You’ve gotta love the Adirondacks. The mountain range just four or so hours out of New York City offers some of the most lovely scenery this side of…well, this side of the West. The area is dotted with mirror-surfaced lakes and blanketed in pine trees and there are so many things for the outdoors enthusiast to do that you could spend whole summer up there and never do the same thing twice. Kayaking, hiking, fishing…the list goes on.
But another interesting activity that we recently learned about is horseback riding and ,for lack of a better term, dude ranching. Yes, the Adirondacks have some 40-miles of dude ranch trails with lodge resorts, stables and other ways to hang out and enjoy the exploding colors of fall foliage.
Here are a couple of recommendations:
Bennett’s Riding Stable on Route 9 near Lake Luzerne offers year-round horseback riding around the region with breaks for a yummy lunch and just a good all around time. The 1000 Acres Ranch Resort in Stony Creek takes things a step further with riding and meals, but also country dancing, so you can refine your line technique. And finally, you might check out the Ridin’ Hy Ranch Resort in Warrensburg with a bona fide log lodge and rodeo, so you can watch the experts break those broncos. All good ideas for the coming fall, which, if we’re lucky, will be a mild, colorful one.