About The Ranch

What To Expect

Luxury Accommodations near Mesa Verde and Cortez, Colorado
Our lodging facilities will be a peaceful place for you to rest your hearts and souls while exploring thousands of years of ancient ruins! It is not a B&B, but a private home and rental cabins, where we share our passion for history, archaeology and the beauty of Southwestern Colorado. Within an hour drive you can explore ancient ruins, hike, bike, off-road, go wine tasting, horse back riding and much more! At the end of the day, relax next to a campfire and stay in one of our five cabins to rest your hearts and souls.

Historic Guest Ranch
The rentals at our historic guest ranch are located at the scenic and quaint McElmo Canyon, a Sedona-like setting in Southwest Colorado. There are over 5000 documented archaeological sites in this beautiful area waiting for you to explore, and the dark sky star gazing is so fabulous that you just cannot miss. The Ranch was once owned by a legendary cowboy, Elden Zwicker. Also, the road that leads to the Ranch has been called “Mormon Road” since early Mormons used it to migrate to Utah. The road is also nicknamed “Robber’s Path”, as Butch Cassidy is rumored to have hid his fortune in the Canyon.

Convenient Southwest Colorado Location
We are in close proximity to worldly renown tourist attractions such as Durango, Mesa Verde, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyons of the Ancients, Monument Valley, Moab, Bears Ears National Monument, Pagosa Springs and Telluride…to just name a few. It is a perfect place for your Southwest Colorado vacation!

Owner’s Background

A Colorado native, Garry Adams grew up in a family steeped in history and adventure. At ten years of age, Adams visited Mesa Verde National Park for the first time and became fascinated with Native American culture. He decided, at that young age, to someday own a house fashioned after the ancient Pueblo dwellings. Later in his life that dream became a reality at Canyon of the Ancients Guest Ranch.

One of Adams’ first big jobs, several years after college, was producing, directing and editing a multimedia documentary about the Truman Reservoir for the Army Corps of Engineers. In researching the background material and searching for old photos, Adams soon realized the need for a photo stock agency, something nearly unheard of in the early 80s. Now, with the extra cash from the project, he was able to join two friends from Chile with metal detectors and a portable sluice box, to look for gold. He fell in love with this beautiful country down south, and stayed there about 6 months, hitch-hiking from the north to the south. This visit made a lasting connection for him with Chile. It also developed his interest in traveling to other countries and learning about other cultures. On the way back to the USA through Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, he thought of an ideal name for his future company, which he trade-marked, “Stock Imagery.” After Adams returned from Chile, he started a photo stock agency in Denver, collecting stock images. In today’s world, stock images are available for free or minimal charge on many Internet sites, but when Adams started his agency the concept was unknown.

In 1983, well before the Internet, in search of photographers/artists and stock images that his company would manage and sell, Adams made a trip around the world visiting over 30 countries with a TWA world ticket he purchased for $1500. Inspired by all the talent he saw, Adams started carrying his own camera and taking photographs himself. Eventually he collected over 1 million slides and produced five international stocks catalogs. Anyone who has ever worked with slide collections is aware of the labor intensity of keeping them current and organized. With over 900 photographers and 1 million slides, the job became a real challenge. When royalty free images became available and the Internet emerged with Bill Gates & Getty Images involved, Adams saw the handwriting on the wall.

He sold the business in 1998 and invested the money in Southern California real estate. He designed and built a beautiful house between large, stationary boulders, in which his mother lived for four years before she developed Alzheimer’s. Eventually Adams sold the house. During the process of searching for the right place to settle, Adams visited areas in New Mexico and Southwest Colorado. He remembered visiting a beautiful canyon area (McElmo Canyon) in Montezuma County. He came back to the area exploring and found the ranch. It almost sounds like “it was meant to be”, as the For Sale sign was buried in weeds, and the property had been listed by a company out of Denver for over 2 years. Adams ultimately purchased 2000 acres of the old Zwicker ranch in McElmo Canyon. When Eldon Zwicker, a true American cowboy, died in 2000, the land was divided into three parcels and passed on to his three sons. The youngest son sold his parcel in 2005 to Adams.

