American Horse Council Trail Directory and Informative


With an influx in outdoor activity over the past few years due to the pandemic, there has been an increase in recreational horse ownership and trail riding. We have developed this directory as an informative piece to assist anyone looking for horse-friendly trails. This directory also includes information on issues that affect the horse industry such as land preservation, and trail etiquette, and offers tips on traveling with horses to make it a safe and enjoyable journey. With lots of information scattered over numerous websites, we wanted to make the search process easier. Make sure to check out this excel spreadsheet link to easily find trails listed by state.


Special thanks to the Back Country Horsemen of America, Equine Land Conservation Resource, the State Horse Councils, US Forest Service, National Park Service, and American Trails for being associated with the creation of this directory.


Trail Etiquette
 


Trail Etiquette is fundamental for everyone using the trails. Whether it be motorized vehicles, bikers, hikers, or horse riders, safety for all parties is a top priority when out on the trails. Trail etiquette means you understand the rules and respect those who are using the trails alongside you. There is a priority list for trail use right of way explained in the hyperlinks below. Those who are operating on trails need to be cautious towards horse riders, especially those on motorized vehicles. If motorized vehicles do not follow trail etiquette it could cause the horse rider to lose control of their horse which creates a danger to everyone around them. The protection of everyone on the trail is essential. Those who are using trails without regard to etiquette create an unsafe situation for everyone.


For more information on trail etiquette check out these hyperlinks:


Land Conservation


Land is especially important when it comes to having a horse and wanting to ride. What some horse owners might not know is that land conservation and maintaining equestrian access is a continuous battle. Back Country Horsemen of America focuses on maintaining public land trails for equestrians through physical work and policy advocacy. Public lands are defined as land or water collectively owned by U.S. citizens and managed by government agencies. Without equestrian advocates for land preservation, it could negatively impact the horse industry resulting in limited land access for trail riding.  Privately owned land is the most at-risk component of our equestrian landscape. Boarding barns, competition venues, trails, hunt fixtures, and hayfields are being lost every day as a result of development, misunderstanding of liability issues by new owners of the land, and rising demand for land around urbanizing areas. ELCR offers talking points for explaining liability issues to landowners; liability management tools; guidelines for fostering positive relationships with landowners; model rules of usage and other protections for landowners who wish to open their land to horse usage; and information about the benefits of ensuring that horses stay in your community.


For more information over land conservation check out these hyperlinks along with the excel spreadsheet (link above) covering trail site databases for all 50 states.


Additional Websites:

American Horse Council Riding Trail Links

State Website Links
Alabama https://www.alabamahorsecouncil.org/alabama-trail-riding 
Alaska https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/recreation-activities/alaska 
Arizona https://www.cavecreekaz.gov/564/Horseback-Riding 
Arkansas https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/activities/horseback 
California https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=28032 
Colorado https://coloradotrail.org/traveling-the-ct/horseback-riding/ 
Connecticut https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/State-Parks/Explore/Horseback-Riding 
Delaware https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/2021/june/21/top-10-trails-in-delaware/ 
Florida  https://floridadep.gov/sites/default/files/Visit%20Florida%20Equestrian%20trails%20brochure.pdf 
Georgia https://georgiahorsecouncil.com/trails/ 
Hawaii https://loveoahu.org/activities-things-to-do/horseback-riding/ 
Idaho https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/activities/horseback/ 
Illinois https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/Parks/Documents/TrailofTearsHorseMap.pdf
Indiana https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/recreation/trails/horseback-riding/ 
Iowa https://www.iowadnr.gov/Things-to-Do/Equestrian
Kansas https://kansashorsecouncil.com/public-trails-in-kansas 
Kentucky https://www.kentuckytourism.com/horses/horse-camps 
Louisiana  https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/kisatchie/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=34839&actid=50
Maine https://mainehorseassoc.com/trail-riding/ 
Maryland https://mda.maryland.gov/horseboard/Documents/HorseTrails.pdf 
Massachusetts https://www.mass.gov/horseback-riding-trails-in-state-parks
Michigan https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/horseback-riding 
Minnesota https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/horseback_riding/horse-trails-z-list.html 
Mississippi https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/mississippi/recreation/horseriding-camping 
Missouri https://mostateparks.com/activity/horseback-riding 
Montana https://montanatrailhorse.com/trail-info/montana-trails/ 
Nebraska http://outdoornebraska.gov/equestriantrails/ 
Nevada http://www.nastr.org 
New Hampshire https://www.nhstateparks.org/activities/equestrian 
New Jersey https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/islandbeachstatepark.html
New Mexico https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/spd/horsebackriding/
New York https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/37446.html 
North Carolina https://nchorsecouncil.com/ride-north-carolina/ 
North Dakota https://www.parkrec.nd.gov/horseback-riding
Ohio https://ohconline.com 
Oklahoma https://oetra.com 
Oregon https://www.oregonequestriantrails.org 
Pennsylvania https://www.paequinedirectory.com/pa-trail-riding 
Rhode Island https://www.rihorseman.com 
South Carolina https://www.schorsemenscouncil.org/trails.html 
https://southcarolinaparks.com/see-and-do/trails/equestrian-trails 
South Dakota https://gfp.sd.gov/horseback/ 
Tennessee https://www.tn.gov/natchez-trace/horseback-riding.html 
https://tnstateparks.com/activities/horseback-riding 
Texas https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/parks/things-to-do/equestrian 
Utah https://www.bchutah.org/utahtrails.php 
Vermont https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/activities/horseback-riding
Virginia https://www.trailriderspath.com/va-horse-trails
https://www.virginiahorsecouncil.org/trails-and-land-use/ 
https://www.vhib.org/virginia-equestrian-trails 
Washington https://www.tahomabchw.org/where-we-ride 
West Virginia https://wvstateparks.com/things-to-do/horseback-riding/ 
Wisconsin https://www.trailmeister.com 
Wyoming https://wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/places-to-go/view-places-on-wyoming-map