National Park Gateway Stables

My friend and I came across this place during our vacation in Colorado. We were smart enough to beat the Memorial Day rush by going on a Wednesday. We did an afternoon ride (2 hours) and we were lucky enough to be just the two of us! We had Jake as our guide. I think he did a wonderful job. My friend and I were fairly quiet as we were enjoying the scenery and peacefulness of the ride. Jake, however did a great job giving us all the information on the history of the mountains. He kept up small talk with us and recommended some other fun places and things to do while we were in Colorado. Thanks Jake for the ride! We had so much fun. When we come back to CO we will definitely be coming back here and doing a longer ride. The only minor issue we had was finding this place. For whatever reason the address drops you into the middle of the park. These stables sit right outside the highway 34 entrance. Not highway 36 like the directions take you. With a quick phone call to them they got us back in the direction we need to be and had mentioned they are trying to work with Google and Unilocal to get the directions corrected.

Extremely well run stables. Horses are cared for, the wranglers are exceptional. We had Kylie on the six hour ride, she was helpful, knowledgable and such an awesome leader for being so young and new to wrangling. Don’t go anywhere else for the most fun in RMNP. We saw Elk, Turkey and dear. Great time!

Great place! Horses are well taken care of and the guides were great. Amazing views of the park! Nice slow and easy ride.

My wife and I decided to participate in the 2 hour Dinner Ride. This consisted of 2 hours of horseback riding followed by getting a 25% off coupon for dinner at the Trailhead Restaurant next door. There were three groups that went out with us and I was surprised that they kept each of the groups separate even though there were just two of us. It made for a nice surprise as we had a guide to ourselves. Our guide was very friendly. She was a college student that was out there doing a summer internship. She did not have prior riding experience, but I would not have known had she not mentioned it. This was her third week and she seemed very knowledgeable of the area. There were some questions that we asked that she did not know the answer to, but that was okay.
The horseback riding itself was great! Awesome scenery and overall a great time. We are not avid riders and have only ever done rides like this (about once every 7 years). This was probably one of our favorites as we were in a small group (so everyone could hear what our guide was pointing out), our guide was attentive and made sure that things were going well, the scenery could not have been better. I am thankful that it did not rain while we were on the trail. If we decided to ride again, we would come back and hope for a similar experience.

This was a great experience.
First of all I want to mention that the stable hands are paid $ 2 a day. That’s a day. They live on tips so tip accordingly, even if you are in a small group. Our guide told us it would likely be her only tour for the day since they were still at the last week or so of the off-​season. Maybe she was bending the truth a bit for a bigger tip but there were only 2 other riders the entire time we were there.
We took the two hour ride and are/​were total beginners. I got Maverick and my wife got Shorty.
Maverick was an awesome horse. He is older, and terribly slow, but he responds to the commands you give him perfectly. It was not until the last 20 yards or so, when he saw the stable, that he went a little rogue and starting trotting into the pine trees. My wife’s horse, Shorty, was a bit more stubborn, and for me, hilarious. He was a shittin’, pissin’, grass-​eatin’ fool. At one point and for no apparent reason he broke into a speedy gallop for about 10 yards and the wife got to experience a *real* horseback ride. Be warned if you get Shorty he is tough to get to stop eating, and that’s one of the big no-​nos as you will ride into the National Park where they try hard to make sure the horses don’t disturb the habitat.
Our guide was very informative, and a lot of fun. I recommend this to anyone who wants a couple hours away from the hustle and bustle.

Worst experience we have ever had horseback riding. The guide did not allow us to choose our own horse, nor did he even speak to us the entire time we were on the ride. We were not allowed to do our own thing and when our horse passed up to the front of the line the guide began to abuse the horse continuously hitting him and screaming. We notified the owner of this and how it was a huge disappointment riding their horses there was no compensation offered. We will never go to this place again

I had a wonderful two hour trail ride this past June. My husband was out hiking and I decided I wanted to ride a horse for the first time in, oh, about 40 years. They could not have been more helpful or accommodating. My horse, Classy, was slow and steady. There were four of us in the group, and the guide Frank gave us lots of interesting information about RMNP as we meandered up a trail. It was an experience I will never forget. I highly recommend it.

My wife and I and our friend took a 2 hour horse ride with Monica this afternoon. The ride was fantastic! It was a beautiful day and very relaxing. Monica was such a great tour guide and wrangler that I never would have guessed this was her first year and that she’d only been working there for a few weeks. My horse (Maverick) was a bit slow and always behind (still a great horse), but the 3 girls had a great time talking like they were long time friends. We couldn’t have asked for a better ride. Thanks Monica!

