Posted 2009-10-26 5:33 AM (#112396) Subject: Vacation Out West- Where to Go?
Veteran
Posts: 270 Location: Roanoke IL
I live in central IL. I have ridden many places in IL, IA, IN and MO. I've never had the pleasure of going out west somewhere. I know there are lots of dude ranches, but I was wondering if people had any that were particularly nice, and could tell me if they have a website. and what time of year is best to go. Working with cattle would be a plus, but not a must. I'm no expert ranch hand. If I'm going to plan a big trip like this, I want to go to the best place, because heaven only knows when I could get to do it again. I want CHALLENGING trails. I'm so sick and tired of the 10 foot wide flat boring trails that your horse doesn't even have to step over a log. I may as well fall asleep....and my horse feels the same way.
My next question....bringing a horse. I know I could probably use one of the ranch's horses, but it would be more special and meaningful to be on my own horse. Do the ranches allow that? Do you typically just find a layover spot, like a park or something? I know it's going to take several days to get there. (wherever "there" winds up to be!)
Is it true that I cannot bring my own hay to places like that? Or is it only the parks?
Any tips, suggestions, or ideas would be appreciated.
We've always primitive camped. Never needed a camp ground. If you have a LQ trailer, all you need is a generator to make primitive camping almost non primitive. You can find camp sites with horse water close, and fresh water can be had with a water tank in your truck and a nearby resort, filling station, etc.
No, you can not use your hay in the national parks in most western states, it must be certified weed free hay. You can usually pick it up at a feed store on your way out. You can use a high line or electric fence for your horses. No way would I ride the trails we ride out there on a rental horse. I like my own. Cattle drives sound enticing, but that is not trail riding. You can read others take on the cattle drives in another thread here.
I'm not sure you really realize what CHALLENGING TRAILS in the rockies is really like. We road the trails in the Teton's 10 years ago. I could not do that again. Beautiful trails, very very challenging, but more than I could do now. When the head and neck of your horse is out over 1000 feet of thin air, on the switch backs. Or, when your riding on a mountain side of loose shale with water running under the shale. OR, when you come to a 4 foot step up on a 2 foot wide trail and no room to turn your horse around without getting off and moving rocks from the top side of the trail to the bottom side in order to turn your horse around. Or, when your at 11,500 feet and the trail from this mountain to the next is 2 feet wide at the widest point, and it's a 1000 ft straight down on both sides of the trail. Get the idea. You may want to consider some gentler trails. We have.
We prefer the trails in the Wind River range of Wyoming or those in the Gallatin National Park of SW Montana. We've been to the Big Horns, scenery is nice there, but the trails there are a bit too rocky for my liking. We've ridden in the Monti LaSalle mountains in central Utah. Scenery there was nice, but there are no trails. You just ride where ever you want. That sounds nice, but you don't see much that way. Your always running into a dead end. The trails in the Wind River range and the those in the Gallatin National are marked and maintained. Maintenance means a lot, unless you want to play luberjack all day and cut trees off of the trails. On many of the trails, there is no way around a down tree. It must be cut to get thru.
As to the layovers on the road out. Fair grounds and rodeo grounds are usually good choices. There are also many bed & breakfast horse camps.
Posted 2009-10-26 10:32 AM (#112415 - in reply to #112396) Subject: RE: Vacation Out West- Where to Go?
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
As Bob said lots of places to primative camp. I just have a problem about paying somebody to host me. So I have no experience with Dude ranches. That doesn't mean it's not the right thing for you. So I will limit my suggestions to you bringing your own horses and doing your own thing. If thats not what you want. ignor this post.
1st off. You wil need certified hay for ANY public land in the west. That includes Forest Service, BLM or State lands. You do not need certified hay for private land. So if you ride on a private ranch, it will be up to the ranch owners if they will allow you to bring in outside hay. Most processed feed is OK. ie. Hay pellets. The process of grinding the forage into pellets destroys weed seeds. You can buy bales of certified hay ( it's almost ALWAYS alfalfa) at most feed stores here in the area. Certified hay cubes are available in most stores.
2nd. If you travel out west you will need to bring your papers. Current Coggins, a current health certificate or travel permit and proof of ownership, which is often a brand inspection or registration papers. Each state has different rules about what papers you need.
3rd. There are lots of places to ride. And yes we have 10' wide trails and we have places with no trails. Utah for example is 70% public lands. So there is no need to check into a dude ranch unless you want the comforts they afford. The biggest problem is usually finding the trails. As most of the trails on public land don't have somebody paying for advertising to promote their use. I often get on the internet before I head someplace and find a local and get their suggestions as to where to ride. If you have an idea of where you want to ride, or the season you will be coming, post here and somebody will pipe in with suggestions.
