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Last Update: 06 Aug 2010

Riding Holidays | South Dakota

South Dakota is divided into two quite different halves by the Missouri river. The west is home to a number of famous places including Rapid City, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Mountain and Badlands National Park. It is on the edge of the Rocky Mountains and has a drier climate than the eastern side of the state. Cattle ranching and outdoor tourism are the main industries here. The eastern half of the state consists of open grassy prairies with fertile soil and is home to huge agricultural farms.

Although there are a few resort style ranches in South Dakota, predominately the ranch vacations available in this state are at working cattle ranches. These offer guests the chance to learn from real cowhands, or ‘wranglers’ as they are known locally. Stay with a ranch family and join in the life of a cattle ranch, getting up at dawn to feed the horses, check on the stock and ride out to herd cattle on the open plains. Days can be long sometimes, but very rewarding. Learn to rope, pen cattle and experience this unforgettable way of life from horseback. Fortune Ranch offers guests a typical working ranch stay and cattle drives combined with the amazing Badlands scenery, riding on horseback over wild grassy plains intersected by eroded buttes and old river gullies.

Trail riding holidays are also available, particularly in the area of the Black Hills National Forest, close to Rapid City. The best time to visit South Dakota for horse riding is in the summer months from May to September and the state is easy to get to with flights into Rapid City or via Denver in neighbouring Colorado.