Rough Creek Lodge Review

Nestled on 1100 acres in the hills just south of Glen Rose is the very upscale . One visit to Rough Creek Lodge and Resort and you'll agree that it is well deserving of the numerous prestigious awards including Condé Nast Johansens' “Most Outstanding Lodge in North America 2005” and Conde Nast Traveler's “Top 100 Resorts in the World.” - did you catch that, "in the World!" Rough Creek is only a couple hours from Dallas or Austin, and and a little over an hour from the DFW airport. Or you can fly into one of their two helipads.

Rough Creek Lodge and Resort captures the region's rough-hewn beauty, relaxing tranquility, and unmatched history and is carved from the same Texas limestone as the surrounding hills. This exclusive executive retreat and resort blends century old ranch imagery with a thoroughly modern approach to comfort and convenience and will exceed your expectations for a traditional resort experience. Offering meticulous accommodations, gourmet dining, fabulous wedding venues, excellent corporate meeting facilities, a world class spa, fantastic pool and lazy river, and a plethora of outdoor activities and fun things to do, Rough Creek is an ideal location for a wedding, corporate meeting, executive retreat, reunion, or for a fun weekend escape. We were lucky to get to stay at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort in May 2006 and hated to leave.

From the minute we drove through the gate to our first view of the resort and greeting from one of the helpful resort staff, we knew we had

made the right decision to spend some time at Rough Creek. And it only got better. The resort entry leads into The Great Room with a soaring 40 foot limestone fireplace that segments the room into a dining area and place to relax and socialize. Furnished in sophisticated western comfort, The Great Room has oversized chairs and sofas of supple leather, kilim rugs, cast iron and silver, and an inviting bar with an exceptional collection of single malt scotches and other favorites. The Great Room offers majestic views of the surrounding countryside - make sure you step out onto the huge multi level terrace and fireplace which is an exceptional place to have a drink: enjoy a meal or appetizer; relax and marvel at the magnificent view; or reacquaint with friends, family, or business associates around the fire pit.

Adjoining The Great Room is the restaurant and dining area with the same memorable views of the surrounding country. One of the highlights of our stay at Rough Creek was the exquisite cuisine prepared by Executive Chef Gerard Thompson. Chief Gerard has also received a number of accolades including being selected as one of "America's Top Restaurants" for the third straight year by Zagat Survey and winner of the DiRona Award for "Distinguished Restaurants in North America" in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. Thompson uses only the freshest of foods and is extremely creative with specialties such as Ringneck pheasant, grilled venison, and Maine lobster. Menus vary each day and on our stay the fixed price menu for $68 per person included:

We haven't found any resort that compares to Rough Creek's incredible food presentation and taste, magnificent views, impeccable service, and outstanding wine selection. What a wonderful dining experience.

Breakfast can be cooked to order or you can enjoy an extensive buffet of eggs, sausage, bacon, fruits, pancakes, french toast, waffles, and more. The lunch menu also changes daily and typically includes appetizers, main courses (during our stay choices were chicken pasta, Snake River Farms Kobe Beef Burger, shrimp pizza), and desserts. The pool also has a lunch menu for pool side dining. We found all of the food to be superb and would make the trip again just for an evening of dining. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Rough Creek offers a variety of accommodations. The 39 guestrooms and suites feature oversized beds, armoires, executive style work desk with wireless internet, down pillows, and supple leather chairs - the rustic colors, furniture, and artwork create a very sophisticated residential setting. Each room has an oversized marble bath and deep soaking tub, plus a separate tiled shower. All of the rooms have a small private balcony with two chairs to use to enjoy the magnificent view of the lake and surrounding countryside. All of the guestrooms and suites are adjoining the main lodge. The four suites are larger and include one bedroom, a patio, and hammock.

A short distance from the lodge are two tents for those of you who want to rough it - after all, you are at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, and trust me the tents are the only accommodations that are rough. Yet, within each tent you will find an armoire, mirror, and oversized bed with mosquito netting. Remember, you are roughing it so don't expect running water or bathrooms, but you do have a very comfortable hammock just outside your door, gourmet food nearby, and plenty of fun activities to enjoy. Not a bad way to rough it. Near the tents are 4 cabins under the oak trees with a single bedroom, whirlpool tub, a loft for kids, screened-in porch, outdoor grill, and picnic table. For larger groups looking for more luxurious accommodations, you could choose to stay in the Owner's House or the Deer Run renovated cedar log cabin.

The Owner's House is a 7000 square foot very well appointed multi-bedroom house with a gated entrance and two huge decks overlooking the private Chalk Mountain Lake. Deer Run is a small house that is located within walking distance of the Lodge. Upon request, the staff will stock the refrigerator with your favorite food and beverages.

But you shouldn't just come to Rough Creek to enjoy the superb, fresh, and mouth watering gourmet cuisine, the luxurious accommodations, the Climbing wall

majestic panoramic views, or the outstanding service. You need to take advantage of some of the 79 other outdoor activities and fun things to see and do. Here is just a partial list of some of our favorites:

Click here to see the complete list of 79 things to do while you're staying at Rough Creek Resort. Rough Creek will go out of their way to work with you to tailor something that will tickle your fancy. For example, Dawn, Rough Creek's head wrangler, can put together a wine and cheese or picnic horseback ride to the top to the hills, a chuck wagon cook-out for your group, or a romantic evening horseback ride with a magnificent view where you can ask for your best friend's hand in marriage.

