canyon trail rides

Some trail rides are lame. They plop you on a horse where you ride like a sack of potatoes along boring trails just so you can say you did it. This is not one of those rides. We did the half-day Sandbench Trail ride, which involves a minor river crossing, lots of elevation changes with some pretty interesting footing for the horses, and long winding sections of trail through the Court of the Patriarchs, with sagebrush blowing in the breeze around you. It's really just beautiful, interesting, and fun.

My family of 4 took the 11 am ride at the end of October. My 7 year old daughter and 9 year old son loved it. And my husband and I did too. The horses are great and look very healthy. The wranglers are very friendly and helpful. However I wished they had stopped more often for taking pictures and had told us a bit more about the natural environment. We did have a large group so I guess they were more focused on keeping the group together which is understandable as we had some people in our group that were nervous about the ride. The wranges supported them very well. We rode to the Patriarch mountains where we stopped for a few minutes and the guide explained us about the mountains. All in all highly recommended!

While in Zion, my hubby and I decided to take in all that was available, so we opted for a horse ride. We went with the 1 hour ride and departed at 11am with our guide, Eddie. I rode Shadow and my hubby rode Navajo, who likes to tailgate! The 1-hour loop on the canyon floor showed us various native plants and grape vines which had been planted by the settlers so long ago. We also encountered a few deer on the ride. it was a nice ride that had a great view of the Patriarchs, which Eddie gave a brief history on, better than the one you hear in the park bus! Because it was only the 3 of us, Eddie talked alot about the park history, the horses, weather and anything else I asked him about.It was a fun ride, and if we venture to Zion again, we will probably sign up for the 1/2 day tour to get a different perspective of the Park.

The one hour ride was enough for me. It was an amazing experience to ride in such natural beauty. The horses and mules pick their best footing as they move near the edge. The view of the Court of the Patriarchs is truly incredible. for more advanced riders there are longer rides that cover much more of this majestic park. The trail guides are funny, empowering and alert to safety issues. This is a ride that is worth the money.

My 9 year old daughter and I took the one hour trail ride. The scenary is beautiful, but the guide must have been tired as he did not really want to answer many questions. He seemed like he just wanted to get the tour done and go home. My daughter had fun, so it was a complete success. She especially enjoyed riding the horse through the river.

Trail riding options are pretty limited in Zion but i am happy to say it doesn't matter, the guys at Canyon Trail Rides offer a fantastic experience. Eddie took me, my wife and our two boys (amongst many others) on a well paced and thoroughly enjoyable ride through the Canyon. The horses behaved impeccably and the scenery was breathtaking. A fair bit of ground is covered so you get to see a lot more than you would hiking or from the shuttle. Highly recommended, thanks very much

Had a lot of fun on the Sandbench trail ride. The ride is the basic head to tail group ride. We used to ride a lot, now only a few times a year. The horses we got were very good. They were responsive to the reins and to leg pressure. Much better horses than on some other rides we have taken. The trail is fairly easy. A few climbs but none too steep and no cliffs. You get to cross the river at the beginning of the ride (pose for the picture) and at the end. The trail takes you to some beautiful views of the canyon. You will ride just over an hour to the rest point. Then a little over an hour to get back. We had a little rain, but no problem. They ride rain or shine. Overall, well worth it. If you are scared of heights or cliffs, this ride will be more to your liking than the one at Bryce.

We did the 1/2 day tour of Peek-a-Boo Loop. It's the prettiest part of the canyon, and was lovely to do on horseback. Our guide Kevin was great. Really friendly, lives in Bryce so shared lots of fun details. Lots of great photos. Plus good customer service - our booked morning was raining. We decided not to go and they were fine with moving us to the next day, which was great weather. Great way to see a lot of the canyon!

