Posted 2007-11-29 9:06 AM (#72035) Subject: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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.
Posted 2007-11-29 3:34 PM (#72067 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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.
Posted 2007-11-29 9:44 PM (#72091 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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?
Posted 2007-11-30 6:28 PM (#72165 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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.
Posted 2007-12-06 9:38 PM (#72583 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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.
Posted 2007-12-19 6:19 PM (#73172 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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
Posted 2008-01-09 2:39 PM (#74113 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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...
Posted 2008-01-10 9:02 PM (#74192 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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.
Posted 2008-01-10 9:56 PM (#74197 - in reply to #72035) Subject: RE: Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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.
Had a great ride in Missouri hills yesterday...
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. 
