Ari says today's ride was the best of our trip so far, so it must have been a pretty outstanding ride. We got up extra early to try to beat the crowds and get a decent parking spot for the trailer. We arrived at the Arches National Park Visitor Center just a few minutes before they opened at 8 am. Horses are allowed in the park - mostly on the OHV trails, but the website has no information about staging areas - places to park with a horse trailer.
We met with the head ranger - who was very nice. She even had a print out from the website listing all the trails where we are allowed. She agreed with me that they didn't have anything on the website on where to park, so she suggested we park in the small lot next to Balanced Rock.
We drove up the road (about seven miles) through beautiful views to the small parking lot.
The horses were fine although a bit confused by all the tourists.
They were treated to lots of petting and horse cookies from people thrilled to see horses.
Our parking space had a great view of Balanced Rock.
The map was a bit confusing as to where the trailhead was. The trailhead was on the other side of the street and before the parking lot.
You can see some of the famous arches just above and to the right of Ari on the far side of the Balanced Rock.
We rode the Salt Valley Trail. The trail was mostly soft sand, but we did put boots on both horses just in case. We rode a couple of miles past Elephant Rock - a large rock formation that looks like a sleeping elephant. Temps started in the 60s as the sun was still coming up but it was in the mid 70s by the time we were finishing the ride around noon.
This was definitely a bucket list ride.
We were passed on the trail by one vehicle with tourists and two tour jeeps. At the trail head, there were vault toilets and picnic tables. One of the tour groups stopped there to use the toilets. The guides approached us and tried to tell us horses aren't allowed in the park. We corrected them. Horses are allowed in most national parks - thanks to Congress which passed legislation allowing equestrian use as a salute to the contribution horses have made to the history of this country. Starting with Brown Beauty, the mare Paul Revere rode when he alerted the rebels about the British attack.
Horses were used to build the railroads. The pioneers used horses to reach the Western territories. Horses have been used in just about every war on American soil.
This is where the horses are spending their nights. The stalls are on the small side, but I think the horses feel safe in there and they are definitely out of the heat.
During the day, we have been putting the horses in a turn out area so they can move around and take rolls.
Thanks a million to Tammy Tucker for loaning us a trailer. There is no way our LQ would have made it into the Arches National Park.
Tomorrow we head for Goblin State Park.
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