If you want to know the best places to visit, eat or where to ride, ask the locals, right?
We have a great opportunity with the variety of riders and demographics of our members to get some pretty good local and experienced information. So, join in and share your local information!
Here are some of my personal notes for Missouri and surrounding areas:
Missouri:
We have a large variety of trails all over the state. One terrific source for information is the Missouri Trail Blazing Guide. It is a comprehensive guide to Missouri’s Equestrian Camping and Trails. It includes directions, descriptions and maps. We purchased the book to take on the road with us but there is also an online site.
To access their online site visit:
http://www.motrailblazing.com/
For starting off the riding season in NW Missouri, we like Poosey Conservation area. It is located close to Chillicothe MO. There are approximately 18 miles of trails and roads and have several stops around the route to park your trailer. There is quite a bit of gravel road if you are a beginner and some pretty nice wide wooded trails. It is just a good place for that first trail ride.
Smithville Lake (north of Kansas City) also is another great place with a variety of trails. During wet seasons, the trails get pretty muddy. There are several places along the trail route to park, but overall, not any large area and it can get pretty busy during the nice riding season as it is so close to KC and very scenic.
Golden Hills Trail Rides is located in the South East part of Missouri in the Ozark mountains near Raymondville. They have a large facility and have horses available to rent along with a small motel. It is more low keyed vs. Eminence which has quite a following of partiers. During the spring, summer and fall, they have organized rides with some clinicians and during these rides; they provide 3 meals a day. They have about 200 miles of trails over 5000 acres with all levels of trails.
Also, this summer we are planning a trip up into S. Dakota (Mount Rushmore), Wyoming (Sheridan), Montana (Glacier National Park area) and maybe N. Dakota. We won’t be trailering our own horses but would like to find some good Ride Outfitters to connect with to get a better view of the country other than from the pavement. There are some sites on the internet, but would prefer come personal feedback if possible.
Happy Trails!