6th Annual Trail Riding Guide

Now is the time to start planning your 2016 trail riding trips! We’ve gathered everything you need to plan your perfect trail riding vacation in our sixth annual trail riding issue of Mules and More! 

Below is our trail guide, which features our top recommendations for planning your ultimate trail riding vacation!  See our April issue to read stories from subscribers sharing their favorite trail rides from last year. Then get to planning your next great adventure! 

Fort Valley Ranch Mountain Trail Riding

Enjoy the beauty riding in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia offers.  Bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Allegany Mountains to the west, the Massanutten Mountain range rises out of the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.  With much of the Mountains encompassed within the George Washington National Forest, 100’s of miles of trails are available for the equestrian trail rider from Fort Valley Ranch.

Fort Valley Ranch’s Horse and Mule Campground provides direct access to the National Forest Trails.  The Ranch has bunkhouse cabins, camping including water and electric sites, corrals and paddocks.  Free trail maps and descriptions of the local trails are provided at check-in.  Formed by the surrounding Massanutten Mountains, Fort Valley’s trails range from lush, wooded valley to mountain top ridges providing panoramic views of the Shenandoah River and Valley below. 

Don’t have your own horse or mule?  Fort Valley Ranch offers guided mountain rides from 1 hour to a full-day adventure.  Other activities in the area include paddling the Shenandoah River, exploring civil war history, touring the vast cavern formations and enjoying a stroll down one of the many small town streets that dot the area.

Slough Creek Outfitters

Backcountry Summer Pack Trips during July and August in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on the north boundary of Yellowstone National Park. Ride our stock or bring your own into our extremely comfortable tent camp on world famous Slough Creek, home of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Incredibly scenic rides on great trails over Montana mountains and through wildflower meadows.  Four guest minimum and ten guest maximum. Most trips are three to five days.  Our nearest airport is in Bozeman, Montana.  We are licensed to guide in Yellowstone Park and the Gallatin National Forest by special permit. Your guide, packer, cook, wall tents, cots, foam pads, sleeping bags, shower, home-cooked meals, cozy campfire and a great time included! For more info blackmtn2@aol.com or (406)222-7455, check out our website at www.sloughcreekoutfitters.com

Winding River Resort

Located outside of Grand Lake, CO on the north fork of the Colorado River, bordering Rocky Mountain National Park and the Arapaho National Forest offers limitless beauty and recreation.

With your own mule you have direct access to miles of designated trails adjacent in Rocky Mountain National Park, or trailer your mules to more distant trail heads.  You can even take a day trail ride through the park over the Continental Divide to Estes Park, CO.  Camp next to your mules on water/electric sites or stay in our cabins or lodge rooms with pens available at the barn. 

Camping facilities include showers, restrooms, and laundry.  For more information visit www.windingriverresort.com or call 970-627-3215.

Tin Top Ranch Trailriding

This 160-acre ranch is located in the beautiful Ouachita National Forest of southwest Scott County, Arkansas. They offer a unique opportunity to provide you with a quiet, secluded retreat where you, your mule and a few friends can get away from it all. It's not hard to do in the middle of 1.8 million acres of forest.

Tin Top Ranch’s ranch house has a complete kitchen, dining area, three bedrooms and two baths. There is also a half-basement outfitted as a bedroom. A cozy wood-burning fireplace will provide comfort on chilly evenings, after a long day hunting or trail riding. Like to star-gaze? You'll never see a night sky until you see the skies at Tin Top.

Organized trailrides are offered several times a year, or you can bring your mules and explore the wilderness on your own. During hunting season, there are hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest within a short distance. Like to fish? Catch a mess of pan-fish in one of the stocked ponds and local creeks.

For more information or to reserve your weekend or weeklong vacation, call 1-800-436-8199 and ask for Terri or Scott, or email walls_sa@yahoo.com.

Wyoming Wilderness Outfitters

Step back in time, ride with Wyoming Wilderness Outfitters.  Born cowboys, we take pride in providing you with a unique and memorable summer adventure. With the vast number of trails in northwest Wyoming and Yellowstone to choose from, we plan to make this one of the best vacation experiences of a lifetime. We’ll arrange the trip to best fit your personal needs; fishing, riding, camping, exploring, wildlife viewing, and photography.  We provide teepees, pack and riding animals, saddles, wrangler and a cook complete with kitchen.  

Whether you travel from location to location, set up camp at the base of the mountain along a river and take day rides from your campsite to surrounding valleys and passes, or bring your own living quarters horse trailer and horses/mules – we can guide you through some spectacular country. We’ll have our mules/horses saddled waiting for your call. For more information call (307) 754-4320 or visit www.wyomingwilderness.com.

Hayes Canyon

Hayes Canyon, in Eddyville, Illinois, is a family-owned campground located adjacent to the Shawnee National Forest with access to the Shawnee’s extensive trail system for hikers, equestrians, hunters, and nature lovers of all sorts. They have 30 RV campsites available for rent with electric hookups and city water, picnic table, and fire ring.  Most have sewer hookups.

Campsites have 2-4 pens for horses or mules which offers peace of mind and convenience of having your mule right there within eyesight. This is an ideal location, centrally located in the middle of the most popular trail riding area of the Shawnee, with direct access to the trails. Within a 10-mile radius of Hayes Canyon Campground there are 180 miles of Forest Service trails. (618) 672-4751, info@hayescanyon.com