Wow, what an authentic, real life experience of journeying into the wilderness -and my first time riding a mule! Sally was a wonderful animal and as surefooted as they say! I felt so able to be present and witness the shifting light of the day and the rare and beautiful wildflowers (a favorite of mine) in the Gila Wilderness from the back of my steady steed. I slept so well after the long day rides and woke refreshed and ready to go again at dawn. As a person used to boring backpacking food that I have to carry myself, I was delighted to have real milk in my coffee and butter on my toast. What a treat! I enjoyed how the plans of the trip evolved and changed based on he knowledge the crew had of the area and the weather- this was a living, changing real life journey, not some dude ranch style packaged and predictable experience designed for your typical US traveler who wants a pre-determined concept of comfort and certainty that checks all the usual comfort based boxes. Those places exist and would probably be fun too, (I love spas!) but this was a real adventure! The horses were all so well cared for that some could even be released to wander around the camp area- this was astonishing to me and really spoke to the leader Jim's connection and care of his animals. I learned so much from Jim, who must have grown tired of all my questions about how he managed and got to know such a large heard of individual personalities. I will certainly be back when I am able to explore more of the area! What a treat! read more

U-Trail - Horseback Riding Near Me - Glenwood, New Mexico

What a great experience! A friend and I just got back from a five day packing trip that exceeded my (already pretty high) expectations. Stellar horses and mules (I loved that little miss Bombs Away). Friendly and knowledgeable guides Bridget., the cook and a guide as well, was super nice and full of interesting stories. She brought her fiddle so we had live music too! Great swimming holes and campfires every night. Can't recommend enough.... read more

The horseback riding was good, nice canyons to see. The saddles were crappy but that is expected from most outfitters, everyone had better saddles than the paying guests which is sad to say. Why I rated this 1 star is no hand wash station in the kitchen, I was told to go use the creek and I wasn't given any soap. Horses tied next to the kitchen area full of sh*t and piss, kicking up dust like horses will do. Water was not filtered with a Katadyn gravity filter, but they added bleach to kill the bacteria from the creek water (The amount of bleach is unknown) meals could have been good but the girl couldn't cook, potatoes were hard, eggs out of a box, grease pouring off everything from the bacon, just a big disappointment. The town closest to the trail head had no where to eat within 80 miles. The 6 room hotel, only one in town was ok, just a bed and bath. The trailhead from the hotel for the Gila wilderness was 50 miles away down a gravel/rocky road (a 2 hour drive) where we were meeting the outfitter near snow lake. None of this was conveyed to us a head of time. My wife and I felt we were more of an inconvenience than anything else. No map to see where we were riding to or where we were going the next day everything was like pulling teeth to get a answer. Usually you would stop after 2 hours of riding just to stretch your legs for a few minutes, nope no stopping even on the trails rides on the other days just seem like in a hurry to get you over with. Would I do it again, No we were planned to do the blue range wilderness, then he changed it to Gila in July and when we asked him one night at camp he said he never does blue after April. This was a screw me moment, we would of flown in to Albuquerque instead of Tucson, we already booked our flight and this would have saved a hour of driving. Communication skills just sucked. read more

U-Trail - Horseback Riding Near Me - Glenwood, New Mexico

Wow, Glenwood is gorgeous. We went for a day ride with Jim and it was exciting and relaxing. It was an amazing opportunity to get out, especially since my husband has a pain condition from Lyme and can't walk very far. But he can ride Jim's wonderful mule Lucy apparently, even if it was only his 4th time. Jim was totally great at accommodating our needs, and he is a wonderful guy with fun stories and real horse sense. It was a lovely drive from Silver City, and there is so much more to explore around there, so we will be back. I hope to do a longer pack trip with U-Trail some day but this was a great thing to do with the time we had. Enjoy! read more

U-Trail - Pretty good for only his fourth time riding, and first time on a mule! - Horseback Riding Near Me - Glenwood, New Mexico

See all

I took myself and my daughter on a horseback ride and it was great. The instructor, Bill Mater, was very professional and the experience overall was perfect. I would highly recommend this business and might even sign up for a longer horseback riding trip in the future. read more

Amazing absolutely incredible experience. The scenery is unmatched an absolute peaceful tranquil haven. We are novice riders and the whole U-trail crew was helpful, polite, friendly and just a true delight. Jim is a most knowledgeable expert in back country trail guiding. Cole is the best camp cook and always had warm coffee/cocoa very morning with fresh hot home cooked meals and smores by the campfire in the evening. Scott is the best wrangler hands down! He has years of equestrian experience and put us at ease immediately with his kindness, laughter, encouragement and wisdom. Cisco was our favorite mule, Popcorn was our favorite horse and we loved Brody and Sammy our fearless canine companions. The whole crew is patient, knowledgeable and kept our safety and comfort a priority throughout our wilderness journey. I highly recommend this adventure of a lifetime! read more

My family of four did a 1/2 day trail ride with Jim, his wife Eva, and Chris in the Gila Forest area. We rode through the forest, creeks, and saw beautiful scenery from the top of hills. The horses and mulls were beautiful. We went up and down the hills and had moments of trodding. So it was never boring. I enjoyed interacting with the horses. read more

Just got back from a 5-day pack trip into the Gila Wilderness led by Jim Mater of U-Trail. Wow! The whole experience was terrific - great horses, friendly and knowledgeable guides, great cooking and unmatched scenery. They were able to easily accommodate a dairy food intolerance, too. We flew into NM from out of state and U-Trail lent us sleeping bags and pads, no problem, put us up, and took us to and from the airport. Rode all day to cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, up and down the middle fork of the Gila and heard some good ones around a big campfire at night. Still walking on air from the trip of a lifetime. Highly recommended. read more