I just retuned from Jackson Hole.  We rode our horses in the Grand Teton Park  ( same fee gets you into both Yellowstone and Grand Teton.)

We trail headed from the Jackson Lake Lodge. They had 50+ horses there that they take tourist out for rides, by the hour, half day or all day.  There are several of these concessionairs that provide horse rides in and around the park.  That way you could spend a day seeing the park, swiming in the firehole river, Ride horses one or two days, go river rafting on the Snake River near Jackson, go mountain biking at Snow King Ski resort or try the Alpine slide or Zip Line.  Of course each of these things has a price tag. It may be cheaper to pay the $2000 to the dude ranch and have everything included for the week.

Here are some pictures of what we saw as we rode.

The wild flowers are just incredible. I can not get a camera to capture just how colorful they really are.

We rode out the the Two Oceans trail

You get a great view of the Grand Teton Mountains

We rode to a high overlook called Grand View ( because it has a Great view of the Grand Tetons)

This is looking back at where we came from as we rode around two oceans lake

And this is looking back at the Tetons.  This is Jackson lake in front of the Tetons. Our truck and trailer is parked by the lake.  So it was a good 6 hour ride for us.

We just pulled off the rode and camped in the trailer with the horses highlined nearby.

And rode a different trail each day.

Greetings,

I have a few suggestions. Check out "Horseworks Wyoming" website. Nate and Maecille are very reputable. My friends and I have stayed at the ranch on a number of occasions, and the prices are right. It is not fancy, but good horses, food and fine riding. Nate is 87 and still rides daily! The website does not make clear all they have to offer. Give them a call and let them know your interests. I purchased 2 horses from them, one sight unseen! Cody is an easy drive, and known as the gateway town to Yellowstone. Another way to see Wyoming is on the Outlaw Trail Ride, sponsored in part by the town of Thermopolis, which is also near Cody and Horseworks. This is not to be confused with other "Outlaw Rides." It is a ride for confident riders, as there are long hours in the saddle. You start at the "Hole in the Wall," of Butch Cassidy fame, and ride about 120 miles to Thermopolis over 6 days. Evening entertainment, good time. You can take your own horse or rent one. On the website are rental contacts. We have used Dar Mantle's horses of "Wyoming Horses." If you take your own, make sure they are in tip top shape.

Another possibility is the Darwin Ranch. Also check out the website. You fly into Jackson Hole, then drive about 3 hours over dirt roads to the highest elevation private ranch in the U.S. (as I recall).  We did a pack trip from the ranch into the Gros Vant (sp?) wilderness. Fabulous. Rates are competitive, but not "cheap." As a side note, I now will not fly into Jackson anymore, makes me sad......I visited in the early 70's when it was still a cowboy town, which I loved! The 80's & 90's have brought the glitz and sh_ _ from high end ski town mentality. O.K., I feel better now that I have vented!

Good Luck,

Brenda

Granite Creek is in the Gros Ventre Wilderness. So some of the pictures above are the wilderness that Brenda is talking about.

ALL of Wyoming has changed! Yes the Billionairs have run the Millionairs out of Jackson. You can't ride a trail in the Wind River Wilderness with out hikers telling you what a jerk you are for letting your horse poop on the trails.  If they had their way, they would ban all horses from the wilderness. The tree huggers have succeeded in reintroducing the wolf and have let the Grizzly Bear populations boom. Elk herd have been decimated by the increase in predators. And not just in the Park.

But then again all the western states have changed.  When I was a kid, Utah had a poulation of 350,000. Today it has over 2 million. and it has changed Utah.

Jackson does offer your Hubby other things to do.  Mountain Biking, Alpine Slides, Zipline and other summer activites at the ski resorts , River Rafting on the Snake river, It's a Fly fishing mecca.  Mountain Climbing on the Tetons,  nightly Plays and Melodramas in the Jackson playhouses.  And you can find similar activities at any of the Park Gateways.  West Yellowstone, Gardner, Cody as well as Jackson.

Good Luck and have fun

Painted Horse...

I am soooo totally jealous! We (husb, 2 kids and I ) travelled all through there last summer/fall.. LOVED the area.. I would have loved to have brought the horses and ridden at both Yellowstone and the Tetons.., however, we flew in to Denver and rented a car before setting out on our 4 state marathon drive ...CO,SD,MT,WY... That is my dream to live where I can ride trails with this kind of scenery.. south Texas just doesn't cut it for the view..(heat, humidity, bugs,etc...)

I've done some camping with the horses, but have never highlined them.. Were they easy to teach?.. My Rocky mare can be kinda silly at times and has been known to occaisionally sit back on crossties while being bathed.  Especially if the hose happens to rest on her front legs when I am spraying the rump... (She really doesn't like the footing there..) She never does this in the barn when crosstied.. How do you break this habit?

Usually after a long day riding the horses are tired enough that it's not a big deal to get them to stand tied at the highline.  Just remember the rules of Highline. (7' high, 7' apart and  17" of lead) And you shouldn't have any major wrecks. If your horse will stand tied to your trailer or a tree, they will usually stand tied to a highline.  It's gives them more movement than being tied to say the trailer, where they only can move 180*. On the highline they can walk a full 360* from the tie point. And even lay down if they want.

Keep any ropes/leads high enough that they can't get a leg up and over and rope burn their hocks,

Thanks! I wasn't aware of the "7's rule".

I'm sorry I stumbled on this website so late, but I'm glad that I eventually did! I have learned alot and am enjoying having such a large pool of resources to pull from..