Why Come Horseback Riding Near Vail, Colorado With Sage

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Looking for activities in Vail, Colorado? Discover why you should prioritize horseback riding with us here at Sage Outdoor Adventures! Learn about the many health benefits of trail riding, and find out what makes horseback riding with us different from other horseback riding in Colorado.

three people horseback riding

The Surprising Physical & Mental Benefits of Horseback Riding

Horseback riding on a guided trail ride is a wholesome, healthy activity with a ton of advantages in addition to getting outdoors, seeing spectacular scenery, and spending time with majestic animals.

Horseback riding has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, enhance core and leg strength, and improve posture and spine health. Possible additional benefits could include overcoming fear, building character, developing problem-solving skills, and strengthening your reflexes.

Not to mention, the bonding and companionship that comes with navigating a horse through the Colorado wilderness, and the significance of connecting with nature and the world around you.

Finally, even just being around horses has been proven to lower blood pressure and make you happier overall by increasing serotonin levels.

man on horseback points out at valley

The Sage Difference: Horseback Riding in Vail, Colorado With Us

The best horseback riding in Vail starts with Sage! And no, it’s not just because our horseback riding near Vail offers great views of Vail Valley and Castle Peak Mountain.

We offer a true in-the-Colorado wilderness adventure on a private mountain, where the horses are trained to ride alongside each other, instead of nose-to-tail. You’re not staying single file, going out and back on one trail – not even close! It’s a special and distinctly different trail riding experience with Sage every single time.

Book a 1- Or 2-Hour Horseback Trail Ride With Sage

If you’re going to be in Vail, Colorado during the summer you must add horseback riding with us to your list of activities to try. Come immerse yourself in nature with Sage and our happy horses!

Choose your trail riding adventure >>

Find Fun Things to Do in Avon, Colorado All Year Long

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group whitewater rafts

We offer year-round adventures here at Sage, and if you’re staying nearby in the Avon area you may be wondering how close our activities are to you – and what other fun things there are to do in Avon, Colorado.

Check out our offerings below, along with other worthwhile attractions and things to do in and near Avon.

Get Your Colorado Adventures On With Us Near Avon

group whitewater rafts

Our various guided trips and adventure offerings are perfect jumping off points to plan your Avon, Colorado trip:

Whitewater Rafting

Whitewater rafting is the holy grail of what we offer here at Sage. We provide a variety of trip options that cover all the rapid classifications, to accommodate everyone from beginners to those looking for class 4 whitewater rafting in Colorado.

Two of our rafting trips begin at the base of Beaver Creek in Avon, where we pick you up for rafting on the Eagle River. The Lower Eagle/Class III trip is classic Colorado whitewater rafting at its best; the class 3 is moderate in the rapid classification system, with medium-sized waves and some maneuvering required.

The Upper Eagle/Class IV trip is what you’d likely think of with class 4 whitewater rafting in Colorado: although not as extreme as class V or VI, you can expect intense, awesome rapids. Guests must have the ability to swim for this one, and some fitness is required.

Our Colorado whitewater rafting trips are offered spring through summer, and sometimes into early fall depending on the rapids.

two snowmobilers

Snowmobiling

Colorado snowmobile tours can be an overlooked winter attraction in ski country, but there’s no better way to experience incredible terrain and mountain views in the colder months. Our snowmobile trips can run from November through April, weather depending.

We generally ask guests to meet us at our snowmobile facility situated in Wolcott, about 25 minutes from Avon. However, we are able to offer pickups at your accommodations if needed in Avon, Vail, or Beaver Creek.

Side-by-Side ATVing

We offer incredible ATV tours on 6,000 acres of private land plus 14,000 acres of public land near the Castle Peak Wilderness Study Area. In other words, we ride on 20,000 acres of picturesque land for a quintessential Colorado experience. Two-hour tours are offered. Our ATV base is located seven miles north of Wolcott, Colorado.

