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If you have never been, this horse-only campground in Custer South Dakota is a must. A group of us reserved space at this stunning campground in 2014, and had to reschedule last year (VS outbreak) to go in 2015. Yes that’s right, if you want a space for your rig and/or a small cabin with bunks you need to think ahead at this lovely campground. You can arrive into the campground from two directions, and it is about a 6 hour drive from Boulder County. We headed up I-25 to Lusk and then North to South Dakota— it’s a pretty easy haul. Having had a late start we came in at dark. Winding through Custer State Park we passed a couple of buffalo off to the side of the road—they a big fellas. The stone work on the winding bridge roads is magical. We arrived at the campground around 9 PM got the horses quickly settled and tucked ourselves in, all excited about the next days adventure. French Creek is one of the loveliest places I have camped with horses. There is power to all sites, vaulted toilets throughout the camp, and one of the cleanest bath houses I have ever been in. Horses have pen groups placed near the rig sites and how easy is this—shovel your manure out the back side and they come by with a backhoe and place the manure in a large disposal carrier. Weed free hay is required and a water trolley is a good idea for moving water from the spigots or your trailer. […]

There are so many wonderful areas to ride here in the Salida area and we have been blessed with some outstanding local guides to show us around. This trip has been truly amazing. On Thursday we rode with a charming local gal, Kate and her wonderful mule on Friday. Kate showed us the Raspberry Gulch area and later on in the trip the Mt. Shavano area with her friend Elise. Raspberry Gulch is located in the foothills of Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton. The terrain includes pine, piñon and meadows filled with wildflowers, simply breathtaking. On Friday Cheri arranged for us to accompany a local foxhound group. I have never been around foxhounds so I was really thrilled to have this experience and meet other local riders. We met in an area near Mt. Shavano, unloaded and tacked up. The hounds arrived soon after in the back of a horse trailer, they were radio-collared and released as we rode out. There were 17 foxhounds (two wanna-bees), the Master, three Whips and a Drag Rider. The hunt master let the dogs take care of their business and sniff around. Then they were gathered into a fairly tight back and any stragglers rounded up, it reminded me a bit of rounding up cattle. There were thoroughbreds and Irish warmblood crosses along with our Arabians, Azteca, and Quarter horse. Our position was at the end of the group. Mt. Shavano rose above us, and the sky was clear blue as we trotted across wildflower meadows and down dirt two tracks. We later meandered through aspens forests and rested with  the hounds as the horses sipped clear