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Page last updated May 11, 2016

© Michael Kluckner

Sketched in 2003: Beaverdam Lake is on the road running west from Clinton to Gang Ranch. This little "resort" or collection of fishing shanties reminded me in a way of the Maritimes. I'm presuming it is a fishing camp. There was nobody there late in June. Anyway, I thought it was very typical of the Cariboo-Chilcotin: rolling countryside, low hills in one direction but high mountains in the other, extraordinary clear air giving translucent skies and a turquoise lake.

Conversation with Mike Brundage: The cabins began life as Pollard's 3-Bar guest Ranch on the main road, but were trucked up to the lake and reestablished in the 1960s as the Beaverdam 3-Bar Guest Ranch. Mike Brundage of Clinton is a former owner, who got out of the guest-ranch business due to the cost of liability insurance and the complexities of making his mounted guests sign waivers.

From Estelle Wolfers, 2016: My sister and I stayed at the 3-Bar Guest Ranch at Beaverdam Lake in 1975 or 1976. We were out from the UK to spend the summer with our aunt and uncle in Vancouver, and had an excellent extra holiday, as well as an introduction to new phenomena both good and bad—Ranch Dressing and Kool-Aid on one side of the balance, and brightly coloured soda lakes and abandoned settlements on the other. And not *ever* bit-reining, which was hard for two people who had learned to ride in the UK.

"Thunderbolt", who was most interested in eating.

Note from Kathleen Boeriu, 2008: In response to your question about what has happened to the dude ranch at Beaverdam Lake......it is now privately owned by a group of Norwegians.  My cousin being one of them.  We have all (from our parents/grand-parents) had property across the lake.  My parents built their retirement home there.  We now still have the cabins and I have beengoing up there to enjoy the quiet for the last 50+ years! I too have great memories of the fun times at the dude ranch!

Note and photos from Monika Venthien-Schubert, 2005: It was 35 years ago this week that I arrived from Germany in Vancouver, BC . Almost 22 years old, single and full of adventure, I was going to stay for a year and then move on. In the early fall after my arrival, I went on a weekend trip with a group of young people to the Beaverdam 3 Bar Guest Ranch. I was (and still am) a city slicker with a love for nature and animals. The experience of riding a horse for the first time in my live was exciting, even though I fell off not once but twice.I enjoyed the weekend so much I went back several more times This last weekend my husband took me on a surprise trip to Vancouver (we now live in Calgary) to celebrate my 35th year in Canada. We visited places from our past and looked at photos from the 70s and 80s, including one with me sitting on a horse at the Beaverdam 3 Bar Guest Ranch...... and I came to wonder whatever happened to this place

All photographs from Monika Venthien-Schubert


Note from Margaret McDonald, 2008: I HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF THE 3 BAR RANCH, ONLY IT WAS 1963.  I TALKED MY NEW HUSBAND INTO GOING THERE FOR OUR HOLIDAYS.  HE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT YOU DID AT A DUDE RANCH. .  I TOLD HIM THAT ALL OUR MEALS WERE PROVIDED AND WE COULD  HAVE  A HORSE RIDE OR LAY AROUND THE POOL. IT WAS A BIG SURPRIZE TO US WHEN WE FOUND OUT THAT WE HAD TO RIDE 17 MILES THE NEXT MORNING, WE WERE RIDING TO BEAVERDAM FOR THE CATTLE ROUNDUP.EVERYDAY WE GOT ON OUR HORSES AND RODE ALLDAY ROUNDING UP CATTLE, THAT WAS OUT ON THE OPEN RANGE .  TO SAY WE WERE AWFULLY SORE WAS A BIG UNDERSTATEMENT.  WE HAD QUITE A WEEK.    WE HAD AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFE TIME.   WE WENT ON A SNIPE HUNT AT THE END OF THE WEEK, AND HOW COULD YOU FORGET THAT EXPERIENCE.   WE HAVE SHOWED OUR PICTURES TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND HAVE HAD GREAT DELIGHT IN TELLING THE STORY OF OUR HOLIDAY ON A DUDE RANCH.

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Artwork and text ©Michael Kluckner, 2001, 2002, 2003