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Elite Veteran
Posts: 690
Location: missouri | Just wanted to share our short trip yesterday! We went to a place near Ava, Missouri called "Brown's Cave"... It is just a few minutes east of Ava in the big hills and on the Bryant Creek (more like a river). There are parking pads in a camping area (about a dozen or so..)with tables and fire rings. It would be difficult to get a big rig in but there is a dead end circle that would fit a couple of 30' or so in. The trails, made up of wilderness trails and old logging roads, are so cool! There are a lot of water crossings back and forth over the creek (some a little deep, stirrup high) and the caves and rock cliffs are beautiful...We rode about 19 miles and didn't scratch the surface. Just to let you know... there are so many great trails within an hour of Springfield... Hercules Glades/Bar-K/Willie Lee/Caney Creek Wilderness/Brown's Cave/Elk Ranch....If you live anywhere near here you can still camp/ride and not spend a jillion $$$ in gas.
Edited by calamityj 2007-11-29 9:10 AM
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Veteran
Posts: 174
Location: Missouri | Thanks for the post. I'm about 2 hours or so east of there and that sounds like a neat place to ride. Where can Ifind more info on that area? What are the directions and are the trails marked? Is there water at the campground? With diesel getting so outrageous we are probably going to be riding alot closer to home this year too. Thanks again for any more info. |
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Expert
Posts: 2614
| Hey there,girl,I bet you DID have a good ride up there! One of these times during the MFT show,we're going to bring our horses up there and go on some of those organized rides that leave out every day during that week.One of those rides is up at Brown's Cave. Have you guys been visiting down at Rockbridge Trout Resort yet? |
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Expert
Posts: 2614
| You also might consider contacting Show-Me Back Country Horsemen,they ride a great deal in areas such as this. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 690
Location: missouri | Ridgegirl and others.... You know my husband busted up his junk a couple of months back and all our fall riding was out... He is now back in the saddle again and we are riding every chance the weather is decent and we are free to get away... We took this last week off to ride every day averaging 13-19 miles per day.. it was great!!! Hope nobody ever has to go through that experience. Ya know... these horses are still animals no matter how well you think they are trained. |
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Expert
Posts: 2614
| Yes,John Lyons and others say it's the well trained old backyard "bomb proof" horse that people will usually get hurt on. |
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Member
Posts: 11
| I live here in good ole Mo. also, just wondering if you have been to Eagle Ranch at Collins? Heard alot of positive comments from folks up KC way. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 690
Location: missouri | We have been to Eagle Ranch at Collins, Mo. They are super nice people and even clean the poop out of your trailer when you check in and clean the stalls while you ride. They have a pretty nice campground and some cabins, the hookups are not very shaded but the stalls are superior to others around the country... We enjoyed it with a young horse we started and wanted to leg up for bigger trails later on...They usually have a steak cookout on Saturday nights. |
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Veteran
Posts: 274
Location: MO in woods | Would love more info on MO riding and camping places.We're new to area Howell county.THANKS |
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Expert
Posts: 2614
| We ride in MO quiet a bit,also.If you will PM me,I can tell you about some good places that we ride up there. |
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Veteran
Posts: 285
| Laura Vonk has written several great trail books for mo. you could probably google her name and find her web site. I just cannot remember what it was. DK |
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Expert
Posts: 1205
Location: Arkansas | There is a smaller outfit just out of Pineville Missouri, they are great folks and the riding is superb... the place is Huckleberry Stables, and they have trails into the Huckleberry State Park, very scenic and wooded, with rocks and creeks and really good folks, they also have pens or stalls, and some cabins if you don't have a LQ trailer...
Edited by flyinghfarm 2008-01-09 2:40 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 309
Location: MO | we've stayed at Huckleberry. Rick and Mary are wonderful hosts. If Rick has time, he will guide you on the trails. If he doesn't he'll provide you with a good map and will draw in some interesting points to see.
Rick's son, Ricky, has a new campground about 10 miles away. It's called "Elk Valley Equestrian Center". He is just as nice as Rick ans nearly as knowledgeable. We were there over Thanksgiving weekend - had a blast. I'd highly recommend either one. Ricky has more camping spots but, more in the open. |
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Veteran
Posts: 285
| We joined Ron & Judy down there thanksgiving. Great riding. Lots of good hills, if you horse is not in shape when you get there, they will be when you leave. We loved it there. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 376
Location: Missouri | Laura Vonk's web site is:
http://www.motrailblazing.com/index.html |
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Expert
Posts: 2614
| She has a great website but I found several SE MO trails not mentioned. |
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