Glove Valley Dude Ranch
An image of the Clove Valley Dude Ranch site in the 1950s. The image is from planetwaves.net.
An undated image of Clove Valley Dude Ranch owner Wilbur Smith. The image is from Flickr.com user Jack Falat.
An undated photo of Clove Valley Dude Ranch owner Wilbur Smith riding a horse. The image is from planetwaves.net.
An undated image of patrons sitting outside of the bar at Clove Valley Dude Ranch. Image is from Flickr.com user Jack Falat.
An advertisement for Clove Valley Dude Ranch from the June 1962 edition of Ebony Magazine.
Known Name(s)
Glove Valley Dude Ranch (Primary) Clove Valley Dude Ranch (Secondary) Smitty's Dude Ranch (Tertiary)
Address
High Falls, NY (Primary) (1963, 1964, 1966)(600 Clove Valley Rd. High Falls, NY) (Secondary)
Establishment Type(s)
Resort, Tavern
Physical Status
Extant
Description
A photograph from the 1950s shows two structures on opposite sides of Clove Valley Road. Clove Valley Road is unpaved. The main structure is a two-story frame structure with a gable roof. There is an enclosed entry vestibule at the front of the structure. The photograph shows nine visible windows on the front of the structure. There may be another addition to the structure on the end closest to the photographer. The cladding is light in color, and the roofing material is dark in color. The building has been described as an old barn, although it is not clear what evidence that was based on.
The secondary structure, across the road, is a two-story frame structure that appears to have a gable roof with a cross gable in the center front. The front of the structure has a two-story porch. There is a chimney visible in the photograph. This structure has been described as the establishment owner’s home.
Google Street View images from July 2012 show significant changes to the structures. The main structure has significant changes in window placement, alterations to the roofline, and possibly additional square footage. Images show the structure under renovation.
The secondary structure has significant changes in window placement and roofline, to the point that the building is almost unrecognizable.
Detailed History
Owned by Wilbur Smith, aka “Smitty,” the Clove Valley Dude Ranch, aka “Smitty’s Dude Ranch” operated from the 1950s through 1987 in High Falls, NY. Smitty’s place was known by locals and travelers as a nature getaway and a place to enjoy the stream, ride horses, camp, and hike the property’s many trails. The 300-acre property featured a bar, housed in what was described as an old barn, which had live music and dancing. Smitty and his wife, Mary Lue Smith, lived in a house across the road from the bar, which had a little hotel upstairs for regulars and staff. There were several other places on the property where Smitty rented out rooms. Smith regularly patrolled the property on horseback.
In an August 2, 2013 article about the current state of the property, author Eric Francis called Smitty’s Dude Ranch a mecca for hippies and nature lovers. Behind Smitty’s place was Coxenhill Creek, which had a spot called Split Rock, which gobstreet.wordpress.com called a popular meeting place for nudists. The gobstreet.wordpress.com blog claims that there are stories of two red-headed twins who sold acid out of fanny packs at Split Rock. Drifters would stay at Smitty’s for a summer, sometimes even fashioning their own shelters on the property. Smitty’s Dude Ranch sold in 1987 after years of pressure by the Mohonk Preserve. Mohonk was trying to acquire Smith’s property for the Preserve. When the business sold, Smith passed the property to Karen Pardini and Michael Fink. Wilbur Smith went on to become a minister.
Pardini and Fink spent their first years of ownership cleaning up the property from years of overuse. They removed dilapidated structures, old buses and trailers, campsites, and 74 dump truck loads of trash from the property. They renovated the old bar into a home. Eric Francis writes that Pardini and Fink have maintained the many trails and wood roads that wind the property, some of which date back to the American Revolution. Beginning in 1993, the Mohonk Preserve sued Pardini and Fink 4 times over 19 years for ownership of the land parcel.
