Trophy Mountain Buffalo Ranch

Info on the ranch:

When Joe bought the property in 1989, there was not much here. The only building was an old barn, which is still here, that stands at the top right corner of the property. The rest was 58 acres of fields and trees. The log guest house that is here now was brought down from Blue River. Friends of ours had purchased the property, on which the house was, to log it. They were not interested in the house, so Joe bought it. He took it down log by log and brought it here to Clearwater where he reassembled it. It took him a year to put it back together again. This house was built in the mid 1920’s and was owned by a lady that had lived there her whole life. In fact it was her father that built the house. This woman was quite remarkable, as she lived on her own and trapped and hunted and did all the things you read about in stories of the olden days.

Trophy Mountain Buffalo Ranch is located 20 km north of the town of Clearwater and another 20 km

north from the ranch is the entrance to the beautiful Wells Gray Provincial Park. Clearwater is located 1.5 hours north of Kamloops and 3.5 hours south of Jasper, Alberta on the Yellowhead Highway (HWY #5). The Wells Gray is great for the outdoor enthusiast. There are many hiking trails, sight seeing spots and lots of canoeing on the Clearwater Lake.

The ranch originally started out as a campground and bison farm in 1994. We started with just a small herd of 6 animals (5 cows & 1 bull). This was Joe’s idea, he wanted something different, everyone has cattle and horses, but how often do you see a tourist based business with bison. We then opened up the guest house as a Bed & Breakfast with only 4 rooms. The inside of the house is a post and beam structure and we now have 7 guest rooms all with private bathrooms. On the inside of the house, you can see all the logs and how they were all hand axed. The logs keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Our campground has 15 sites for either RV’s or tenting. We do also have 2 bunk houses available for those who like the tenting, but really don’t want to pitch one. I call it deluxe tenting. We have a nice and clean shower house (that is what I have been told by camping guests – which is great to hear).
During this time we also started guided horseback trail rides to Moul Falls. The trip takes you through the woods to Grouse Creek, here guest disembark from their horses to take a short hike to Moul Falls. This water fall is in the Wells Gray Provincial Park and is wonderful. It is not a waterfall you can drive to, you must hike to it. It is also one that you can go to the base and during the summer you can hike behind it when there is not much water going over it.

Over the years we have upgraded and gotten bigger. In 2007 we went from B&B to Guest Ranch and

added a fully licenced restaurant. In the restaurant we do serve mainly bison meat, but we do have other items for those who do not wish to eat bison. We tried to have beef on the menu but couldn’t get rid of it. Most people come here to try the bison. We still have a small herd, but a little larger. The herd is usually 20 animals, including bulls, cows, calves and young stock. We also now have at least 18 horses here for trail rides and we offer two trips, a 3 hour to Moul falls and a 1.5 hour loop trail.

This past winter (2009/2010) was our first winter to be open. We have 2 Belgium Draught horses to pull our sleigh. There is also many cross country ski trails in the Wells Gray Park. There are lots of areas to go snow shoeing as well. The road is also ploughed all the way up to Helmcken Falls, which is the waterfall that the park is so well known for. This fall is 143 meters high and in the winter there is a wonderful snow cone that is created at the bottom of the falls.

Your Hosts: Joe & Jamie Fischer