River Trail to Valley Trail
Chosen Trail
Our first day we wanted to ride something easy, beautiful and short. We rode the River Trail to the Valley Trail. The footing was soft, and the views were amazing. We rode about 5.8 miles in less than 2 hours. It was fairly flat with an an elevation ascent of 178 feet.
Trail Experience
We wanted to ride the day we arrived at Winding River but didn't feel confident enough to set out on our own. The trail guide at the stable said we could follow them to the major trail turn-off and they would point us in the right direction. From the barn we crossed the bridge and went to the left to find the trailhead.
We went left at the 3 way fork to take the River Trail which is marked in blue. The Valley Trail is green and the Stock Trail, red.
Every trail fork was marked, although not shown on Gaia. At the first fork we stayed left on the River Trail. There was a branch of the Stock Trail going right.
We passed another turn for the Stock trail and stayed left. There were several forks with the Stock Trail. We stayed left. The Stock trail connects the River and Valley Trail.
This was our favorite trail!
The footing was soft and our horses were comfortable with hoof boots or barefoot.
Again we stayed left.
We rode in silence taking in the beautiful views!
We all had fun going up these steps with our good natured horses.
We came into a meadow with a cabin. We admired the view before turning around to take the Stock Trail to the right.
After a very short section uphill we took another right to follow the Valley Trail. If you go left you can follow the trail to the Green Mountain Trailhead.
The Valley Trail started uphill to a water tower.
Next, the trail went up and down some hills through the trees.
The trail came fairly close to Hwy 34. We took the next right to take the Stock Trail back to the River Trail. You can follow the Valley Trail farther south then go back to the River Trail but the River Trail is so much prettier!
The Powerline Trail parallels the river trail and is not shown on Gaia. We took the Powerline trail back without realizing it. Either trail will take you back to camp, the River Trail goes closer to the river while the Powerline stays up on the ridge.
Both trails take you back to the River Trail.
After every ride it was nice to stand in the Colorado River and let our horses splash and drink. Sam likes to splash the other horses!