The well appointed Spa and its pool are next to the Lodge and the Spa has a complete range of services including Pool

a variety of massages (Swedish, therapeutic, sports, pre-natal, cupping, and more), hand and foot treatments, and spa packages which are a bundle of a variety of different services.

If you need some exercise, Rough Creek has a tennis court and exercise room next to the lodge. After you have worked up a sweat and worn off some of the calories from the previous nights superb diner, then walk next door to the pool to cool down and relax - or to have a burger and cold beer. You won't be able to resist the main pool which has views of the surrounding countryside and is very well done in natural stone. The pool area includes two hot tubs, a lazy river, waterslide, water volleyball, and a bar and grill. What a great way to spend an few hours.

Rough Creek is the perfect location for a corporate/executive retreat, wedding, or reunion. For corporate retreats Rough Creek offers an executive conference center with state-of-the-art technology, comfortable settings, and four conference rooms. Rough Creek can provide all of the audio-visual equipment you need plus provide gourmet cuisine and refreshments. If you want team building or planned activities as a part of the retreat, you have a wide variety of unusual and unique choices from simple to very competitive. Some of events that can be tailored to meet your needs include: fishing tournaments, sporting clays, paintball, team olympics, GPS navigation, trail rides, cattle drives, five stand shooting, hunting excursions, or water volleyball. For a real experience of a lifetime, try the corporate team building cattle drive. The drive requires incredible team work and communication as you attempt to herd 30 or more cattle to a specific destination. No experience is needed and you can personalize your ride with hats, singing cowboys, roping exhibitions, and chuck wagon meals. Rough Creek is an ideal location to reward your employees for a job well done, conduct planning or team building sessions, or for any other type of special corporate function.

If you are planning on getting married, then why not have the entire wedding at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort which was designated by Peter Greenberg of the NBC Today Show as one of the top five "Best Locations in the World to get married." One of the advantages of a wedding at Rough Creek is the competence of, and services offered by, Brenda (certified wedding planner) and Heather to ensure that your wedding is perfect and memorable for you and your quests. They will take care of all the details including initial planning, vendors, guest accommodations, and your departure after the reception. You also have a number of excellent choices for gourmet cuisine, ceremony sites (a quaint chapel or a number of beautiful outdoor settings), and receptions (open air covered stone patio, multi level lodge terrace overlooking the lake, or the magnificent Grand Room). Rough Creek offers more than just a beautiful hill country location for a wedding, but rather a complete getaway for you, your family, and guests to enjoy. Rough Creek is catering to wedding parties that want an exclusive first class event lasting the entire weekend.

Rough Creek is also the perfect place to host a family, social, or any other type of reunion. Imagine getting reacquainted with family, friends, or old college buddies by the pool, on the terrace, or by any of the fire pits. None of the attendees will be bored with such a wide variety of diverse and fun activities. Have Rough Creek help you schedule some unique experiences that everyone can participate in like hay rides, ATV tours, chuck wagon dinners, chili cook offs, or group trail rides.

For the leisure traveler or business traveler, you'll be hard pressed to find a more exclusive resort in Texas offering as many amenities as Rough Creek. Rough Creek is kid friendly and the kids will also enjoy their stay at Rough Creek riding ATV's, biking, fishing, swimming, zooming down the zip line, or climbing the rock wall.

If you are a hunter, Rough Creek is the perfect place for a first class hunt for quail, pheasant, chukar, turkey, wild boar, and whitetail deer. Plus Rough Creek offers shooting instruction and a wide variety of shooting sports including sporting clays, five-stand, rifle range, wobble trap, and archery. All upland bird hunts are half day with a mixed bag of quail, chukar, and pheasant. The hunts include a professional guide, southwest style hunt truck with hunting dogs, bird processing, and a 3 course gourmet lunch. There are no bag limits and no per bird charges.

Paul Boccafogli, the Rough Creek general manager, is focused on making sure that your time at Rough Creek is

memorable and fun and that the standard of service is second to none - and based on our stay, I can assure you that he is very successful at making that happen. He wants your stay to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience with more activities than you can do in a couple days - the good news is that you can always come back again and enjoy the activities you missed the first time. The staff is well trained and and takes personal pride in delivering country sophisticated service. Paul and his management team are consistently looking for and adding new amenities for their visitor's enjoyment. For example, next on the list of additions are more guest accommodations and Bungee-Trampoline. We found that Rough Creek's tag line of "it's easy to arrive, but tough to leave" is very true. Paul is very interested in a personal connection with his guests and making sure that your stay is exceeding expections. Don’t be surprised to see Paul walking the property and personally shaking your hand and saying hello. Call and book a wedding, hunt, corporate event, or reunion now because Rough Creek is booked well in advance.

Here are some facts about Rough Creek Resort: 11,140 acres, 29.7 mile perimeter, 63 ponds, 64.3 miles of ranch road, and 73.2 miles of fence. Rough Creek is about 15 minutes south of Glen Rose which also offers a number of things to see and do, click here to learn more about Glen Rose. To learn more about fun things to see and do in and around Glen Rose, read this Thank God for Weekend article. Here are some more pictures of Rough Creek.