Bryce Canyon area

[Painted Horse]

To continue to try and add some diversity to this forum, here is a report of a horse trip to the area around Bryce Canyon. I like to make a spring time trips down to San Rafael in March and April and I usually switch over the area around Bryce in May as the snow melt moves higher up the mountain. I rarely ride inside Bryce Canyon itself. Too many requirments with the Park Service and not conflicting with the guide service that has the concession permit for the park. Plus, I've grown tired of all the foreign tourist taking our pictures. I frequently joke with my wife that my picture is on more coffee tables in Europe that my wife has of me around the house. Put a cowboy hat on and ride a horse and they can't resist asking you for your picture. The area around Bryce Canyon is made up of Forest Service and BLM depending on your elevation. So it is easy to find public access and I think many of the trails outside the park as just pretty as those inside the park, and I'll probably have them to myself even on a holiday weekend.We usually just primitive camp, Pull off in the trees and put up a highline. Although Ruby's Inn does over a Horse Motel for those that want to put their horses in a corral and sleep in a motel room and eat the buffet. There is also a equestrian camp at Coyote Hollow that has 4-6 camp sites and is run by the Forest Service. It has a flat pad to park, hitching rails, picnic tables etc. One of the common loops that we ride is up Losee Canyon, over the top and drop down into Casto canyon and return to camp down Casto. This loop offers a lot of variety in color, From the reds of the lower canyons to whites and greys as you climb to the higher elevations While the trail in Losee is horse/hiker trail, most of the trail in Casto Canyon is multi purpose, So you might see the occasional ATV in cAsto Another favorite ride of ours is to drop down into the Grand Staircase Escalante and ride down Sheep creek and up Willis Canyon This gts us into some fun slot canyons that are wide enough for the horses and a lunch stop to see the pictographs on the canyon walls If we get bored with these trails we can wander across the Paunsaugunt Plateau, there is almost endless riding up there.

[accadacca]

Good times!

[jman]

Those are great pics. Looks like a really good time.

[Sandstone Addiction]

I love the diversity and enjoy your TR's very much.

I have friends that ride horses and mules and enjoy their stories, but none of them have enough sense to take a camera along...

[Sombeech]

Looks like some great terrain for the horses. Ever been on the Thunder Mountain Trail right there? We usually see a horse trailer or two at the trailhead.

[Painted Horse]

We periodically ride the Thunder Mountain trail up to Coyote Hollow, especially if I have somebody with us who has never been in the area. But like the Peek-a-boo trail in Bryce Canyon it gets a lot of tourist. In fact we were saddling up at the trailer for a ride one year. A tour bus pulled in next to where we were parked, 50 Germans piled out and swarmed us. My horses are pretty gentile and tolerate, But I had to warn several of them that they were just asking to get kicked by trying to take photos from under the horses tails.