Meanwhile, Adams had been introduced by a mutual friend from Taiwan to a Taiwanese native, Ming, who was then Sr. Marketing Manager for the Asian market at Charles Schwab and later the Director of a media department for an advertising firm in Long Beach. Ming was born and grew up in Taipei, working in big cities and having never been on a ranch in her life. She was scared of dogs and cats and never had any idea about ranching or farming, but she felt right at home after she moved to Colorado and her future home. Two adventurous souls found each other. They were married on the property, by then known as Canyon of the Ancients Guest Ranch, and began to follow their dreams of ranching, farming and sharing their ranch with others. They also began their passionate pursuit of archaeological sites and rock art on the Colorado Plateau.

The original structures on the property, the pioneer house, Eldon stone house, and cowboy cabin were in terrible condition. Adams was advised by many to tear them down, but memories of his mother’s old Colorado ranch being destroyed by developers fed his desire to keep the Zwicker heritage and preserve the history and improve the quality of the ranch. With baby steps and good people to work with, Ming and Garry slowly returned the property and the structures to places of beauty. They also added two additional guest houses, the ranch house and the Wagstaff cabin. The Wagstaff addition in 2016 represents an Appalachian-style structure partially built with logs over 200 years old from West Virginia. It was part of a TV production for a national TV show called Barnwood Builders at DIY Channel. The ranch house, the largest guest house on the ranch, is decorated with family antiques and furniture Garry imported from India 15 years ago. Ming has decorated each property with her own style, combining Old West and Native American items, as well as items from India and personal items from Garry’s childhood, such as his father’s hand-made steam trains and photographs of relatives who led interesting lives. The dining table in the ranch house has a fascinating history. In the 1860s General Grant and President Lincoln dined on that table with Garry’s great grandfather, Col. Alfred Wagstaff at their Long Island, NY home. In later years, Wagstaff became president of the ASCPA and served in that position from 1906 to 1921.

The Mesa Verde experience and Garry’s dream to own a home styled after Ancestral Pueblo dwellings also became a reality. The Mokee house in which they live is built in the ancient Pueblo style, and features a keyhole door, an orno (outdoor oven) and a square tower.

In addition to unique lodging, the property is also a working ranch, raising grass-fed beef and lamb, organic vegetables, herbs, and fruit, and eggs from freeranging chickens. Ming and Garry raise Churro sheep, a breed that almost became extinct, and give the wool to local elder Navajo weavers. Guests at the ranch cook their own meals, but may enjoy fresh eggs, organic vegetables and fruit they gather themselves, and ranchraised beef and lamb are available for purchase. The ranch is certified by Animal Welfare Approved and grass-fed certified by A Greener World.

A visit to Canyon of the Ancients Guest Ranch is always an adventure. On a recent visit, 50 Churro sheep had just been sheared, and we headed off in Garry’s utility vehicle to locate them and feed the “pets” corn chips I brought. Along the way we picked up two of their guests, met their ranch manger, and hunted all over for the sheep, which had definitely had enough of people for the day. Finally locating them and feeding treats, a friend from Telluride arrived for a visit. After a phone call informing Garry a Navajo carver was at the ranch, we headed down to the main area. Marvin Yellowman, the carver, was looking for cottonwood for his carvings, and had heard from other Navajos there were a lot of downed cottonwood trees on the ranch. Loading Yellowman into the utility vehicle, along with one of the ranch dogs, we all headed off for a tour of downed cottonwood trees. After returning him to his car, we returned the guests to their cabin, and headed to the house for dinner, all freshly prepared by Ming.

Canyon of the Ancients Guest Ranch is a melting pot of history and connections, a merging of cultures and unexpected happenings. The same could be said for the lives of Garry and Ming Adams. Their ranch is truly a combination of “the beauty of nature, the simplicity of life, and the magic of an ancient world.”

An excellent photographer himself, Garry has been fascinated by rock art since the early 70s. He visited many rock art sites in New Mexico and also was intrigued by the photos of rock art provided to his photo agency. Exploring together the area around Canyon of the Ancients Guest Ranch and the Colorado Plateau, Garry and Ming have sought out these ancient art galleries. In 2017, their book, Spirits of the Stone, was published, featuring Garry’s exceptional photographs. His goal was to “photograph rock art in the most beautiful of settings and to create an art museum of the outdoors.”

Unlike other rock art books or guidebooks, Garry does not identify the location or name of any of the sites included in the book. It is a tribute to the artists who inhabited these lands many years before us and left their imprint on the landscape. It is another piece of the connectivity with the past and present that make up the fabric of Ming and Garry’s life.