North Carolina has a number of opportunities for a day or week of horseback riding for people of all ages and sizes. Ride in the mountains or on the beach. National parks in North Carolina also offer camping, hiking, biking, tubing and rafting. Accommodations range from motels to western-style cabins or RV and tent camping.
Sandy Bottom Trail Rides is located near Asheville, N.C., and offers one-hour to four-hour rides. The trails take you through meadows and high country in mountain-fresh air. They have no weight or age limits. For those who just can't get up on top of a horse, there are wagon and buggy rides. Sandy Bottom Trails is located on the edge of the Chattahoochee National Forest. The business has been in the family for three generations.
Sandy Bottom Trail Rides
1459 Caney Fork Road
Marshall, NC 28753
(800) 959-3513
(828) 649-3464
The Clear Creek Guest Ranch is located 3,200 feet above sea level in the Pisgah National Forest. It has 68 horses and Western-style cabins that can be rented nightly or weekly. Meals are served family style. The Pisgah National Forest is known as "the land of the waterfalls," and nearby is Roaring Fork Waterfall. River-tubing rides are great fun for children, and the area also offers whitewater rafting for the more adventurous.
Clear Creek Guest Ranch
100 Clear Creek Drive, Highway 80 South
Burnsville, NC 28714
800-651-4510
[email protected]
The Smokemont Riding Stable is five minutes outside of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the United States.
The stables feature hourly and half-day rides that are four hours long. The rides are guided and take you through trails that include woods, mountain streams and waterfalls. Because safety is important, Smokemont Riding Stables gives safety instruction before every ride. The national park has campgrounds for tents and RVs, hiking trails and bicycling.
Smokemont Riding Stables
828-497-2373
[email protected]
Smokemont Campground
877-444-6777
You can enjoy riding horses with your family on the beach with Crystal Coach on the Outer Banks. The Country Cabins Stables & Tours offers horseback riding, riding lessons and a general store. Additionally, horse-drawn carriage services are available for special events.
Country Carriage Stables & Tours
(252) 808-7314
[email protected]
