Horseback Riding
Explore the Bighorn Mountains from the saddle.
We offer an array of diverse trails that immerse you in Wyoming’s backcountry and captivating views that allow you to experience the West as it was intended to be seen.
Hook up with one of our seasoned wranglers and spend a morning or an afternoon riding through the wildflower-strewn mountain meadows in the surrounding Bighorn National Forest. You’ll ride trails through mountain scenery that will take your breath away. We offer trails for all levels of riding experience.
With a herd of 185 horses, we custom fit each guest with the horse that perfectly matches their riding ability. Guests are matched with one of our horses for the full week, enabling riders to bond with their horses and helping to foster long-lasting relationships with our herd and our guests. Our riding program is very flexible, and features a number of choices. We offer two-hour rides as well as both half-day and full-day rides. Experience lunch on the trail with some of our full-day rides or, take a scenic ride to a local restaurant and hitch your horse outside while you enjoy a nice cooked meal.
Or, spend an afternoon in our private rodeo arena practicing team penning, in which teams of three riders separate three steers from a larger group and work them around the arena and into a pen on the other end of the arena. This is a timed event and competitive fun for all. Alternatively, practice “turning and burning” around our barrel and poles course, an event in which you have to steer your horse around a pattern of three barrels or weave through a line of upright poles. Horsemanship classes are also available, whether you want to get a bit more comfortable in the saddle or want to practice something in particular (e.g. loping, barrels and poles, or general horsemanship). Our wranglers can provide lessons in our arena or out on the trail.
If you get up early enough, you’ll see the ranch horses wrangled down from the high alpine meadows with thundering hooves and steaming nostrils to our ranch corrals just as the sun rises over the ranch.
Saturday afternoons during our family weeks, we hold a rodeo just for the kids in our arena. Kids of all ages get the chance to showcase the skills they have learned throughout the week and perform the barrels and poles for the whole ranch. Kids even get the chance to show their artistic side by painting their horse for this special occasion. Stay-tuned for after the Kids’ Rodeo and cheer on your favorite wranglers for the wrangler events.
Paradise Ranch is a proudly Horse Safety Certified through the Dude Rancher's Association.
