Category Archives: Southern Utah

Horse trails in southern utah

St.George ride

This past week, I took two of my horses, picked up a friend and his horse and went to Southern Utah. I have an old neighbor who has moved south who had pasture and he offered to let us keep the horses there if he could ride with us. We drove down thursday afternoon and met up several others from the Utah Foxtrotter Club. As it turned out, There were 3 members from the club and 4 non-members who showed up to ride.
At home, I still have lots of snow. My horses are in a corral and have beaten several paths from their run in shed to the feed manger to the horse waterer. The weather forcast was 56° temps and bright blue skies, so we were excited to get the horses out on the trails.
Friday morning we stopped by Zion’s Gait Curlies to look at their horses. My friend is interested in maybe breeding one of his mares to their stallion. These folks bred a Hypo-allergenic horse. These are purebred Fox Trotters with a curly gene. The curls in their hair was especially evident in their winter coats.
After looking at the curlies we headed back to the pasture to get the horse trailer and horses. After getting everybody loaded we headed for the trailhead for our ride. By noon we were saddled up and ready to head out. We were near St George Utah and headed up the Grapevine trail in the Red Cliffs Reserve. The first mile or two of this trail is a gravel road that is used occasionally by utility workers to access several water storage tanks. There is a gate that prevent any vehicles without a key from entering. But there is a nice step over bar that allows the horses to enter. This road gave us a place to work out the few forgotten manners the horses had developed over a long winter of standing in a corral. We headed for the pink mountains just in front of the snow covered mountains.

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When we reached the pink mountains we picked up a single track trail called Brackens Loop. My horses have been barefoot, standing on snow and wet ground since November, so one of the reason we were here was for the sandy trails that would be easy on their bare feet.

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Brackens Loop weaves it way through the desert between the pink sand stone mountains and a black volcanic ridge.

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The colors are very vibrant. Red sand and sandstone, grey and greens of the vegetation, blue skies and of course our horses.

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We finished the Bracken Loop by 3:00pm and said good by to our curlie friends who had joined us. We still felt like riding so we headed out on the Dino Cliffs trail for another hour of riding.
Since we were driving back home Saturday evening, we got a much earlier start on Saturday. We met two sister from the local Back Country Horseman chapter who were going to show us one of their favorite trails. We met at the Upper overlook for Snow Canyon. Again we actually had more non-member than members of the Foxtrotter club. The two sisters that were leading our ride were on their endurance horses and excited to see if the gaited horses could keep up with their big trot horses. And they put us to a serious test as they kept the group moving right along.

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Snow Canyon is a state park. As such it has a few restriction. One of the first, was no dog loose in the park. So mike’s german sheppard found herself being shut into the back of a horse trailer for the day. This is probably a good place to mention, that being able to take horses into Snow Canyon has a lot to do with Back Country Horsemen’s efforts to keep the park open to equestrians. If you enjoy these kind of trails it’s important to support Back Country Horsemen or similar groups that work to keep trails open to horses. It’s also a great way to find friends to ride with.
Snow Canyon has a lot of color in the rock formation, and starting from the upper overlook, we could see a lot of them.

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As you descend off the higher bench, You pass through an area of volcanic rock and formation. It didn’t take long before my barefoot horses were looking for ways off the trail and off the sharp volcanic rocks.

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The sisters leading our group assured us this was the worst of the rocks and that we would soon be back in the sand.

 

We were riding the Gila Trail. It is a marked trail for hikers and horses that wanders through the brush and occasional volcanic caves that are found in the area. The trail is sandy but easy to follow and there are the occasional trail markers to help you find your way.

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In the bottom of the canyon we were once again back in sandy footing and able to move the horses out at faster speed. Even one section of a sandy wash we all let the horse canter and got to whoop and holler.

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At the dead end of this canyon were several ponds of water. The horses eagerly drank their fill and the riders broke out their lunches as we enjoyed the beauty.

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As we started our ride back out. We noticed the cloud cover creeping in and the temperatures dropping a little. The forecast for the northern part of the state was for more snow. This area was not going to get the snow, but was feeling the effects of the weather front crossing the state.

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I had enjoyed the ride down into the canyon with out a jacket, But I was kinda wishing I had brought one by time I got back to the truck as the skies darkened and slight breeze picked up.

