Join in the Fun!
Back Country Horsemen of Washington has many chapters to choose from. No matter where you live in the state you will find a group to join.
Riding Kittitas County (working on a new chapter)
From the Columbia River to the Cascades, Kittitas County has it all! North County has the Naneum State Forest with broken sagebrush to highland meadows. Northwest Kittitas County has the Teanaway Valley (Teanaway Community Forest). This area has a lot to offer riders from single-track trails to abandoned logging roads. To the west you can ride the Alpine Lakes Wilderness filled with lakes and high rock peaks. Alpine Lakes Wilderness also has a lot to offer equine users from overnight pack trips to day rides. To the south you will find miles of trails in the Taneum Creek drainage, though you will be sharing the trails with ORV users. Further southeast are miles of riding in areas like Joe Watt Canyon, home of the Back Country Horsemen’s May Prize Ride.
Mt. Adams Chapter of BCHW is blessed with an abundance of great riding trails. Mt. Adams Horse Camp is the hub of a network of trails; many access the Pacific Crest Trail and the Round-the-Mountain Trail in the Mt. Adams Wilderness. Nearby is the Indian Heaven Wilderness with several entry points and the PCT traveling from south to north through the center of it. This system of trails is located in the southeast side of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Mt. Adams Chapter has helped develop equestrian trails on two Washington State Parks, the Dalles Mountain Ranch and Brooks Memorial State Park located north of Goldendale on State Hwy 97. For information contact Mt. Adams Chapter’s Director Teunis Wyers, 590-493-2221.
These trails are on private timber company lands near Rochester, south of Olympia. They are open to non-motorized recreation users. Horseback riders can access them from the Scatter Creek Wildlife Area off of Case Road; a Discover Pass is required. There are miles of user-built and maintained trails and logging roads. Most trails are of moderate difficulty. The most popular trails can be muddy during the wetter months, but venture further out and the trails stay in decent condition. A map of the trails can be found on the Washington Mounted Orienteering website: www.wacmo.org/maps/20130309-scatter-creek.pdf . Capitol Forest trails are on DNR lands just south of Olympia. It is one of our state’s working forests and has a well-managed network of many miles of trails. A Discover Pass is required to park on its lands. Most of the trails are closed to equestrians during the months of December through April except for the Equine Loop and the trails leading to it and all logging roads. Camping is available for horseback riders at the Margaret McKenny and Fall Creek campgrounds. During the drier months, weekend events can result in crowded trails. Check out www.capitolforest.com for a copy of the event schedule. Maps (both paper and downloadable) are available on the DNR website (www.dnr.wa.gov) under recreation.
Inland Empire Back Country Horsemen is a volunteer group of about 100 members. We sponsor trail rides for our members which take place mostly in Spokane County and northern Idaho. Favorite places to ride are Riverside State Park in Spokane, Mica Peak in Spokane, and Rustler’s Gulch near Spokane. Our mission is to promote equestrian uses and conservation on public lands. Recently we were a significant sponsor and provided volunteer labor for:
1) The development of the Equestrian Arena at Riverside State Park
2) Construction and maintenance of the trail bridge at Liberty Lake County Park
3) Development of the Trail Head at Rustler’s Gulch
4) Mapping and development of trails at Mica Peak
Our major fundraiser is a Poker ride at Fishtrap near Spokane on BLM land.
Contact: Joel Crosby, President, at 509-991-2312 or [email protected].
Being on the dry side of the Cascades we have consistently good weather during the long riding season. There are many great trails and destinations in the Naches Ranger district, Goat Rocks, Wm. O. Douglas and Norse Peak Wilderness areas. Two popular areas within a 45-minute drive from Yakima are Conrad Meadows and the newly renovated Barbeque Flats. Come explore! For more information: [email protected], 509-834-0049.
Wenatchee Valley Chapter
Our meetings are held at the Wenatchee Eagles Lodge on the fourth Monday of each month at 7:00 pm. Every spring we have a work party at the Ken Wilcox horse camp at Haney Meadow. We are still cleaning up from the fires of several years ago. We have a project in the works with the USFS Entiat Ranger District to build a horse camp on the North Fork of the Entiat. We have lower elevation riding in early spring. Later our riding is into the Cascades. President, John Danielson: [email protected].
Originally Published August 2017 Issue
Back Country Horsemen of Washington (BCHW), is a 501 (c) (3) organization with 32 chapters across the state dedicated to: keeping trails open for all users; educating horse users in Leave-No-Trace practices; and providing volunteer service to resource agencies.
