In October, Golf Aficionado had the distinct pleasure of closing out the 2020 golf season at Silvies Valley Ranch. For those not familiar with Silvies, they are best known for their unique goat caddies. Yes, goat caddies!
What you need to know before heading to Silvies
Silvies Ranch is a genuine working ranch, with over 150,000 acres (234 square miles). The Ranch is larger than almost every US city. As a reference, Manhattan is only 14,478 acres, so Silvies Ranch is more than 10x larger than Manhattan.
If you own a pair of cowboy boots, pack them, you’ll fit right in on the Ranch. Silvies is located in Eastern Oregon; in a small town of about 200 residents called, Seneca. As I already mentioned, you’ll be on a working ranch with real-life cowboys, goat herders, and much more. The Ranch is rustic luxury at its best! Insider Tip, when packing, be sure to leave your light-colored clothes at home. It’s a ranch, and you’ll be moving around the property using golf carts, razors, and horses. It can get dusty, and those light color pants have no chance.
Getting to the Ranch
Traveling from Orlando, we had two different flight options, fly into Bend, Oregon or Boise, Idaho. The drive from Bend to Seneca is about 3 hours. The drive from Boise is three and a half hours. We opted to fly into Boise. More flight options and better pricing made Boise a no brainer for us.
Flying into Boise, we gathered our golf clubs and headed over to our rental car. That’s when the adventure began. Lucky for us, the rental car company gave us a full-sized SUV, a Volkswagen Atlas. We started our 200-mile journey from Boise to Seneca with a full tank of gas and a clean Volkswagen Atlas.
We didn’t have a map or printed directions. Why bother? I’m a Waze lemming; I go wherever Waze tells me to go. Bad idea! About a third of the way into the journey to Seneca, you enter the twilight zone. There is no cell service, no gas stations, and virtually nothing but open space and houses scattered here and there.
Long story short, Waze picked up on a short cut through Forest Service Road 31. I don’t think I’ll ever forget FS-31. If your GPS or directions have you going through FS-31, don’t! It’s what it sounds like, a forest service road that is maintained just enough to make it passable with an off-road vehicle. We had to crawl over and down rocks, trees, and other debris at several points along the drive to make it to US-395. Insider Tip, make sure to print directions that have you going thru the Drewsey Rd cutoff.
One last thing, on the way back to Boise, we learned there are no gas stations for at least 100 miles between Seneca and Boise. Luckily for us, we found the Oasis Cafe & Motel in Juntura, Oregon, where the staff was friendly enough to sell us 5 gallons of gas to get us the rest of our way to Boise. They said we were the first today, but not the first this week to stop by looking for fuel. Insider Tip, before heading back to Boise, take a detour into John Day and top off your gas tank.
Enter the World of Silvies Valley Ranch
After spending most of the day flying from Orlando to Boise, we had nothing but reminders about COVID-19 and just how crappy the past nine months or so have been. Within about 20 minutes of checking in at Silvies, that all washed away. I don’t want to glance over this. The Ranch is so large and so open you can’t help but feel normal and forget about COVID-19. The maximum number of guests at any time is always limited to no more than 120. Every guest has more than enough space to socially distance, and the fresh Oregon air fills you with relief.
3 Essentials of Silvies Valley Ranch
The check-in process was swift. With Silvies being a working ranch, all guests must sign a liability waiver, leave a credit card deposit, and take a photo for your ID card and room card. After all the paperwork is completed, you’ll receive three essential items; your golf cart, a walkie-talkie, and your Silvies water bottle. The golf cart is yours during the stay. They are high-speed EZ-GO RXV’s with lithium-ion batteries.
All cabins and rooms have a cart barn that allows you to charge your cart when not in use. The walkie-talkie is your emergency mode of contact. There is NO cell service. If you find yourself out and need assistance, the only way to get in touch is with the walkie-talkie. We never used our radio once during our trip, but it was nice to have just in case.
