Horseback Riding Trails | Back to Horseback Riding | Print This Page & Bring It With You!

Armstrong Woods: Owners can park their trailers for free and unload in the Entrance Parking Lot by the East Ridge Trailhead. For a $6 day use fee, horse owners can park ¾ mile into the park, by the Maintenance Yard behind the picnic area where the trailheads connect to the East Ridge Trail or the Pool Ridge Trail. Maps of the trails are available at the Visitor's Center.

Horses are permitted in three primitive campsites, 8 to 10 miles from the trailhead, at the Tom King and Mannings Flat Backcountry campsites. Permits are required. Creek water is safe for horses, but must be purified for humans, no fires are allowed, amenities include pit toilets and picnic table with cupboard. Horses must be hobbled to graze. Other than in spring, supplemental feed for horses is necessary.

Riders can ride a six-mile loop using the East Ridge Trail, crossing over to the Pool Ridge Trail at the top of the 1400' ridge. There is a glade of trees here, with a stream of pure (for humans and horses) drinking water flowing into a horse trough fashioned from a log.

For a longer ride, you can enjoy a 14-mile loop up McCray Mountain and past Bull Frog Pond Campground. Crossing the road and continuing on an unmarked trail to a fire road, the trail continues to Gilliam Creek. To the left of the bridge is a trail connecting to Gilliam Creek Trail, which heads back up the mountain, joining Pool Ridge Trail down to your trailer.

An even longer ride, a 20-mile loop, involves crossing the bridge and continuing along the creek, up Thompson Ridge to Tom King Camp on Austin Creek. A mile upstream are the two Mannings Flat Camps. Crossing Austin Creek, the trail follows a fire road downstream to Gilliam Creek Trail which climbs back over the mountain to Pool Ridge Trail which returns to your trailer.

Chanslor Ranch: All trails available for guided horseback riding trips are available to people bringing their own horses and horses can be boarded here on a nightly basis. You can park your trailer on the ranch for a small fee while you use the ranch as the base for exploring trails in this area. Advance notice may be required. Other services available are horse grooming, custom feeding, exercising, and training in dressage, hunt seat, western riding, and harness.

Salt Point State Park: Salt Point, 20 miles north of Jenner, offers six miles of coast and an extensive network of horse trails which interconnect 10 biotic zones, including a rare pygmy forest, and provide access to remote areas of the park.

http://www.russianriveroutdoors.com/biking-leisure.html - updated: Saturday, April 26, 2008 8:15:54 PM