Timberline Tours Ltd — Local services in Alberta

Timberline Tours is run by honest, hard working people who love their animals. I appreciate Susan's no nonsense, salt of the earth approach. When I see some random one star reviews about how terrible some people think this company is, I have to believe that the comments are coming from entitled, out of touch people who expect everyone to cater to their every unreasonable whim. I have done two multi day horse treks with Timberline Tours in the past ten years, and can't wait for my next one. Both times, different years, they arranged a knowledgeable guide/wrangler plus a wonderful cook. The teamwork that these two hardworking ladies working demonstrated spoke volumes about the company culture: they worked really hard at very physical and dirty work, they were passionate, and they did everything they could to ensure a wonderful time for myself and other guests. The meals were incredibly tasty and filling; think restaurant quality, but farmhand portions. I never felt hungry for a moment. The camps they have in the park are a time travel to the days long past. Nice huge tents, some cots, camp stoves, and even electric fences to keep the bears safely away. Horses were well looked after, and were all very seasoned for easy tourist riding. Whenever anyone in our group wanted to stop for photos, we stopped. The team understood so well that these trips are trips of a lifetime for their guests, and they even proactively offered to stop and take photos for us when we were so caught up in the beauty, we might forget to capture it. The amount of work involved with getting the horses ready each day, the work to make sure we were comfortable, the effort in preparing great meals even 5 days in, I can't rave enough about the heart that everyone I met here puts into their work. I am so glad that Timberline Tours has been operating 4 decades; I sure hope they are around for at least another 4 more decades so that more people can experience what Timberline...

1. Upon arrival, the employees never introduced themselves…. After about ten minutes we asked there names
2. we recorded that we were “beginner” riders on application. Prior to ride our guide nor the owner provided, adequate training on riding a horse such as positioning when going up or down steep inclines. (Any instructions given during ride were difficult to hear as they were relayed back to horse riders in line behind)
3. the guide was pre-occupied with cell phone texting during return and observed crying multiple times
4. the guide was concerned with the horse shoes on my horse as they were not fully secured. This should had been addressed prior.
5. while we followed the guides directives to maintain break times; the guide complained that we were moving to slowly and that I was reigning my horse to a crawl. This wasn’t true as I maintain a space equal to the spacing between all other riders
6. While my horses nose was inches from the tail of the horse I was following, the guide literally slaps my horse on the rear as the guide states “that’s how to keep up”. At that slap, the horse charged forward, causing me to almost fall, and the horse in front of me and that rider to lose some control. This was by far the most irresponsible action of guide.
7. roughly 10 minutes after #6; I put my horse in slow trot but when trying to stop the trot the horse pulled right and up causing me to fall. The horse had issues causing it to behave this was beyond that of me just being a beginner.
8. while the guide would complain that we were running behind schedule; the guide would also be the cause of slow ride as the guide herself would sometimes walk her horse instead of ride horse. —-

It was nice that they were flexible with allowing us to start our 3-4 hour ride earlier in day...

Far exceeded our expectations. The entire staff at Timberline Tours is top notch. We were greeted by very friendly young ladies named Amy and Sydney. They helped us get geared up and wavers signed. No stuck up attitudes here! We were surprised since we had booked a trip in Banff with another horseback riding company that ripped us off and were pretentious snobs. Not the case here!! They even made us feel like real cowboys and cowgirls with long trench coat rain coats (very old school western) and cowboy hats!! They gave a thorough explanation of how to ride and were big on safety. We felt at ease right away. We went on the 3 hour tour up to the Teahouse with our guide, Ashley. She was so knowledgable about the different mountains in the area and even told us about "old man's beard"...if you don't know, don't google...go on this trip! She was a FANTASTIC guide! The spectacular views only got better the higher we rode, arriving at the famous Teahouse (amazing teas) and a gorgeous waterfall. We were the envy of all hikers making the trek! It's a bit harder on foot than on hoof!! Also, the owner has a compassionate heart and rescues horses! That alone made our trip that much more special. I felt like we were apart of something more than just a tour and were helping give purpose to at least a few beautiful and sensitive animals that were destined for a terrible fate. The horses were beautiful and well taken care of. Timberline Tours was a highlight of our trip to Canada. Plus they take smaller groups than their competitor which makes for a more authentic and intimate experience in the Canadian Rockies. Really cool!...