By L.A. Berry
Heritage. It’s something worth experiencing—and cherishing.
Which is why Active Riding Trips has been proud to work with True Ranch Collection to present Old West pop-up ranch experiences each season that deliver a true west experience while putting 100% of the proceeds back into preservation and restoration of the O.T.O. Dude Ranch, Montana’s first dude ranch (c. 1910) and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ranch life just outside of Yellowstone National Park is where Active Riding Trips is sending horse industry mentor, horse show judge, and Plaid Horse publisher, Piper Klemm, for five days of riding, ranching, and outdoor adventure at the Yellowstone Pop-Up Ranch at Blackwater Creek in August.
Piper will be Active Riding Trip’s guest as she explores the area dubbed “the most scenic 50 miles in the U.S,” by Teddy Roosevelt. Since 1915, Blackwater Creek Ranch has hosted guests from around the world amid the mountains of Shoshone National Forest, where Blackwater Creek flows into the Shoshone River.
On Monday, it will be riding on the ranch in the morning and afternoon, a little sport shooting, archery, and hiking. Tuesday, it’s a trip into Cody, Wyoming, for a few hours of rafting down the Shoshone River with Wyoming River Trips, then an afternoon back at the ranch.
Piper’s six-night stay will also include a tour of Yellowstone National Park. The pop-up ranch is 15 miles from the East Entrance, so she’ll have a chance to see the ‘Grand Canyon of Yellowstone,’ called Yellowstone Lake, and all its geysers and mud pots, plus the Park’s astounding array of wildlife.
Thursday and Friday will include more riding and ranching all day while Thursday evening promises a trip into Cody for a steak dinner at Cassie’s before the Cody Nite Rodeo. Cody was founded in 1896 by Colonel William F. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody, who was so impressed by the development possibilities of its rich soil, grand scenery, and proximity to Yellowstone that, after a successful international tour of his Wild West Show, he came back to Wyoming to found the town (also home to the 1902 Irma Hotel named after Cody’s daughter).
On Saturday, it’s a Happy Trails Champagne Brunch before the trip ends—and we hope to hear more from Piper about how this hunter rider stepped out of her comfort zone to cowgirl up for a good cause, and grand adventure.
Learn more about Active Riding Trips and its more than 90 horseback riding experiences around the world at activeridingtrips.com.
