Roaming Numeral

If you’re looking for a horseback ride in Glacier National Park, head straight to Swan Mountain Outfitters– the only vendor that offers rides within the borders of the park.

There are three locations from which visitors can start their ride- Apgar, Lake McDonald, and Many Glacier. Each location offers a variety of trails ranging from one hour beginner rides to full day advanced rides.

I booked a two hour ride to Josephine Lake out of Many Glacier for $140. This location offers another five trail options of varying lengths, but this was the one that worked best with my schedule.

The corral is located in the back of the parking lot for Many Glacier Hotel, and I arrived early to check in and sign my waivers. There was also a waiver to decline a helmet, but I wouldn’t recommend it even as an experienced rider!

The provided helmets are very basic with no padding or adjustable dial, but it’s better than nothing! I ended up wearing a baseball cap underneath my helmet just to get a better fit (so don’t judge my outfit!).

Saddle bags are also provided to hold things like your phone or water bottles- camelbaks are not allowed on the trail since the straps can get caught on passing branches.

Before mounting the horses, all riders are given a quick safety briefing in the corral, though notably this information did not include details such as steering or how to stop a horse- which should have been my first clue about just how basic this ride was about to be!

Once the ride began, I realized that it was really nose-to-tail; which is how I refer to trail rides where the horses are sort of blindly following the leader. Trail rides like these are why I used to avoid riding when I traveled- although these days they’ve become too tempting for me to resist.

Since there was so little instruction about controlling the horses, I even ended up with the horse behind me bumping into my knee! It was the rider’s first time on a horse, so she really wasn’t to blame, but it was definitely an unusual experience that could have been limited with a little more instruction.

I was with a fairly large group, and since I was placed towards the middle of the group I couldn’t really hear the two staff members riding at the front and back of the group. Every once in a while, I could hear a snatch of what sounded like a really interesting story from the trail leaders, but I’d never really be able to hear the whole thing or participate in the conversation. I heard that our group was totally full, so I imagine that this is not a typical issue with smaller groups.

The trail leaders were super accommodating throughout the ride- despite getting a late start on our ride, they made sure that we got our full two hours, even though I’m sure they were ready to be done with their day. They even put up a valiant search for the lost phone of one of the riders halfway through the trail- successfully, I might add! I have no idea how they spotted a green phone under a green plant, but that’s why they’re the professionals.

The riders on either side of me were really friendly and I had a lovely chat with both of them- I even offered the rider in front of me pictures of himself, since he was in nearly all of my shots! This favor ended up being returned to me unprompted by the rider behind me, which was so sweet!

The trail leads through a pine forest, into a more low growth greenery just in time to get some amazing views of the surrounding mountains.

Glacier lakes are always such a stunning sight with their signature blue color.

We also did a little river crossing in the valley of an old avalanche slide which was really cool. I’ve only done water crossings a few times so I just sat back and let my horse pick his way carefully across the river stones. It was neat to see him think through his steps.

All rides are at a walking pace only, regardless of the difficulty level. This did disappoint me at first but the trail I was on was narrow and occasionally fairly steep, so there wasn’t a real opportunity to pick up the pace even if we wanted to!

This just means that you have more time to take in the view!

I really enjoyed my ride, but I think that a portion of that had to do with the conversations I had with my fellow riders. Although I would recommend this ride to anyone who’s never been on a horse before or just starting out, I really suggest that more advanced riders book the more challenging half day and full day rides.

It’s unfortunate that the shorter rides don’t have more advanced options but I suspect that has more to do with the trails themselves than anything Swan Mountain Outfitters has done intentionally.

Most importantly, all of the horses looked happy and well taken care of!

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