Aspen Trail Rides
T-Lazy-7 Horseback Riding Tours
Aspen, Colorado
- Location:
3129 Maroon Creek Rd.
Aspen, Colorado 81611
- Link: www.tlazy7.com
- Description: Aspen's premier snowmobile tour operator. Experienced, knowledgeable guides will take you by frozen waterfalls, through snowy forests and on to witness the best views of the beautiful Maroon Bells. Reservations required; they book up fast so please call ahead. Closed Sunday and Monday for Tours. Tours run anywhere from 2-4 hours.
- Contact: 970-925-4614
- Map: N/A
Breckenridge Trail Rides
Rusty Spurr Ranch
Serving Breckenridge, Copper, Keystone and Vail,
Colorado
- Location:
P.O. Box 1537 Kremmling, Colorado 80459
- Link: http://www.rustyspurr.com
- Description: Rusty Spurr ranch is a short, beautiful
drive away from Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail;
close enough to be convenient, yet far enough from the crowded
towns that you can have a true western ranching experience
in a single day. We offer a variety of unique experiences
to accommodate any equine desires our guests might have,
from full and half day horseback trail rides through the
range, our "Saddle Paddle" trip, genuine cattle
drives, and even team building exercises for your corporate
retreat. Marvel at the unrivaled panoramic mountain views
of the Continental Divide, Never Summer, and Gore ranges.
Colorado trail rides at their very best! When it is raining in the towns, it is often clear and sunny
at the Rusty Spurr Ranch. We look forward to riding with
you.
- Contact: Email: info@RustySpurr.com
Phone: 866.724.9715 or 970.724.1123
- Map: Get
Directions
Durango Trail Rides
Adventures Beyond, Inc., Over the Hill Outfitters Inc.
Durango, Colorado
- Location:
4140 County Road 234 Durango, CO 81301
- Link: www.overthehilloutfitters.com
- Description: Adventures Beyond, Inc., offers a variety of equestrian services, from family trail rides, multi-day backcountry pack trips, backcountry horsemanship clinics, even a drop camp service. If you are in Durango looking for a trail ride, they offer morning and afternoon, two hour and full day trail rides in some of the spectacular scenery in the San Juan National forest. Your guide will take you through the winding trails populated with oak and pine up to the peak of their ranch for stellar panoramic views. They also offer guided fishing trips.
- Contact: Office: 970-385-7656 Ranch: 970-247-1694
- Map: N/A
Southfork Riding Stables and Outfitters, Inc.
Durango, Colorado
- Location:
28481 Hwy 160, Durango, CO 81301
- Link: N/A
- Description: Southfork Riding Stables and Outfitters offer great Durango trail rides, from hourly, half day, full day, and even breakfast and sunset dinner trail rides. Ask about their cattle drives, pack trips, and drop camp service. They also arrange elk and bear hunts. Competitive prices. camps.
- Contact: 970-259-4871
- Map: N/A
Seventy-Seven Outfit
Durango, Colorado
- Location:
11374 Highway 550 South, Durango, Colorado 81303
- Link: www.77outfit.com
- Description: The Seventy-Seven outfit offers superior full and half day trail rides, as well as backcountry overnight trips.
- Contact: 970-247-3231
- Map: N/A
Tumbling T's Stables & Mancos Trout Farm
Mancos, Colorado
- Location:
9900 Road 43, Mancos, CO 81328
- Link: N/A
- Description: Tumbling T's offers both day and night trail rides, from half to full day. They offer custom tailored events for birthday parties and weddings. They even offer horseback riding lessons, as well as genuine chuck wagon breakfast and dinner rides. A great choice for unique and historic Colorado trail rides.
- Contact:
- Map: N/A
Estes Park Trail Rides
Sombrero Ranches
Estes Park, Colorado
- Location: 1895 Big Thompson Ave. or
P.O. Box 1735
Estes Park, CO 80517
- Link: www.sombrero.com
- Description: N/A
- Contact: 970-586-4577
- Map: N/A
Deb's Livery
Serving Ridgway and Montrose, Colorado
- Location: P.O. Box 795
Montrose, CO 81402
- Link: www.debslivery.com
- Description: Colorado Trail Rides
- Contact: Phone: 970-626-5587
Cell: 970-209-8966
- Map: N/A
Steamboat Springs Trail Rides
Steamboat Lake Outfitters, Horseback and ATV Tours
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
- Location:
PO Box 749 - Clark, Colorado 80428
- Link: www.steamboatlakeoutfitters.com
- Description: Steamboat Springs Trail Rides
- Contact: 970.879.4404 or 800.342.1889
- Map: N/A
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Summer in Breckenridge is one of the best places in the world; the streets are calm, the decks are sunny and a cold beer feels well deserved after a days hike. However, as often is the case, afternoon rains will drive us to mope indoors. We'd been looking forward to a well deserved day off and woke up to find nothing but gray skies and a forecast that didn't bode well for anything other than checkers. We wanted blue skies, sun and the chance to ride horses in actual wilderness. Instead of surrendering to the fates, we called up the folks at Rusty Spurr Ranch. The Rusty Spurr is a short drive north of town and for reasons better known to the more scientific among us, is sunny even when the towns are overcast. It ended up being the right choice.
We were quickly out of the rain and driving through sunny, open ranch land surrounded by forested mountains. The range opened up wide and the peaks of the Never Summers could be seen in the distance. We found the turn off to the Rusty Spurr and headed up their road, checking in at the office and heading up to "Cow Camp" to meet with our wrangler and owner of the Rusty Spurr, Cowboy Han.
The sound of thundering hooves to the north alerted us to his arrival, Quite dramatically he rode in with the entire herd, and we hear a few very prolific, authoritative yells as he directed the herd to the stables.
Han started out in Connecticut working with horses as a child, and throughout his youth he dreamed of moving out west and becoming a cowboy. Now, years later, a cup of coffee in one hand and a lasso in the other marks the start of his day. He is up at dawn, attending to his horses and checking on the cows, and by the time we've headed up to greet him, he's already done the day's chores and is ready to spend the afternoon taking us around the ranch. We're just happy to get out of Breckenridge for one of their famed trail rides, and Han does not disappoint.
He suits us up with horses and we hit the trail, riding through aspen groves and up into the fragrant ponderosa. Han stops to point out markings from bears and elk rubs on the tree trunks, and talks about the life of his horses with real affection. He even gives his horses day off once a week, even in the peak season, to ensure their health and happiness. His explanation of his duties came from both experience and a love of his lifestyle; he really is the genuine article. We pass a few of their favorite bed downs and head out onto the range to look for the cows. Generally, cattle drives and Colorado trail rides are separate endeavors, but as we've got him on a slow day in the late season with no other bookings, he takes us on the grand tour. We ride up a butte to admire the spectacular 360 degree view before trotting down to punch cattle. Our task is to move the herd from one graze area to another, and with the help of our amateur but strangely satisfying "hiyas!" and "heps!" we urge even the most reluctant cows to move. The time flies by but by the end it has been hours, and we head back for a spot of lunch and a relaxing chat on the porch, watching the sunlight dapple through the aspens and admiring the view, as the horses snort and stomp nearby.
The Rusty Spurr Ranch is the real deal when it comes to Colorado trail rides. A sprawling, remote ranch, blue skies overhead, and the thrill of riding beautiful horses across the open range. At the very least, we know that whether we are in Vail or Breckenridge, horseback rides in the sunny rocky mountains sure beat staying indoors.
-The Aspen 9 Team
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