I ride a lot in Utah, Wyoming and little in Idaho and Colorado. There are numerous competitive trail rides in Colorado and New Mexico. Pay the $70 entry fee and participate in one of those events. Don't worry about winning, just enjoy the marked trails and company of other horse folks. Lots of endurance races in Utah. Same thing goes. Pay the entry fee and enjoy the trails they have marked. Most of the wilderness areas have trails that acess the various points of interest. Most of these trails will be listed in hiking books and books about the area etc. But I find a lot of the hiking trails are too short. Hikers wanting to hike 4-5 miles and I want to ride 20+ in a day. And a few hiking trails may not be suiteable for horses. But a little research will help you find out which are better suited.
Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante, Zions are all national parks in Utah's canyon lands. They have stunningly beautiful scenry but choose your seasons carefully. Zions and Grand Staircase are uncomfortably hot during June through Sept. Bryce at 8000 foot elevation is too cold in during the winter and spring months. I love Bryce Canyon in May and Zions is one of my favorite Thanksgiving Day rides in November. National parks all have additional rules that you won't have to put up with in remote areas. Also riding in National parks will put you in the same area as LOTS of other people. Riding in Bryce and Zions is like being on exhibit. Tourist ( a lot of the from overseas) are just fascinated with american cowboys on horses. I've probably got more pictures of me floating around Europe than my family has stashed at home. You can't ride past foreign tourist on a horse and not have them clicking away with their cameras.
There are some beautiful rides in Yellowstone Park. I love to ride the Tetons, and I prefer the western side of the tetons. But there are some great places to ride around Jackson Hole and you have the tourist amenities for after the ride. The Wind Rivers Wilderness, and Popo Aggie Wilderness of Wyoming and the Uintas Wilderness of Utah are great summer mountain riding areas. Although they can be very rocky. The Strawberry area near Park City Utah is very nice to ride. I love to explore the San Rafael Swell area of Central Utah during the cooler months of the year. This is high desert riding and very remote. You won't see anybody else. If you have a problem, you are on your own.
Riding in the Grand Staircase in May
Bryce Canyon in May
The Uinta Wilderness of Utah in July
Yellostone Park in August
The west side of the Tetons in September
October in the Wastach Mountains of Northern Utah
Zions National Park in late November
The San Rafael Swell area in February. This is a great area to ride 9 months of the year. Just don't be here in July or August when the temps are 100*
Posted 2009-10-26 11:45 AM (#112426 - in reply to #112396) Subject: RE: Vacation Out West- Where to Go?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 376 Location: Missouri
Jon, are there many trails on the west side of the Teton's? Are they as "challenging" as those on the east side of the center mountain? The east side, on the center mountain, is where we found those overly challenging trails.
Posted 2009-10-26 1:15 PM (#112436 - in reply to #112396) Subject: RE: Vacation Out West- Where to Go?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 368 Location: Georgia
This not exactly "out west" more like southwest but I went to a working cattle ranch several years ago and it was the most fun I have ever had on horseback. I don't know about taking your own horse, but you could cetainly ask. Alan and Debbie (the owners) are great folks. You can do as much or as little acutal cow work as you want to do. The ranch is in Gila, NM. The website is www.doubleeranch.com
Posted 2009-10-26 2:47 PM (#112445 - in reply to #112396) Subject: RE: Vacation Out West- Where to Go?
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
There are several trail heads around Driggs ( Alaska Basin) and Tetonia (Granite Basin and Green Lakes) That offer spectactular views. I didn't find any of those trails overly challenging. You will have some switch backs in a few places ike this. But it's nothing to realy get scared over.
And some rocky areas to cross. But you're not hanging out over any cliffs.
Besides the west side of the Tetons, You can slip up north a little bit and have access to the South West Corner of Yellostone Park and the Jedediah Smith Wilderness area, Which is just south of the park and East of Ashton Idaho. Like most western trailheads. You have one or two trails heading out of each trail head. It may be hard to ride for 14 days with out repeating trails. But you can enjoy 2-4 days at each trail head and then move the trailer down the road a few miles and spend another few days at a new trail head.
Posted 2009-10-26 8:07 PM (#112459 - in reply to #112445) Subject: RE: Vacation Out West- Where to Go?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 376 Location: Missouri
The Alaska Basin on the east side looks nothing like the switchbacks in your picture. On the east side it is a steep, shale, mountain, side with water running under the shale and frequent wash outs.
The swithbacks you've shown are super highways compared to some of the trails we rode on the east side.
Hey Jon, should we tell Amanda about the griz in the Tetons? Guess we'd better before I forget about them.
Don't know about the west side, but on the east side, you ride thru a lot of huckleberry patches. Huckleberries are one of the bear's favorite foods. The berries are ripe in mid August. We rode the Teton's in mid August. We had close(less than 10 feet away) encounters with griz daily.
The worst was one day, after we'd been there for a week or so, and the horses were accustomed to close bear encounters, we were going down the mountain, and all of a sudden the 16.3 hd horse I was on stopped dead in his tracks. Off to the left a grizzly stood up and I was looking this bear eye ball to eye ball, not 8 feet away. I was almost too scared to move, but remembered some locals had said that if you have a very close encounter you have to be the agressor. I thought, yall right, but I asked my horse to take a step towards the bear. To my surprise the bear got down and walked up the mountain.
Vacation Out West- Where to Go?