This was my first time riding horses and I thought hey going to Estes Park will be a great ride with the scenery so I was very excited. Me and my friend went on a Saturday morning. I got the horse «Shorty» she got «Last Call». Boy was I nervous despite his name my horse was no small guy. Our guide was Nick he was very sweet but very new to the job so some questions we had he wasn’t quiet sure (ie what kind of horses we were riding). We did the two hour tour which was perfect. It started to rain and hail at about the halfway point during our ride. We didn’t put our rain gear on because in Colorado everyone knows it will rain/​hail for ten-​fifteen minutes and it would be over plus Nick told us that the horses get a little spooked by the poncho.
As a first time rider I feel it was an ok ride, I guess I thought they would give us a little more direction to tell us if our horse decided to run what would we do. A couple times i was really scared because the pathway has a ton of rocks and Shorty did not like walking on the rocks or in the mud. The other thing was when the rain started to come down hard Shorty who never kept up with the group and kept eating no matter how hard i pulled on him decided he wanted to do a little run. So he was kind of walking really fast and into a run (not fast but I could tell we were moving much faster) I yelled at Nick what do I do and he just kind of told me pull your reins up which i did and it didn’t really seem to be that effective finally as we got closer to the other horse he stopped. Shorty has a bit of an itch at one point and was scratching his face on the tree and almost tossing me forward because he was hitting his face on the tree to hard. Again I didn’t know what to do I screamed to Nick what do I do to get him to stop he says pull him up which I attempted many time and he was not having it. Once he was done scratching his face and butt on the tree he started to shake his head around a lot I again asked what do I do the reponse I got was to see if he works it out. Well my thought was oh gosh if this horse takes off into another tree I could really get hurt. Luckily Shorty’s itch went away and we got back to the stables safely.
Again I had a fun time on the horse being it was my first time. The scary things that happened might have just been a bad day for the horse but I just wish we had more direction. I will probably not go back to these stables the price was low and the scenery was good but with the way my horse was all over the place and I felt it was a safety issue I will try somewhere else.

The reviews on Unilocal convinced us to book here. WHAT A DIRE MISTAKE. I took my extended family of 7 on a 4 hour ride and it started to rain a little, no problem, they provide rain gear and the slickers were rolled up on the back of the horses. The guide stopped and came to us and convinced us that we should not put on the rain gear as it upset the horses. Then it started to pour, and she kept going, then it started to sleet and hail and THE GUIDE PUT ON HER RAIN GEAR BUT REFUSED TO LET US. After she walked us for about a ½ hour we were soaked to the bone and frozen from the hail and sleet. HAIL WAS PILED UP ON THE BACK OF THE HORSES. Then we were allowed to put on our gear, HALF OF WHICH HAD NO HOODS, WERE SMELLY AND RIPPED ALL OVER. So we are 45 minutes into a 4 hour ride and we are soaked through and freezing. So we begged her to go back to the stables and she kept going away, it took my wife being very forceful with the guide to convince her that she ruined our trip and we needed to head back.
On the way back all of the other groups we passed were allowed to put on rain gear as soon as the rain started and they headed on their merry way. OUR ENTIRE DAY WAS RUINED BY THIS POORLY RUN GROUP.

After a couple of not so great experiences at other stables, I was very happy with my Gateway Stables experience. Our guide Lindsay was awesome, the trail was beautiful and the ride was very low key. We will be returning to Gateway next year!

My wife and I did the 4 hour ride. We are both beginners, having ridden only a few times in the last 10 years. Our guide, Lindsay, was outgoing and knowledgeable. The ride goes through all types of terrain: riding next to a river, up mountains, through open plains, and crossing streams. We also saw a black bear cub and wild turkeys. Overall, we enjoyed the ride very much. However, my knees and butt may disagree. After the ride, we just want to go home and sleep for the rest of the day.

This is a great stable!
The horses are well cared for, the guides are knowledgeable and friendly, and the scenery is breathtaking. I would recommend this ride to anyone, even beginners. The rides vary from a 2 hour ride, 4 hour ride, 6 hour ride, and then 8 and 9 hour rides.
Make a reservation, and plan on arriving 10 minutes early. Also, tipping is expected.

We had a great time on our trail ride through the Rockies! We were in Colorado on vacation and this was the best part of our trip! It was a truly unforgettable experience. We made a reservation for a Monday morning and it wound up just being us and the guide. She was knowledgeable, experienced, and friendly. Very easy going and easy to talk to over the course of the 2 hour ride. The horses seemed to be well cared for and they had a lot there, so they were alternated and given breaks between rides. They paired us up with horses based on our experience levels. I had ridden horses before, so I was given a horse that walked at a quicker pace while the whole experience was new to my husband, so he got one of the slowpokes (which was good for him). The two hour ride was $ 50 and tipping is expected. They also offer 4-​hour, 6-​hour, and full day rides. I think 2-​hours was good for us (given how sore we were afterwards!), but it did go by really quick. The longer you ride, the higher up in the mountains you go, but the scenery was breathtaking even at the lowest levels. I believe they are only open from the later spring to the fall, so check before you go. Reservations are recommended. Oh, there are public restrooms available in the tourist center right next door to the stable and in case of emergency, the guide offered to stop by a bush on the way (luckily, we didn’t have to). You can bring bottled water with you on your ride — they will tie it onto your saddle.
If you want to eat before or after your ride, there are some restaurants in downtown Estes Park a few miles away. We opted instead to just try Trailhead Restaurant, which was right next door. It’s part of the visitors center/​massive souvenir shop, so we weren’t expecting much, but it was actually very good with outdoor dining and a beautiful view.