Horseback Riding

Enjoy stunning views of the Castle Peak Mountain and Vail Valley, and ride through fields of sage, juniper, aspen, and pine groves. Two-hour and one-hour guided horseback riding tours are offered. Our happy horses live in their stables in Wolcott, close to Avon.

Fishing

If you’re looking for fly fishing near Avon, Colorado you’ll be happy to hear that we have a private stretch of land along the Eagle River, the main river that runs by Avon. This river is known to have healthy populations of brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout.

Discover More Fun Things to Do in Avon, Colorado

view of snow and mountains

If you’re joining us for one of our adventures, the following are all close by and can make excellent additions to your Avon, Colorado vacation itinerary:

Beaver Creek Resort

Although Beaver Creek Resort has a Beaver Creek address, it sits right next to Avon, and is considered a gateway to the Colorado town. This internationally-known ski resort offers skiing for all levels and does a great job of catering to beginners; they also have an ice skating rink and many other offerings, including hiking and mountain biking trails in the summer.

Harry A. Nottingham Park

Harry A. Nottingham Park is a 48-acre park in the heart of Avon. There is a walking path around the Nottingham Lake, opportunities for swimming, paddling, or fishing, and there are also volleyball courts, an outdoor performance venue, and views of Beaver Creek Mountain. It’s also a great place to just relax!

Walking Mountains Science Center

The highly rated Walking Mountains Science Center in Avon offers interactive exhibits and is a fascinating place to learn about animals, plants, the environment, and technology. A bonus is that the indoor portion is just as fantastic as outside, so this is a good pick if the weather isn’t being favorable.

EagleVail Golf Club

If you’re a golfer, you can’t miss up a chance to get in a round at the EagleVail Golf Club in Avon. Picturesque scenery and changes in elevation boost a great game, there are 18-hole and 9-hole course options, and you can end the day at their on-site bar and grill.

Vail, another renowned Colorado tourist destination, is only 10 minutes from Avon and here you’ll find the Colorado Snowsports Museum, Vail Ski Resort, Vail Brewing Company, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, and plenty of chances for prime Colorado hiking like at Booth Creek Falls.

Plan a family reunion with us at Sage >>

Something Completely Different: Horseback Rides through Eagle River Canyon

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When was your last horseback ride? Was it a nose-to-tail, hardly thrilling experience? Well, you can forget it. We’ll show you a horseback riding experience the way it was meant to be. Come explore a wild, wide-open country for the best Colorado horseback riding tours, right here in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We ride along the Eagle River and beyond.

Explore Stunning Scenery on Horseback

At Sage Outdoor Adventures, we explore big, wide-open spaces. These are not your typical horseback riding trails in Colorado. You can expect to ride through open meadows, aspen groves, stands of old-growth spruce forest, and along mountain lakes. Our horses are trained to ride side-by-side rather than in single-file formation. Here, you’re free to break from that routine and explore. This isn’t your usual trail ride!

Where most outfitters are limited to single-track Forest Service trails, we offer something completely different. Operating on a historic, private mountain ranch near Vail, Colorado, we get to explore 6,000 acres of spectacular Colorado scenery. The Ranch is the size of Vail Ski area, and it’s exclusive to our guests. Not only will you be able to break formation, but you’ll also have the place to yourself!

Eagle River Horseback Riding

The Base of Operations for Our Horseback Riding Trails in Colorado

Our base of operations on this incredible mountain provides the perfect summer home for our horses. There’s nothing quite like experiencing a beautiful new place on horseback, and our excellent wranglers will help make sure you feel comfortable and ready to enjoy it. We can accommodate riders of any ability level.

If you’re looking for fun things to do in Beaver Creek, Colorado – or Vail – know that this mountain retreat is perched above the Vail Valley and overlooks the Eagle River Canyon. In other words, it’s a quick drive from both Beaver Creek and Vail.

Plus, we offer free hotel pickup and two-hour rides that will have you back in time to enjoy the rest of your day.

