From April through October each year, the Island Guest Ranch opens its gates and welcomes in families, organizations, individuals, corporations, youth groups, religious organizations, weddings parties, honeymooners, family reunions - anyone who wishes to experience the flavor of the "Old West" and true "Western Hospitality".


Island Guest Ranch is a division of Island Ranch and Cattle Company, which was established in 1889. It consists of 5000 acres in northwest oklahoma, located on an actual island in the Cimarron River. During your stay, you can horseback ride through beautiful Oklahoma terrain, fish, hike or even get an lesson in roping! In the evening, you might enjoy square dancing, a rodeo, or an Indian Pow wow.

 

Another attraction of Island Guest Ranch is the abundant wildlife that graces the landscape, such as deer, turkey, coyotes, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and armadillos. Birds such as water fowl, cranes, roadrunners, quail, woodpeckers and swallows join the scissor tail flycatcher and numerous other song birds that are native to the island.

 

The ranch is run by Carl L. White and his family. They are a 4th generation ranching family spanning more than a hundred years of Oklahoma history. The ranch has it's origins in the famous Oklahoma Land Runs when the Cherokee Outlet was divided into large cattle leases. Carl's grandfather was a wagon freighter and drover who, in the 1880's, transported goods from Kansas to Fort Supply and then down to Oklahoma to Fort Reno. Many nights he would camp on the islands in the Cimarron river. Game was plentiful and there was feed and water for his team. As the years went by, he came to know the islands quite well. When the U.S. Government decided to open the Cherokee land for settlement in 1893, Carl's grandfather knew the land he would "run" for.

 

Almost 100 years later, the ranch opened it's doors to guests as a premier oklahoma travel destination. It has been the location site for a television show, commercial location for Levis, Lees, Wranglers, Nocona and Justin Boots. It was also the location for a PBS special OKLAHOMA PASSAGE and for the BELL TELEPHONE educational video on the opening of the Cherokee Outlet. The ranch is also used as the location site for movies and used for the Oklahoma Department of Tourism's promotional advertising.

The Whites and the Campellos look forward to welcoming you to the ranch and hope that you have a glimpse of Frontier America during your stay and that you enjoy your time at the ranch as much as they enjoy meeting you.