Smoky Mountain Trail Rides — Local services in Marshall

This place is awesome! PLEASE READ!!

I came to leave a wonderful review and noticed a completely false review from a rider that was also in our group. To clarify: There was a couple in the rear of our group and when the guides were bringing horses over to load us, they asked the couple if they had experience and they stated yes. They confirmed their comfortability level to ensure their horses were the right fit and they ensured the guides that they were confident. Once the ride began, some of the horses tried to snack at times but the guides carefully explained how to get them to stop and to keep moving. (Mind you, my 9 year old was able to do this with no issue.) The couple in the rear would not keep their horse from snacking and kept stating their frustration about how they kept stopping. At the halfway point, the guides switched places to help the rider out and things seemed much smoother for them. Once we got back to the barn, they unloaded us as we were two hours and were going to carry on with the couple for the last remaining hour. The couple got rude with the guides and stated they didn’t want to continue because the horse was the issue. Mind you, horses will try to snack, it’s what they do. It’s common and a tough habit to break in some horses, I understand this as I thought this was common sense. But their horses were no different than any of the rest of them on the ride. The issue was very clearly the rider and not the horse. It is very obvious the horses are very well fed and cared for so this clearly was not an issue caused by the horse not being prepared or inadequately cared for. The couple genuinely seemed rude from the start and I hate to see someone hating on a small business when the staff did everything they could to accommodate them, coach them through and to make the situation easier for them. Also, the trails are steep and the horses do walk at a brisk pace. It states very clearly that they don’t run and it’s walking only. I expected nothing less with the terrain. On a positive note, my family and I had a wonderful time. The girls running the place were amazing, very knowledgeable and friendly! The views were stunning and the horses were incredible and so smart! I would HIGHLY recommend this place next time you’re around the Asheville area, we will definitely be back. (Not every person can be pleased so don’t listen to those few bad reviews and come check this place out!) You won’t regret it!! Thank you to our guides Steph, Sidney, and our horses Tatonka, Jack,...

Please do not waste your money here! We’ve rode several times different places and this is the most unprofessional run down place. We went on 10/30/22 when we first got there we were the only ones there were no other riders which was odd. When we went to the office there was no one there and no one in sight so I had to call the guy. Then when they finally came over they didn’t even say hello or greet us or introduce themselves they just said to sign these papers and pay. Then when we went to the barn they didn’t communicate to us what to do we just followed and stood there. Most rides we’ve been on the guides normally say where we are going and so on but the mother and daughter didn’t say anything we just rode in silence pretty much the whole time. When we stopped at a half way point they did talk some which they’re nice but they are not very social people to be running a business like this. Then they complained about other rides how they were glad they were short so they could go home which made us feel weird because we did a 3 hr ride. All their horses aren’t healthy. You can see their bones and alot of them had colds and were coughing the whole time. The horses they had in the pen pictured you can’t see it clear but you could see their ribs and their hair was all matted with burs all in their hair. These horses aren’t taken care of like they should and it’s awful. They supposedly got rid of most their bison but a couple so there’s no bison to see when going here. The ride itself was nice the views are great. The hills are pretty steep and rocky and with the condition these horses are in it was harder for them to get up these hills. After the ride they had owed me $5 from when I paid which I just told them to keep and they didn’t even say thank you. For $130 this was not worth it...

Visiting Smokey Mountain Trail Rides was the highlight of our Mother’s Day weekend trip to Asheville! We originally planned another ride somewhere else, which was canceled on us last minute. Thank goodness we were able to find a ride here because my kids and I enjoyed it SO much. We definitely have memories that will last a life time.

We had wonderful guides. I took my daughter, 15, and son, 11. We were all matched well with horses that were healthy and well trained. We chose the 2 hour ride and it was perfect. The fields were covered in little yellow buttercup flowers. We saw a bison from far away. My son rode Morgan. She was sweet and trustworthy. My daughter rode tall and handsome Maverick. For the first half I rode Blue Eyes, whom happened to be musically gassy! On the second half of the ride I had the chance to ride Trigger, a young 3 year old greenback. Before our ride he did have a little tension between the other horses but on the trail he was a well mannered but obviously still learning boy. I’m glad I got the chance to ride him because I felt accomplished for being a part of his training.

We would absolutely recommend horseback riding here! The dogs running right along side is the whole trail ride was amazing! We’re animal lovers. These animals were happy & cared for! The posts I see from 6 months ago could likely be from a very explainable time that the horses were out rolling in the grass living their best life! I loved that this was different than just a slow walk on...