To learn more about horseback rides with Sage Outdoor Adventures, please visit our Horseback Riding Page. For availability and reservations, please give us a call at 970-476-3700 or contact us online.

Viewing Colorado’s Spectacular Aspen Tree Displays

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Changing Aspens in Colorado

Each September, the Colorado high country erupts in color, as mountainsides covered in aspen groves turn a brilliant gold and orange. The change typically begins by mid-September and reaches its peak near the end of the month.

Colorado Aspen Trees

About the Quaking Aspen Trees

Aspens are one of the most widely distributed native trees to North America, but most of the continent’s aspen forests are located in Colorado and Utah. Here along the Vail Valley, we’re fortunate to have some expansive aspen groves. At our private mountain base, our guests enjoy horseback riding and ATV tours through some spectacular stands of old-growth aspen trees.

In addition to bearing seeds, aspens primarily regenerate by sending up shoots and suckers from lateral root systems. That means an entire aspen grove could be comprised of just a few plants, or in some cases, even a single plant. This is what allows aspens to take the title for being the largest plant on earth!

Changing Aspens in Colorado

Viewing Colorado’s Aspen Trees

The colorful displays of aspen trees in September are beautiful when viewed from a distance when entire mountains are streaked with highlights. However, the best way to enjoy aspen trees is to stand in their midst. Its full name is the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), because, with even the slightest breeze, the entire canopy will tremble in the faint whisper of leaves.

It’s a very special thing, to stand beneath this shimmering roof with the September sunlight filtering through. If you’ve never experienced it, make it a point to spend some time beneath the aspens on your next trip to Colorado.

Aspen Trees near Vail

Forest Adventures With Sage

Here at Sage Outdoor Adventures, we take pride in offering guided trips on a private mountain that contains more acreage than Vail Ski area. We experience the spirit of the old west on horseback rides across this historic ranch and bordering wilderness area. And we grin from ear to ear while cruising through this wild country with the wind in our face on side-by-side ATV rides.

Come enjoy the aspens, enjoy the mountains and capture quality time with your family or friends this September here in Colorado. For information on our trips, you can explore the rest of our website at SageOutdoorAdventures.com. Or you can call us with questions at 970-476-3700. We’d love to help you plan a memorable Colorado mountain adventure!

Tag #SageOutdoors in Your Summer Adventure Photos

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large group of women with arms around each other look out over mountain summit

We’re having a blast this summer, meeting visitors to the Vail Valley from all over the U.S. and the world! Most of our guides will tell you that the best part of their job is having the opportunity to meet so many awesome folks and to show them this beautiful Colorado mountain country.

We love seeing and sharing all the great photos that our guests share on social media. We count ourselves very fortunate to be a part of your vacation memories. Being able to look back and see some of those photos makes it that much more special.

If you’re visiting the Vail or Beaver Creek area this summer and enjoy an adventure with us, we would encourage you to use the hashtag, #sageoutdoors on Instagram. Whether you are getting ready to hit the river, on a side-by-side ATV tour, a horseback ride, or fly fishing, we would love to see it and share it with the rest of the Sage Outdoor Adventures family!

Be sure and follow the #sageoutdoors hashtag to see all of the other fun shenanigans going on around here!

Our summer rafting season is going full-force, and side-by-side ATV riders are enjoying some serious mud-on-the-face fun. And with all that spring snowmelt, horseback riding guests have enjoyed a wonderful year for wildflowers. No matter what you snap a picture of, be sure and hashtag it with #sageoutdoors to share the adventure with the rest of the family here at Sage Outdoor Adventures!

two men nearly fall in water whitewater rafting

instagram (@deviesurb)

four groups of people whitewater rafting

instagram (@timviv)

 

If you have questions about our trips, or if you’d like to learn more about any of the adventures we offer, you can contact us online or call us at 970-476-3700. Please also explore the rest of our website at SageOutdoorAdventures.com.