# Trail Riding in Wilderness Areas



## Trails (Jan 28, 2009)

Greetings,

I like it when the FedEx guy pulls into the driveway. Today he brought the October issue of TrailBlazer Magazine, which I have a regular column in.

The theme of the Trail Blazer / TrailMeister trail picks of month for October is horse riding in the wilderness. I like that word “wilderness” it’s got a great ring to it and conjures up such vivid imagery. 

The areas that we discuss in this month's column are Falls Creek (my favorite) in the Indian Heaven Wilderness, Jack’s Creek in the Pecos Wilderness, and Cottonwood Patch in the Cohutta Wilderness.

 You can read the full text of the article and download a pdf of the column here if you’re so inclined.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

So many wilderness areas to explore,
So little time to go explore.

My three favorites are 
Uinta Wilderness North Eastern Utah
Wind River Wilderness Central Wyoming
Jermimiah Johnson Wilderness Noth East Wyoming.


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## Jolly Badger (Oct 26, 2009)

I didn't even know _Trail Blazer_ magazine still existed - I was told the were going out of business or something, so I got _Trail Rider _for a while. Sadly, that magazine has turned into little more than a fluffy ACTHA advertisement.:-| 

As for wilderness areas, I'd love to ride out into some of the places described. There's not much opportunity to do that kind of riding in this part of the country compared to the western US, and I can't afford to "haul out" cross country. Maybe some day I'll get to see it from the back of a horse.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

We ride in the Cohutta's most every weekend. If god made a prettier place, I haven't seen it.


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## Trails (Jan 28, 2009)

Painted - The High Uinta's are on our list to visit in 2012, really looking forward to riding there. I'm not familiar with the Jeremiah Johnson Wilderness (love the movie though) The only wilderness area that I could find in Wyoming that was similar was the Jedediah Smith.

Jolly - You may not have the vast expanses that we have here in the western states (Cool, I get to include myself as a westerner now  ) but Ohio has some nice riding areas. My favorite is still East Fork SP and Hocking Hills both on the southern end of the state, east of Cincy. That being said I certainly don't regret the move from Cincinnati to Seattle!

Gunslinger - While I may not go that far I really enjoyed my visit and wish that I could have stayed much longer at Cohutta, Fabulous place!


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

Trails said:


> Gunslinger - While I may not go that far I really enjoyed my visit and wish that I could have stayed much longer at Cohutta, Fabulous place!



Trails, the southern Appalachians contain the second most diverse ecosystem in the world. (second only to the amazon rain forest).

The Cohutta wilderness area, when combined with the Big Frog wilderness area, make it the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi river.


Its a timeless land. The land was raped around the turn of the century, with almost every tree gone and the land left to fend for itself. It amazes me how well the area seems to have recovered some 80 or 90 years later. Truly amazing, the way the forest has returned.

While god made many masterpieces, the southern Appalachians, are certainly one of his finest works, one which my wife and I are lucky enough to be close to and enjoy most anytime we get the chance.

We usually ride just outside the wilderness area in the Cherokee and the Chattahoochee national forests.

We ride a different trail most every weekend, and with the gated forest roads available to ride, we almost never see the same place twice, unless, of course, we ride with friends and acquaintances who haven't had the pleasure to ride some of the more popular trails. 

Did you get to spend much time at the cotton patch?


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## Kiviknon (Jul 26, 2010)

I remember when Danielle went out into the Roosevelt National Forest one day with a friend. I was used to riding there and practically rock climbing in some parts, she couldn't believe in some places I could gallop, jump ditches, and generally have a blast.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

Ooops. You are right Trails. It is the Jedediah Smith Wilderness. What was I thinking? Just south of Yellowstone.


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## Jolly Badger (Oct 26, 2009)

Trails said:


> Jolly - You may not have the vast expanses that we have here in the western states (Cool, I get to include myself as a westerner now  ) but Ohio has some nice riding areas. My favorite is still East Fork SP and Hocking Hills both on the southern end of the state, east of Cincy. That being said I certainly don't regret the move from Cincinnati to Seattle!


I live a stone's throw from East Fork and I'm very familiar with that park. In fact, I just rode there yesterday with some friends - spotted a bald eagle while riding the hill overlooking the river near Twin Bridges road. I think that East Fork has something like 55 miles of total riding trails (the 32 mile loop around Harsha Lake makes up a good chunk of that). I love that 32 mile loop - makes a great day ride!

Hocking is, IMO, the gem of the Ohio parks. Whether I'm on foot or horseback, it's probably my favorite park in Ohio (maybe because it's like nothing you'd expect to find in Ohio). Cool, shady box canyons, cliffs and gorges and waterfalls with caverns behind them that you can ride the horse right into. 

Sadly, the state of Ohio doesn't put anything into the maintenance of the horse trails so it's up to local horse clubs, none of which have the funds to do the kind of work needed.:-( There are a couple of trails at East Fork that are simply unrideable most of the year unless there is a major drought. . .or, unless you want to reinact the scene from _The Neverending Story_ where the horse Artax sinks in the swamp.

:wink:


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