The only thing we used more than our golf cart during the trip was our water bottle. The Ranch is very eco-friendly. No plastic, no pesticides, no chemicals, no steroids are allowed on the Ranch. Everything at Silvies is about balancing nature, living off the land, and leaving no impact.
The Food Experience
We’re Golf Aficionado Magazine, but during this trip, we felt more like Food Aficionado. All meals at Silvies are served at the Lodge and prepared by the Ranch’s Executive Chef. The Chef cultivates each meal from meat sourced directly from the Ranch. Before this trip, I had never eaten goat, better known as Chevon. I wasn’t sure what to expect but immensely enjoyed it after coming in with an open mind.
We never had a bad meal and never left anything on the plate. Each night the dining experience introduced us to something new and was always 5-stars. I commend Silvies on providing the perfect portion. We never left hungry but still had the feeling we had eaten just the right amount of food.
You can sit at either a private table or the big banquet table in the middle of the Lodge. We ended up having breakfast and lunch at a private table but always had dinner at the big table. It was so lovely to enjoy dinner as a group and hear about everyone’s day.
The Lodge features a fully stocked bar operated by Uncle Jeff, who is more than happy to pour you a drink and share some of the local history. Insider Tip, ask Uncle Jeff about the sourdough recipe; his passion for bread making and tracking down the best sourdough recipe is a worthy tale to be told.
Accommodations
You need to know everything at the Ranch is first class. The owners didn’t cut any corners. We stayed 4-nights in a 2-bedroom luxury lakeside log cabin called The Otter. We both had our own bedroom and fully appointed bathroom. Insider Tip, ask for the Otter Cabin it’s just a few steps away from the Lodge, which made it very easy when it was time to eat.
The entire Ranch is decorated with western décor and features unique artifacts highlighting the Ranch’s history and the original homesteaders who settled in the area more than 150 years ago. Exploring the Ranch, you’ll notice the intricate metalwork, all handcrafted right on the Ranch.
Ranch Activities
I would be here all day trying to list out all the activities available to Ranch Guest, so check out the complete list at check-in. We spent the most time at Silvies enjoying our favorite activity, golf. We’ll go more in-depth about golf in future articles, but we wanted to highlight the resort experience first.
The most fun we had at the resort was with the shooting experience. We got trained on gun safety and then had the opportunity to shoot a variety of guns. We worked our way up from a .22 caliber pistol to a .50 caliber hand cannon. Insider Tip, check out our YouTube video, and watch Paul blow the center out of a target not once but twice using the .50 caliber.
Another activity we enjoyed was the Razor Ranch Tour. We got to ride all over the property and also takes you out to meet the goats. The Ranch is home to goatherders from Peru, who live with the goats and look after them.
Don’t forget about the Spa. We didn’t! The spa just opened this season, and it is stunning. I love a hot stone massage, and the one at Silvies was out of this world. We saved the Spa for our last activity, and boy, am I glad we did. What a way to finish a great trip!
Do as much or as little as you like! We typically spent our day playing golf, followed by one activity in the afternoon. Insider Tip, head over to the Lodge early for dinner or for a drink and billiards. We spent a few hours at the pool table throughout the trip and always enjoyed relaxing in the Lodge.
Final Thoughts
The Ranch is big, and so is this article. I’m sorry. I hope reading this article gives you a better idea of what to expect from a trip to Silvies Valley Ranch. Trust me. The golf is fantastic. You can read all about The Craddock, The Haskins, and Chief Egan Course in detail, but we wanted to showcase the Silvies Ranch experience outside of just the golf experience.
In a year where everything went wrong and the world turned upside down, Silvies Ranch is an escape back to normal. We can’t thank the staff at Silvies Valley Ranch enough. They provided us a chance to revitalize ourselves. We’ve been to golf resorts worldwide. Silvies Ranch is, by far, the most unique resort experience yet.
Ready to escape back to normal life? Visit Silvies Valley Ranch! Check out their website for all the different packages available.