elk mountain trails

The wife and I have done trail rides here twice, and have had consistently good experiences. Barb is a helpful communicator on the phone, and manager Shiloh is really friendly and enjoyable to deal with. The guides are also nice to talk to. The trail goes up and down several hills, and into National Park Land, plus near a little pond on the family-run place's property. They have an interesting variety of well-kept horses, including an adorable foal. Another foal will be born here in May as well.Five stars because Elk Mountain Trails' value sets it apart: currently $47.25 total (cash or check only) for a 1.5 hour ride. This place is also right across the river from Harper's Ferry, allowing a pleasant lunch or dinner outing while you're in the area, or a vigorous Maryland Heights hike. I think this is the best choice for trail rides in the great DC area.

This has been my 2nd time at Elk Mountain Trails and I would strongly recommend this place to anyone. Horses are gentle and easy to control, trail guides are friendly and helpful. Beautiful scenery!! We will definitely be back.

When you call and ask questions they seem polite at first but get sick of asking questions and want to get straight to booking. They offer nothing for an advanced rider, since I've trained horses for years I have a little experience. The prices are high and there seem to have been quite a few other issues listed in these reviews. There are other great barns in this area that will allow you to tack your own horse so you know it's done properly as well as give you space if your experienced. Check your other options, don't waste your money.

My Girl Scout troop (10-11yr. olds) went with this GSCNC approved trail outfitter in early Nov. The employees were initially very friendly and accommodating. However, there were issues with the tightness of the two girls' saddles. One girl's saddle kept sliding to one side the whole ride and another girl's saddle completely slid to the side, causing her to fall off the horse in the middle of the trail ride! I have never seen that happen before on a trail ride and it was terrifying. The staff then proceeded to blame the girl for falling off! No apologies were made at all and the staff completely ignored us once we arrived back. In addition, there were several complaints from the girls about horses biting and getting spooked by each other. I would think the staff would know enough about each horses' personality to avoid putting problem horses near each other, especially when taking younger girls on a ride. I would not recommend this outfitter.

We went on "Hall-o-whinny" weekend 90 minute trail ride. Guides were friendly and helpful, horses were very sweet and easy for beginners to control, and the trail ride was great. Afterwards, hot dogs, homemade chili, and a hayride made for a great morning. We really enjoyed it!

Elk Mountain was a lot of fun. We stopped here on the way to Harpers Ferry, and it was a nice way to start our day trip. The horses were all very friendly and well trained. The guides led us through this mountain trail effectively. I give it 4 stars only because there could have been slightly more communication from the guides. Overall, would definitely recommend it.

Our family of 5 enjoyed our ride. We had 3 people who never rode before and we skeptical. In the end they also had a good time. Barbara was friendly and helpful. The cowgirls were knowledgable, but not friendly or professional . In particular, Michelle used vulgar language and made degrading comments. Although my group included adults- there were also very small children on this ride. Not cool. Overall a good value and nice hour ride. Safe, pretty and mild mannered horses.

It is the best place to ride in the most scenic par of the state. Always safe and relaxing. I wish I could come every weekend. My kids still talk about coming here and they are now adults. Happy memories were made here.

We took our kids there for their very first horseback experience (8 & 6 yrs old). We chose the one-hour ride, and got there a little early. A couple of the guides were working in the corral area with the horses and allowed the us to come in and go around and meet and pet them all. They showed the kids how to give the horses treats, which turned out to be hilarious, as they all had quite a bit of personality. Then we were called in to fill out paperwork and the girls were fitted with helmets. We were given a very detailed orientation which covered the basics of start, stop, go, turning, etc. Then were updated with some of the information on what we would be seeing on the trails. If someone hadnt ridden before, this would derfinitely be enough to familiarize them with what they needed to know. When the guide was helping the girls up on their horses, she noticed our youngest was very tense and nervous. She took the time to talk calmly about how this was her 6 year old daughter's very favorite horse, and he was very careful and would walk very slowly so that my daughter wouldnt be afraid. She said that horse was her very favorite horse too and she even rode him without a saddle a lot. The guide told my daughter that she could even lead her horse with a rope for awhile until she was ready to do it by herself. Well, all of that was true and the guide talking to her during the ride really calmed her down and got her interested in asking questions about all of the horses we were riding. About 20 minutes into the ride my daughter was comfortable enough to have the guide take the rope off so she could steer all by herself. I could tell the kids really enjoyed hearing all the funny stories about their horses along the way. We could really tell the guides cared about all of their horses, were very careful with the kids, and wanted us to have a good time. The whole ride home, our kids were talking about how they wanted to move to a farm so they could have their own horses and ride them every day. We will definitely be back! Thank you Elk Mountain Trails!