My family and I did the half day horseback riding and overall it was very good. We had a tremendous amount of fun. The reason we are giving four instead of five stars is because my husband and I did not have our stirrups done correctly the first time, and the time for the half-day was misrepresented. Regarding the length of the ride, it was advertised as 4 hours, but was actually no more than 3. I was okay with this, but if someone really wanted the full four hours, I imagine they would be disappointed. Perhaps the ride could be billed as 3-4 hours, which would allow for some variation. Regarding the stirrups, this was more of an issue. My husband's were buckled too low and resulted in feeling insecure in them. Mine were done too high and I began to experience severe knee pain, at which point I asked for one of the guides to re-evaluate them. I then learned there is an easy way to evaluate whether the stirrups are buckled in the optimal spot for a rider, which the first guide did not do. Once our stirrups were re-adjusted, the ride was wonderful. So my advice is to make sure that the guide has you stand in the stirrups to make sure they are buckled correctly!

My family of four spent the morning (three hours) with Eddie touring Zion National Park. The ride was easy in most spots, but going up the hills seemed tougher for the mules and horses although they are use to it. The views were gorgeous from over 600 feet up over the roadway. There is a rest stop at the halfway point with a pit toilet and drinking water. My horse, Charlie, took good care of me and was cautious over the terrain. The entire family loved it! My girls bought the pictures that were offered by a photographer. I was upfront and heard the guide, but member in the back couldn't hear anything he said.

We did not have reservations, but luckily there was space on the afternoon trail ride. There were five of us - two adults and three children. The ride was only for one hour, but passed through a very scenic part of Zion. Unfortunately my horse (I think the name was Marshall) was sluggish and did not obey commands, so we held up the group a bit. The kids loved it and had no difficulty with their horses. The guide was good with the kids and explained the sights to them, but I was too far back to hear any of it.

The ride was our 14yr olds highlight of the trip. The guides were friendly & informative. The 1-hr trip was a bit pricy at $40 but all had a great time seeing the canyon from a different perspective. the rides fill up fast in the summer so advanced reservations are recommended. We were fortunate on a Tuesday to get an opening in the afternoon as a walk-up.

Family of four with kids ages 8 and 11. This was one of the kids favorite activities. One had never ridden a horse, but wanted to do it again when we got done. The guides were excellent, teaching about the surrounds and humor-filled stories. Very kid friendly and well mannered horses. We did the 1 hour ride and really enjoyed it. A great way to see more of the park not on foot and did not here once "are we there yet?", as they were having too much fun. Don't forget to tip the guides if you enjoyed the trip to let them know. Also, they took some great photos

We booked the one hour ride and had a great time. Dion and his crew were friendly and made the ride fun time especially for our kids (7 and 10). Once the kids get older and we come back we'd probably look to do the longer half day ride.

We did the three hour ride, first thing in the morning (8:00 am). This was a really good way to cover a lot of ground, and sights, in a relatively short time frame.Like most trail rides for tourons, like us, this was a nose-to-tail affair. We were in a group of nine with one wrangler. There were several other groups leaving just behind us.The wranglers were good and certainly knew their horses and their dispositions. The path is well-worn and hits the scenic highlights. I cannot fault a thing, really. There is a lot of dust in the dry times, and so our selenium levels are certainly higher than normal as a result. I have not been so dusty in a long time.The horses and mules were generally well-mannered and know the trails. One could easily do nothing to control the direction or pace of the animals and all would still be fine. The wranglers prefer a tightly spaced group, so it is helpful if all are able to keep up with the tail in front of them.The scenery is top-notch. The value is quite good for the time spent. A high quality photo of each rider is made early in the ride by a spare wrangler, which is presented for inspection at the end in 8x10 format for a $10 purchase.Water was provided at the halfway point in our ride, along with access to a pit toilet. While the pace is slow, there is much to see. The ride covers over 8 miles.The wranglers are good and attentive, but the back office process suffers from tourist fatigue, IMHO. Rules are stressed in the negative, with dire consequences fully expressed. No open toed shoes, no unsecured hats, no water bottles, etc. Do read the caveats provided to avoid an ugly scene at the corral. Most are common sense.Do not expect return emails if you are asking questions or hitting links for more information. Instead, pick up the phone to ask your questions as this is really an old-fashioned operation. The process with the horses and the ride is well run.