K-Diamond K Ranch

Hmmmm. Where to start? I wanted to stay at a guest ranch, and we'd checked this 1700 acre place out years ago when we were still RVing and were impressed at the time with the facility and people. Here's something for all of you business owners to remember: a personal touch in marketing really pays off. We'd signed the guest register at the time and for the past ~14 years have gotten a card every Christmas. We felt sort of a kinship with the family who has owned this place since the 60's, so it made sense to give it a try. The owners are experiencing the same struggle as businesses everywhere, as it's dicey getting quality staff to hire, so co-owner Kathy is doing much of the work herself during the weekdays. This provided me/us the opportunity to really (and I mean REALLY) experience life on a working ranch. We were the only guests there mid-week so we had the run of the place.

If you are an experienced horseperson, regardless of your discipline, prepare to set aside your personal knowledge/opinions about horses and certain aspects of riding. This is a working ranch and these are working guest ranch horses - not your arena trained dressage mounts or western pleasure show horses. With 45 head of horses (about 35 actively working) their training is geared toward riders with limited experience and you must follow the ranch's rules about riding. So many places are no longer offering horseback riding, as the insurance has gone through the roof, so we as customers have to respect that. I was impressed with how sensible the horses were and while no horse is "spook proof" these horses were pretty close. Even well-seasoned backcountry horses would have shied at some of the stuff we rode around and these horses didn't. I also liked the fact that Kathy has about a million saddles so I could ride in one that actually fit me.

Cattle work isn't officially offered as an activity anymore, but I had the good fortune to be there when a second horseperson was sort of essential to getting the herd from point A to point B. I won't go into details, but I'd never thought my first experience on horseback around cattle with giant horns (and bulls) would have been on an Arabian mare. She was unflappable around the cattle, and turns out this was her first ride of the season so I was impressed. After our work was done we rode up one of their local mountains (foothill) and got a view of the river and surrounding territory.

My second ride was a short one just before we left, on a different horse, and I was able to see more of the lower river terrain this time. It's beautiful country.

In addition to cattle work I fed the runt piglet multiple times daily, visited the sow and her kids, fed the mare and her new foal and was there to turn them out for the first time in the pasture (cute!), helped move horses on foot (mine and theirs) to their evening pastures, and learned how to respect cattle and still get them to go where they should - which isn't on the front lawn! We helped to eyeball hooking up one ton fertilizer bags to their forklift so they could be dumped in the spreader for use on their pastures. My husband kicked back, monitored the cattle, and hung out with the friendly cats while I was out riding.

When we arrived, a large group was there for a buffet dinner so we dined really well and made some new friends. We chose to eat leftovers for our few remaining dinners there since they were so good! Monica had started working in the kitchen and lodge recently and she took good care of us when Kathy had other chores to do.

The lodge is absolutely beautiful, rooms were comfy, and despite the sorta soft mattresses we slept well every night. The large TV in the lodge area (none in rooms) resulted in us meeting a nice guy from Walla Walla one morning and we discussed some of the challenges in Eastern Washington resulting from extensive wolf predation. It was eye opening for us folks from "the coast".

This was a new experience for us but we'll be back. It was way more fun and interesting than either of us expected. Super place to take your kids, and there is a room set up on the main floor for good disabled access. Pretty sure they are busy in the summer (we were there for the 85-90 degree heatwave in early May) so you may want to book ahead as they often host large groups. Remind Kathy to turn off the sprinkler at night (private joke there).

My daughter and I spent the week here and tomorrow we leave with sad hearts... when we came we were exhausted and over 2020 but we are leaving feeling loved and rejuvenated... Kathy and Brian opened up their hearts and home to us and there is not enough words or stars to emphasize our gratitude.. this place is beyond beautiful.. from comfy beds and private rooms to tons of activities to keep you busy...every day we had something new and fun to do...
From feeding cows to chopping wood .. horse back riding to hiking ... you name it and they do it.. its a working ranch but lots of time to play and relax... we will be back.

What an absolute rip off for valentines dinner! My sister and I made reservations wayyyy in advance but they serve anybody. So the people who had made a reservation didn't eat first so they ran out of food. The prime rib wasn't even their beef and they ripped you off for $35 a plate!!
We drove over 2 hours to have a ladies night and our prime rib was cooked to death and smaller than a hamburger patty and almost as thin. This was our first and last time there for a meal. They even ran out of vegetables and rolls! Why make a reservation if it doesn't guarantee you get what you reserved for??
Every other couple at our table were also highly disappointed and said they will not eat there again and they live locally and this was their first time there too. The atmosphere was great but nothing else

A fun weekend!
Pros:
-Staff was incredibly welcoming and friendly
-So many activities to partake in, from horse riding to cow milking to gun shooting to just relaxing. Not too many dull moments, never feel pressured to do anything. If you want to sit back and relax with a drink the whole time you're there, you may. If you want to go nuts and do dozens of different country things, you can do that too.
-Fun for all age groups with activities designed for older and younger folks.
-The location and ranch was absolutely beautiful and very clean.

