Steamboat Springs owes most of its beauty to the hills and mountains that surround this charming town in Colorado; covered in snow during the winter months and by thick forests the rest of the year wandering out into these surroundings is a must during any visit, whether it be on foot, bicycle or horseback. We were not going to skip on any of these and sure enough we were lucky enough to join a horseback riding tour near Steamboat Springs.
Most of the ranches that offer these tours are not in the town itself but in ranches nearby, anywhere between a 15 to 30 minute car ride away. Our ranch was Del’s Triangle 3 , about 20 minutes away from Steamboat Springs, at the base of rolling hills we would be riding across soon after arriving. We were provided with hats and jackets to protect ourselves from the relatively cold breeze, were assigned our horses and left the ranch shortly after arriving, slowly trotting up the gentle hill behind the stable.
It wasn’t long before we left the ranch and any sign of civilization behind, the only company being the rest of the group members and our horses. Mine in particular stopped and veered off the path as soon as it spotted a bush to eat from, but it pretty much followed the rest of its peers most of the time. About fifteen minutes after riding across the hill we reached the beginning of a forest we would be riding across as well. This is perhaps one of the the beauties of the experience, being able to appreciate the different views there are.
We were told by our eye to keep our eyes open as most probably we’d see deer or elk at some point during the trip, and sure enough we did just a few minutes after reaching the forest.
Soon after spotting the deer the forest got thicker and my horse would not stop eating and veering off the expected path despite my best tries to keep it on it, so the guide came over and placed a net over its mouth which would keep it from trying to eat. She told me too that this was a habit of my horse, and she had brought the net expecting it to happen. But all was good. We enjoyed the lovely views and kept zipping and unzipping our jackets whenever the sun came out or hid behind a cloud- the temperature was very different!
During the rest of the tour we heard elk several more times but were not able to spot them because of the trees. The tour was a wonderful and different way of enjoying the outdoors in Steamboat Springs, and you might also want to know that these tours are also available during winter, where instead of trees and bushes you will be riding the horses across the snow.
Resources
Ranch Del 3 Website http://steamboathorses.com
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My horseback riding tour was part of my fam trip to Steamboat Springs, however all photos and opinions remain unbiased and are, as always, my own.
Have you ever gone horseback riding? Where was this? Did you like it? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below and this post too if you liked it!
I love everything about Colorado but sadly I’ve never been to Steamboat! Dying to get there during winter months for a little bit of snow action.
If you do you’ll get to enjoy the “champagne snow” they have, apparently unique to the area!
I always manage to have horrible experiences horseback riding (yet I still try…) but this looks gorgeous!
Do you? Kind of fall and those things? My horses tend to do something atypical, and this case was no different…
Funny — I’ve gone horseback riding in quite a few places around the world and never seen those muzzles to keep them from eating! Those must be some seriously hungry horses!
Sounds like a great experience! I’ve only been horseback riding once and it was in Iceland where we had the same problem – zipping & unzipping coats when we were and weren’t in the sunshine!