We said our goodbyes to our new friends and got the horses loaded and headed for home. As we got on I-15 heading north, an Over head sign was flashing that the interstate was closed a 112 miles north and we knew it was going to be a rough drive home in the storm. Our normal 5 hour drive home turned into 7 hours as we slowed for snow and icy road conditions. I left 56° in St George and returned to 16° and driveway that had 6” of new snow needing to be shoveled. Oh Well there is always next weekend, where should I go next?

Bryce Canyon

Each spring, I like to get out and enjoy the area around Bryce Canyon. The High alpine areas of he state are still snowed under, So the high desert areas of Southern Utah’s Color country are a great alternative. Bryce Canyon itself is located at 8,000 foot elevation, So it is usually late April or May before we can ride in that area.

Near the entrance to Bryce Canyon is Ruby’s Inn. This is a Best Western Motel that caters to most of the tourist coming to visit the park. It is a Motel, restaurant, gift shop, atv rental, camp ground, RV park, and has a Horse motel. If I am with friends who want a bed and hot shower, We can check them into a room at Ruby’s Inn and check the horses into the horse motel across the street. Even if we camp out, We often swing into Ruby’s Inn for their buffet for breakfast or dinner.

If you want to camp out, there are numerous places to camp. Coyote Hollow has 4 equestrian camp sites. These sites are all located in a nice stand of Ponderosa pines, They offer nice shade and basically picnic tables and hitching rails with a flat pad to park your rig on. You will pay the Forest Service fee for camping. I don’t remember if their is water or and outhouse located there. The Upper trail head for the Thunder Mountain trails is very close to the camp sites. Coyote Hollow is up on the plateau, So you can ride thru the sage brush and Ponderosa pines and just wander, or head down the Thunder Mountain trail that will take you down into Red Canyon. Mountain Bikers often ride downhill on this trail and have somebody pick them up about 7 miles down in Red Canyon.

As you head down hiway 12 in Red Canyon, there are several side roads that head out into the Forest. I like to camp on the Corral Hollow road. This area also has lots of large Ponderosa Pines to park underneath, There are occasional stock ponds that hold water in the spring, they catch the snow melt and any rain run off, I’ve never checked them in the summer to see how long the water last. But the cattle on the grazing permit use them for water.

Near the mouth of Red Canyon, you can turn north on a gravel road and drive in a mile or two and camp near the mouth of Losee Canyon. Here you will be camping in the Pinon Pines. Losee and Casto Creeks both have water in the spring and your horses can drink that. There is a wonderful trail that goes up Losee Canyon, crosses over and comes down Casto Canyon. You can do this as one long loop ride or do a separate day ride up each canyon.

Southern Utah is known for it’s WindRock faces. If you get caught in the Bryce area when the wind blows, you can have a couple days of strong winds blowing sand. We have found that if we drive an hour over to the Grand Staircase Escalante national monument near Cannondale, We can get out of the wind and enjoy a ride in the slot canyons that are found in that area.

Inside Bryce Canyon itself, there is only one real trail to ride your horses on. You can easily do this ride in 4-6 hours. You will need a Coggins for your horse. Check with the rangers to see when the guide service is heading out with its paying riders. The guide wranglers and their customer, ALWAYS get priority on the trail. If you encounter them on the trail, You need to back up and get off the trail to make room for them to pass.

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Horse motel at Ruby’s Inn
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If you are in the area, The ride in Bryce is a must do.
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This is the area on top of the plateau up around Coyote Hollow. Easy going trails thru sage brush and spruce or pines
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This is Casto Canyon, Lots of red Rock and some water in the stream
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Campsite near the mouth of Losee Canyon.
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This photo is from the upper end of Corral Hollow.ImageThis is in Casto Canyon
ImageThis is on the Thunder Mountain Trail that starts in Lower Red Canyon and ends up in Coyote Hollow.
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ImageThis is entering into Sheep Creek over in the Grand Staircase Escalante.
ImageA little farther down Sheep Creek
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When you get to the intersection of Willis Creek, Take a minute and get off your horses explore along the cliff faces. There are lots of indian pictographs painted on the rocks in this area. It’s a good place to eat your lunch. When you are back in the saddle, head up Willis Canyon. You will notice the little stream here is a reddish color. This stream originates in Bryce Canyon and carries the red color of the soil in the canyon.
ImageThe canyon walls will close in and you will enter some narrow slots.
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After passing thru several of these narrow section, You will come to a section that appears un passable, here you will scramble up a very steep hill side
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When you come out on the ridge, Just wander through the Pinon Pines and sagebrush until you come to the gravel road. It will be a couple mile ride back along the road to get back to your starting point.
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