats 2025 Programs Please note: Ring Lake Ranch is open only from late May through early September.Ring Lake Ranch seminars consist of four evening sessions duri…

08/19/2024

Happy to say that, although LuAnne is out sick, the substitute hike leader managed to return with the same number of guests at the start.

06/12/2024

Friends,
We have several cabins that have become available for our retreat with rock art expert Craig Childs, The Old Stories: Ancestral Imagery in Rock Art, July 21st-27th. We would love to have you join us for this fascinating exploration of the range of meanings of rock art across the US and the globe. Since availability is limited, please contact Alli Moore at [email protected] or 307-455-2663 to register.