holy smoke resort horse rides

Check-in area was a ramshackle building, gravel parking lot. When we arrived, we were told by the completely unconcerned worker that the previous ride had left about 30 minutes late, so our trail ride would be delayed by about 40 minutes. (No phone call to warn us?) The poor horses were working hard--same ones that arrived with the previous party were re-saddled for us and immediately hauled us up and down the mountain. The trail was rough, although beautiful scenery. Use a bathroom before you arrive--I will have nightmares about the fly-infested port-a-potty they indicated we could use. Guide was very nice and knew what she was doing. Bottom line: do a little research and find a place that's better organized.

Great horses, great ride, great guides. A great trail ride through the Black Hills Nat'l Forest with friendly, funny guides. Wear jeans/pants as some of the trails are small and you will rub up against some trees.

My kids wanted to go horseback riding in the black hills so we made a quick decision to stop at Holy Smoke. We were disappointed in the entire experience. The corral area was filthy, the horses had saddlesores and did not look well cared for generally. My 8 year old who had only ridden once before was given a saddle with stirrups he could not reach so he had a hard time holding on and was quite scared when the horses trotted. No members of our party were told the horses names, or what to do or what to expect. There were no safety instructions and no helmets available. During the ride the wrangler stayed up front and spent the whole trip conversing with another guest about inappropriate political issues while I was left to bring up the rear. If you want to go horseback riding in Keystone, do what we should have done and research other options. They may be further afield but will almost certainly be better than this place.