Horseback Riding in Keystone, Colorado
Just right down the street from our Keystone Colorado rental house are the Keystone Stables.
From Appaloosa Court, turn left onto Soda Ridge road. About 300 yards away are the stables for the riding horses, ponies for the pony rides and the draft horses used to take guests to the old Keystone Ranch. Don’t confuse the old Keystone Ranch with the fine dining Keystone Ranch. While both are a great dining experience, the old Keystone Ranch can only be reached by wagon in the summer and horse drawn sleigh in the winter. The old Keystone Ranch is just that — a rustic ranch house. There is no electricity and yes, outhouses. It is truly a unique dining experience. The food is great. Usually there is some sort of live music or entertainment. We went by sleigh several years ago, at night and in the snow. It was fantastic! While you can never count on when it may snow, it certainly made the trip memorable.
Anyway, back to the stables. You can book trail rides and pony rides at the stables or just hang out and look at the horses (which is what our kids typically do). The pony rides are pretty inexpensive and there is an upper age limit (8, I believe). The trail rides vary in length from one hour to a half day. Trust me, a half day is a long ride. Go for the short ride. Your guide will take you up into the mountains where you can see the local flora, fauna and the devastation of the lodgepole pines caused by the pine beetle. The horseback ride gives you a different perspective of the pine beetle epidemic. From afar all you can see are brown trees. From the trail you can see the new plants and trees taking hold as the lodgepole pines die off. Typically, there is not much wildlife viewing on the short horse back rides in Keystone Colorado because the wild animals prefer not to be seen (except for late Spring when they are looking for food).
And don’t forget to tip your guide 