Cons:
-Kathy, the owner, just kinda passively aggressively gets mad at people for stuff they had no one tell them they shouldn't be doing. For example, we turned on the lights in a room at 11:30 at night and she got upset with us when there was no way we would known the rule.
-The staff is pretty disorganized. They are very nice and helpful when they can be, but some of the employees don't seem to know what is going on. When we asked to do some activities, some of the staff was just like "yeah I don't really know whats going on with that."
-ABSOLUTELY NO COVID RESTRICTIONS AT ALL. No one wearing masks, no social distancing. I was very upset with this given there is an ONGOING PANDEMIC. When I asked one of the employees why this was the case, she told me that Kathy, the owner, is "pretty much pretending everything is normal". Not okay at all.

Overall, a very fun trip, but would never have gone if I had known they were just disregarding pretending coronavirus wasn't even happening.

This place is genuine, friendly, and provided me and my family a great vacation. We rode horses with Kathy, the owner, ate breakfast with the ranch hands, had dinner with the original founder, June, Kathy's mother and the ranch vet.
I highly recommend this place for anyone who is looking for a fun family vacation on the ranch and who is looking for that good old hospitality to go with it. Also, the good is amazing.

This is an amazing place. We brought our kids here to experience what ranch life is like and we defiantly got that and more!
It is truly a family run business and you get to spend time with guests and the family. We left exchanging contact info with people we stayed with and with a perspective on a a part of the country we didn't know much about.
The staff were all extremely nice and knowledgeable. The food was fantastic, in fact my wife is vegetarian and was surprised how good it was. They went out of their way taking care or her needs and anything else we needed.
We got to experience so many things like trial rides, exploring old homesteads, herding cattle, milking cows, and caring for the animals.
Most of our fun came from helping on the ranch and getting to do chores. My kids can't wait to come back, when we were driving home my youngest said " this is the first vacation where we felt like we met family".

I can't recommend this place enough, it was an unparalleled experience!!!!

Amazing ranch! Great people, great food, great fun! There is never a dull moment, always something to do from horse riding to river floating! You can help out on the ranch as much as you want or sit back and relax! You get breakfast, lunch, and diner with your stay prepared by their amazing Executive Chef Barry w. Bennett, and a trail ride everyday! You can not go wrong with the K Diamond K!

8525
Birthday trip for my wife
Review of K-Diamond-K Guest Ranch
Pending review
We decided to take a trip to a Dude Ranch this year. I did a lot of research online before I booked our trip to the K Diamond K. It was a GREAT choice. We arrived around 3:00 and met Kathy. She's the owner and is a wonderful hard working person. She makes sure that the guests are happy and comfortable. While there my wife and I rode and herded horses and some cattle. We fished, shot trap, shot bow and arrows and had a blast. The property is very beautiful and was enjoyed by all the others guests also. If you have children and are looking for a great vacation- this is it. Kathy gives special attention to the kids. She makes memories for and with them. I saw a couple of kids that did not want to go home. The room was pretty basic, but comfortable with a nice shower. Our room had a queen and a twin bed with pictures for John Wayne on the walls. We also had a balcony with chairs so we could sit outside and enjoy the views. Food was also good, and plenty of it. Breakfast- lunch and dinner were a little different every day. I loved the biscuits and gravy. Drinks at the bar are also included in the daily rate. Don't miss going there. You will love it. Your kids will love it. It's better than taking the family to...More

I loved my 4 nights at this place. Nice big room with high windows and lots of light. The windows are double-paned, too -- not that that helps with the roosters, but I got used to them after the first night. You leave your door unlocked. I'm a city girl, and that wasn't something I thought I'd like, but once I was there, it seemed natural. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone's working together. It's like family.

The food was really good (a little too plentiful, says my waistline) and they would accommodate any requests cheerfully.

The lodge is big but feels like a home. There are two fireplaces on either end of the great room with couches. There are loads of boots and gloves and jackets for borrowing, and saddles and chaps and ropes all over. And cowboy hats, of course.

The wood floors are shiny and clean all the time, too. Don't know how they manage that!

Lots of animals around, both inside and out -- black lab, black & white kitty, bunnies, billy the goat, lucky the deer, chickens, ducks, horses, longhorns, alpacas, llamas... and just down the road, a little goat farm with baby goats (in April). So sweet.

There was skeet shooting, horseback riding, fishing, hunting (in season), ranch work to help with (feeding, herding, branding, etc), hiking... lots of options, and also the option to just relax and enjoy the views and peacefulness of the place.

I made some new friends there, too. That's always nice. :)

And for all that's included, which was everything, I thought the price was very fair.

Thanks, y'all! I may be back sooner rather than later!

I went there for my birthday last year because a friend of mine was one of the staff. I needed some R&R from busy Los Angeles. All I can say is I LOVED my stay there! It was so serene being in nature, everyone was friendly, the food was tasty, and my room was super duper comfortable!

I went horseback riding, cattle driving, and met some really cool people. It's a lodge so no you can't lock your room door but I felt safe so I didn't worry at all. I brought my Mac laptop with me on the trip and no one bothered it or even went into my room for that matter. I would recommend this ranch to anyone I know. It's like being at home away from home and you get to pick from a large selection of cowboy hats and boots to wear around the ranch. I got to be a real cowgirl while I was there!