By Matt, Updated June 2022
Yellowstone National Park is one of America’s most beloved outdoor tourist attractions. Nestled between Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, it seems only fitting that visitors are inclined to experience this park on horseback, cowboy style.
But can you ride horses in Yellowstone?
Yellowstone permits visitors to travel on horseback around the park as long as the tour is authorized by a licensed outfitter. Some tours last a couple of hours, while others include backcountry camping. Private stock must pass all NPS regulations prior to entering the park.
If your heart is set on traveling through this historic park on horseback, you have access to plenty of NPS permitted outfitters in the area.
We’re going to talk about your options for riding horses INSIDE THE PARK and OUTSIDE THE PARK.
If you want to ride horses inside Yellowstone (and who wouldn’t?), there are quite a few options.
Two areas in the park also offer horseback rides. These rides are managed by Xanterra, which is the same company that provides mule rides in the Grand Canyon, as well as many other national park adventures.
Here are the different types of rides available in these areas:
Watch the video above for my explanation of the Canyon horse ride.
Each of these rides is the perfect introduction to all that Yellowstone has to offer.
There are some basic requirements. All riders must be:
Book your horse ride early, as horseback tours are very popular and fill up quickly. To book a ride, visit the Xanterra website.
Download our Free Quick and Easy Guide to Yellowstone’s entrances!
Roosevelt Lodge also offers the famous Old West Cookout, a steak dinner in the mountains. Half the joy is getting there, which you can do with a delightful horseback or stagecoach ride.
A tour guide will tell you about the area as you ride into Pleasant Valley for dinner and cowboy songs.
You can also skip the cookout and go for the less expensive stagecoach experience.
We did this for the first-time last year and really loved it! Watch the video below for the best overview of this must-do experience!
Yellowstone approves of horseback tours through these private, licensed outfitters.
| Adventures Outfitting, LLC | http://adventuresoutfitting.com | 406-581-7056 |
| Bear Paw Outfitters, LLC | http://bearpawoutfittersmt.com | 406-222-6642 |
| Black Mountain Outfitters, Inc. | http://blackmountainoutfitters.com | 406-222-7455 |
| Black Otter Guide Service | http://blackotterguideservice.com | 406-333-4362 |
| Boulder Basin Outfitters | http://wyomingsummerpacktrips.com | 307-250-0076 |
| Cache Creek Outfitters | http://cachecreekoutfitters.com | 406-995-3888 |
| Castle Creek Outfitters and Guide Service | 406-838-2301 | |
| Covered Wagon Ranch | http://coveredwagonranch.com | 406-995-4237 |
| Dry Ridge Outfitters, LLC | http://dryridge.com | 208-351-1796 |
| Elkhorn Ranch | http://elkhornranchmontana.com | 406-995-4291 |
| Heart Six Ranch | http://heartsix.com | 307-543-2477 |
| Hell’s A’ Roarin’ Outfitters, Inc. | http://hellsaroarinoutfitters.com | 406-848-7578 |
| Hidden Creek Outfitters | http://hiddencreekoutfitters.com | 307-899-5214 |
| Horsetrack Outfitters, LLC | http://horsetrackoutfitters.com | 406-946-1488 |
| Jake’s Horses, Inc. | http://jakeshorses.com | 406-995-4630 |
| Lone Mountain Ranch | http://lonemountainranch.com | 406-995-4644 |
| Medicine Lake Outfitters | http://yellowstone-packtrips.com | 406-388-4938 |
| Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, LLC | http://mountainsky.com | 406-333-4911 |
| Nine Quarter Circle Ranch, Inc. | http://ninequartercircle.com | 406-995-4276 |
| Rand Creek Outfitters | http://randcreekoutfitters.com | 307-587-3200 |
| Rockin’ HK Outfitters, Inc. | http://rockinhk.com | 406-579-1222 |
| Sheep Mesa Outfitters | http://sheepmesaoutfitters.com | 307-587-4305 |
| Skyline Guest Ranch and Guide Service, Inc. | http://flyfishyellowstone.com | 406-838-2380 |
| Slough Creek Outfitters, Inc. | http://sloughcreekoutfitters.com | 406-222-7455 |
| Sunrise Pack Station, LLC | http://sunrisepackstation.com | 406-579-9642 |
| Triangle X Ranch | http://trianglex.com | 307-733-2183 |
| Wilderness Pack Trips | http://wildernesspacktrips.com | 406-581-5021 |
| Wilderness Trails, Inc. | http://wildernesstrailsinc.com | 307-733-5171 |
| Yellowstone Horse & Mule, LLC | http://yellowstonehorseandmule.com | 406-640-0039 |
| Yellowstone Mountain Guides, Inc. | http://yellowstone-guides.com | 406-539-4556 |
| Yellowstone National Park Lodges | http://yellowstonenationalparklodges.com | 307-344-7311 |
| Yellowstone Roughriders | http://yellowstoneroughriders.com | 406-559-0969 |
| Yellowstone Wilderness Outfitters, Inc. | http://yellowstone.ws/index.html | 406-223-3300 |
There are so many options for horseback rides in and around Yellowstone. Since Yellowstone is so big, here’s a sampling of some options by location.
