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Welcome to the French Broad Outpost Ranch

A dude ranch vacation where you get to do things together like a family.

The Ranch

Shawn & Jo Ann Gannon
Your Hosts

About The Ranch

Our Dude ranch was opened in 1993, on Labor Day weekend and is located in The Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The first part of the ranch that was completed was the campground along the river. The French Broad river attracts many canoeists, rafters, and fisherman and the campground supplied a convenient place to stay and do all of these things. We closed the campground in 2001 when we became a Dude Ranch. The first structures built were the camping cabins and bathhouse. Our next phase was the building of individual cabins along the ridges that face the river valley. We no longer use the cabins in our operation.

Our next phase was the building of an “old Western Town” which we call “Rough Cut.” Located above pastures in the river bottom, you can view the Smoky Mountains as well as hear the mighty river right from the front porch. The lodge contains our dining room, commercial kitchen, ranch store and upstairs game room. Also located next to the lodge are the 4 lodge rooms with full bath, built in the western theme of old shops on the outside, and modern convenience yet old-fashioned rooms inside.

In 2006, we completed construction of our old western Hotel. This timber frame building takes you way back in time with old fashioned floors and square nails and has 7 rooms for guests upstairs. The Iron Horse saloon occupies the main floor.

So we invite you to step back in time with us, enjoy a real Dude Ranch vacation where the only thing you need to worry about, is how much fun you’re gonna have each day.

We invite you to check out the other dude and guest ranches, and compare dollar for dollar value. We are confident you’ll find our packages give you more activities for your money, along with great meals and lodging. We believe in treating you right, just like Family!


History

The French Broad River corridor was one of the very first passages west of the original 13 colonies. Many of the families in our area have deeded land commissioned by the King of England from the late 1700’s. In the 1850’s the train ran from Asheville to Wolf Creek in Tennessee which is a few miles past Hot Springs, NC. At Wolf Creek Lodge, passengers would travel by Stage Coach onward west to the other parts of what is now Tennessee and beyond. In 1869, the railroad was connected from the Tennessee side to Wolf Creek, so the stage was no longer needed. The funny thing about “the West” is that it started in Tennessee and other states bordering the 13 colonies and slowly moved all the way to the Pacific.