Nice experience. I went here when I was staying at Skytop Lodge for President's Day week. If was my 10-year old daughter's first time on horseback. Fortunately, my family of 3 were the only people in our time slot so it was a nice pleasant ride with a gal who's led horseback tours for many years. Since it was my daughter's first time doing this, I was overjoyed when they told us they WOULD NOT TROT their horses. It's a simple, nice and easy walk through the golf course. They said that insurance regulations don't allow for trotting, or something along those lines.
Why 3 stars and not 5? Staying at Skytop, you're a fairly captive audience, and they charge you dearly for your ride. We researched pricing at other horseback riding places within about 30 to 40 minutes driving, independently owned, and they were about 25% cheaper or better. The day we checked out of Skytop, we actually decided to try horseback riding again, since my daughter had a good experience at the Lodge. We chose Sugar Mountain Carriages in Bushkill, PA. It was a good deal less expensive than Skytop, though their facilities seemed just as good as at the Lodge, and the horses as well. It was a much longer tour with the horses than we had at Skytop, and they would let the horses trot for bursts of about 10 - 30 seconds or so. We were fine with it, as it was now my daughter's 2nd time riding.
At Skytop, we had one guide with us, and she was leading the pack from the front and had good control of the group. At Sugar Mountain, we had the owner up front, and an assistant of hers trailing us in the back. That was a good thing, as I was on a horse that liked to take "shortcuts", following the horse in front of it, but sometimes not following its exact footsteps, which can be risky for the rider if it decides to go under a low hanging branch or something.
All in all, I suppose every place will have its pros and cons, but I feel that there's much better value to be had if you're willing to leave Skytop Lodge and go riding at an independently owned stable. Just be sure to check their reviews on Yelp.com! That's how I found Sugar Mountain. read more