I originally made a reservation for the evening 4 hour trail ride (the one with a meal included). Unfortunately, the day before my trip, I was called to cancel that because there were not enough people signed up to go. I was a bit disappointed, but nothing anyone could do about that. I opted instead for the 2 hour mountain top trail ride. I got to the place at 3:30 (a half hour before my ride as instructed) to ride and there was nobody around. I was a bit confused as to what to do, so I sat and waited. After a little while, a group showed up from the trail. My ride was supposed to leave at 4. I think we probably left somewhere around 4:45. So, I had already been there waiting over an hour which kind of irked me a bit. It is my only vacation, and I just like using my time wisely--especially when I show up on time like I am instructed to do Once we got on the trail and got going, it was a nice ride. I do have to agree with one of the other reviewers that the horses did nip at each other a bit at times (which may scare someone who is inexperienced with riding--I am an experienced rider, so no biggie for me). And, since the 4 other people on the ride were on the 1 1/2 hour ride, we split off from them towards the end of the ride. And, again to agree with another reviewer, there were times when we were riding in enclosed pastures etc., basically in circles. My only other real complaint was that the two riders in front of me during the large majority of the ride did not follow the instructions of the guides and at times, I had to stop on the trail to wait for them (as did everyone else--but I was directly behind them so was doing this frequently) to do what they were supposed to do to get their horse moving. It was very slow and frustrating. All in all, I enjoyed the ride but think next time I will try somewhere else OR go for the advanced rider trail ride at Elk Mountain Trails. I would have enjoyed a little bit of trotting and cantering to all the slow walking. Kinda glad in hindsight it was only a two hour ride. The guides were friendly and helpful for the most part and obviously cared a great deal about the horses.

CONS: Doesnt take credit cards. Staff is not very helpful and glosses over things. The 2 hours trail ride couldve been 30 minutes shorter. I wanted a 2hour ride but didnt ecpect that they would fill in time by having us ride around in cricles. At one point we went into an enclosed area went in a circle and went out. We walked around what looked like a private house. The "guides" talked to each other most of the time about their personal lives. By the end there were only 2 left and they talked to each other over the walkie-talkies. If there was a problem they would not have been able to help. The instruction at the beginning was minimal, so if you havent ridden before be sure to ask questions or they wont tell you. You walk up to what looks like a shack to "check in" the girls there were not very receptive and kept chit-chatting as we stood there trying to figure out what to do. Then they took our check and handed us forms to fill out. Luckily I had my own helmet. the helmets there looked bad. I wouldnt wear it. What was ok: The horses were mostly well behaved. The trail on most of the ride was nice and wooded (on the Mountain Trail 2hour package)

Just commenting on Elk Mountain Trails.They have horseback rides on the C&O canal and the adjoining woodlands. The day we visited they were conducting rides for Girl Scout badges. We went on the evening C&O ride with a meal. Both horses that we had were very hard to handle, biting and kicking the horse in front, or just wandering off the trail. We have ridden horses before and it was not an enjoyable ride. The wrangler said she knew the horses were going to be a problem, but included them in the group anyway. Also, one wrangler could not stop talking, not about the area but about other things.We went on the ride because a neighbor who is an avid rider recommended Elk Mountain Trails. The C&O canal scenery was nice. With a good horse, this ride would have been great! We thought it was ok. The evening meal was ok - the cook was ill so we had hot sub sandwiches, salad and brownies. OK food for a cookout, and it was great weather. Would probably try another ride, but ask for a better horse, or at least one that was not tired from being ridden all day.