If Yellowstone’s horseback tours have all been booked, have no fear!
Skyline Guest Ranch in Cooke City also offers horseback tours. This ranch is only seven miles from Yellowstone’s Northeast Park entrance and gives riders a more immersive experience with backcountry views.
With over 40 years of customer experience under their belts, these tour guides have trained horses for riders of all sizes and skill sets.
Skyline offers two main tours, one through Yellowstone Park, and another through the Beartooth Mountains. Here are the tours that they offer:
Not far from Yellowstone, Cody, Wyoming offers a variety of horseback rides; each of the trails is rugged and vibrant in its own way. Guest Ranches in Cody are all approved by Yellowstone’s NPS, so choose any one of Cody’s three main tours and enjoy the park at your pace.
Learn more about the things to do in Cody and the East Entrance to Yellowstone.
We have personally used West Yellowstone Creekside Trail Rides to do a basic beginner horseback ride. The ride is an hour long, and it’s definitely geared for beginners: it winds through the trees and crisscrosses the area. The horse ride itself isn’t that great but is good for kids and timid first-timers.
They also put on the West Yellowstone Rodeo, so you can buy a package horse ride and rodeo ticket. The rodeo is super small, which makes it fun because the kids get to run onto the rodeo grounds.
Yellowstone Mountain Guides in West Yellowstone has offered horseback rides to visitors for over 125 years. That’s a long time to become experts at trail guiding and showing off the best areas of the park! West Yellowstone’s ranch services offer both half-day and whole-day rides, each with the option of enjoying a sack lunch along the way.
Visitors can even opt for a stop along the river to do some fly fishing, or for a wagon ride through mountain meadows to explore a beautiful pond surrounded by pine trees. Tour guides and wagon drivers are dressed in authentic cowboy and cowgirl gear, giving you and your party a memorable, country experience.
Based near Gardiner, Montana, Horsetrack Outfitters offers private, guided horseback rides that feature Yellowstone’s scenery, high-traffic wildlife locations, and popular fishing spots. If you’re lucky, you’ll even be able to snag a reservation for one of their hunting trips, located in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
If all other horseback tours have been booked, or if you’d like to bring your own horses to ride through the park, NPS permits visitors to bring private stock under two conditions:
All private stock must have negative results for a valid Coggins Test and must pass all stock packing regulations.
The park also requires that your horses are well-trained so that there are no conflicts with other parties on the trails.
Be prepared with the gear you will need throughout the day, including food, water, and equipment for inclement weather. During the day, you will need to have obtained a free day ride permit. If you plan on staying overnight, you will need to secure a backcountry permit.
Definitely! Take advantage of our 30+ years of experience visiting the park. Our step-by-step travel guide with daily itinerary is the best game plan for seeing the BEST of Yellowstone National Park!
With a more efficient way of seeing the park, you’ll have extra time to fit in a horseback ride or the Old West Cookout. Check out our travel guides here!
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