Ring Lake Ranch is about...

“I would recommend that anyone seeking both spiritual wisdom and peace check out this amazing ecumenical/interfaith retreat. Not only is the programming varied and thought provoking, but there are horses to be ridden, trails to be hiked, fish to be caught, delicious meals to be eaten, wonderful fellowship to be enjoyed— and afternoon naps to be taken without guilt! I urge you to check out the Ring Lake Ranch schedule and if you can, find your own solace and knowledge at this amazing and grace filled place, as soon as possible.”
– from Deirdre Steinberg, “Encountering God’s Spirit in the Wilds of Wyoming,” in The Oregon Episcopal Church News

In Sacred Wilderness --

“One of the things I love about Ring Lake is that your day is free to encounter the wilderness: by hiking, riding, fishing, or just sitting on a rock and staring at the mountains. Why take a retreat in the wilderness and sit inside four walls. The hills are silent and knowing. You can sense the presence of the ancients who trod [here]. The air smelled heavenly, and I felt like a stranger in a strange land (after the urban intensity of Portland) but also more connected to place. One of the neat things that you can do at Ring Lake is go on a midnight hike to view the Native American petroglyphs still visible on the Ranch’s rocks. There is a sense of centuries passing but the land staying the same.”
– from Deirdre Steinberg, “Encountering God’s Spirit in the Wilds of Wyoming,” in The Oregon Episcopal Church News

Community –

“The meals are excellent and invite leisurely conversations over lasagna or soup and salad. Shared clean-up afterwards builds a joking camaraderie. People compare notes on hikes or rides and only later discover that she’s the canon of Portland Episcopal cathedral; he’s a United Methodist or Lutheran minister; she’s a Franciscan nun; he’s a Hawaiian psychologist and professor. The common denominator goes deeper than religious tradition, or lack of one. It’s a shared reverence for natural beauty, an interest in spirituality, a joy in impossibly starry skies. People ask the right questions: not “what denomination are you?” but “where’s your center?” “Have you gotten out of balance?” “What unique gift do you bring the people of God?”
– from Kathy Coffey, “Ecumenical Renewal at Ring Lake Ranch,” in Leaven