Overall, a positive experience. The mountain views were breathtaking and my horse (Spirit) was a…read moregreat trail horse. She handled my 6'3" and 240 lbs with ease and listened to my every command. The process for mounting the horses and the extreme disorganization at the end of the ride were much less enjoyable. After being placed on your horse, you are left while others are mounting theirs for the ride. We waited at least 10 minutes on anxious horses that weren't happy standing around. They walked us into tree branches a few times. When we returned from the ride, the lack of staff to assist was even more apparent. Two staff members to assist 12-14 riders and horses is not sufficient. My girlfriend's horse led her through 3 prickly trees. My horse went to the watering trough and was almost bitten by another horse. This caused my horse rear back, sprint a few steps forward and start to buck. I haven't been on a horse in over 30 years, so I feel very fortunate that I was able to get her to calm down and not toss me. These issues could all be alleviated by adding 2 additional staff members. $45 for an hour trail ride seems like a fair price, but at that price you should also have enough staff on hand to handle paying customers and ensuring a pleasant and safe experience.

absolutely love MTR!! so good for kids. the horses are very well taken care of! spoiled as they…read moreshould be. i've been coming here every year since i was little! its a very special place to me the guides are amazing and the desk lady was so sweet. totally worth doing if you are in the area! i tell everyone about them.

Highly recommend. We stayed in the cowboy cabin it was such a cute cabin with the most beautiful…read moreMountain View. Highly recommend for a get away with your sweetheart & your dogs! We rode horses on the ranch, Francisca was the sweetest guide & really made the experience. Our dogs loved walking along the property watching the long horns, cows, & sheep. The sunrise was absolutely stunning from the rocking chairs on the porch. Cute cowboy aesthetic! Everything was clean & tidy. The extra paper towels, soaps, and trash bags came in handy. Such a sweet extra amenity. Celena & Susan were so kind and responsive. We met afew of the other staff along the property and they were all so sweet and courteous as well. The wedding venue looks amazing!! Can't wait to come back!! Thank you so much for having us!!

So after running late for a horseback riding trail in Shenandoah they steered us in the direction…read moreof this ranch. They were so accommodating to book a same day appointment for me and my date. We arrived like 30 minutes early so we got to sign the forms and walk around the ranch. The property is beautiful I wish we could have stayed in one of the cabins. My horse outlaw was the sweetest. This wasn't my first time riding but even if it was anyone could ride him. I enjoyed the trail ride throughly I wanted it to last another hour it was so peaceful! Between the instructor & my man we got great pictures and an unforgettable experience.

Five stars for the horseback ride, but negative stars for the guide's political comments. I'm all…read morefor freedom of speech, but I also believe in good customer service. It's so hard to escape from politics in this country right now, although I was naively hoping that I could try to cordon myself off with a relaxing mountain trip. That's what I paid for when I signed up for a two hour horseback ride through the woods, but that's not what I received. I genuinely believe that people should feel free to express their views, and despite my whining here, I actually (mostly) agreed with the guide. There's a right time and place, however. That said, if this wouldn't bother you, it is truly a five star horseback ride.

Visited Autumn Breeze Stables in September 2023 and what a great experience. Their horses are…read moregorgeous. I rode Lacey a beautiful horse and very responsive. Caroline was a great guide! Had a wonderful 2 hour trail ride with beautiful scenery! I would highly recommend!

GAC is a beautiful piece of property with 6 cabins all beautifully appointed & immaculately clean…read more These are Adult only cabins with privacy certainly taken into consideration. My wife and I have stayed here 3 years in a row and we absolutely love the area, lots of trails for hiking, a near by Golf Course at Canaan Valley Resort, Seneca Rocks are close by for day time activities. The towns of Davis and Thomas are also close by with tons of good shops, breweries, and restaurants. We absolutely love this part of the country. The cabins have everything you need whether you want to stay in and cook in their fully equipped kitchen, all you need to bring is food & drinks! There are even Charcoal grills at every cabin and the Jacuzzi hot tubs are perfect to pass the mornings & evenings away. Our cabin Serenity had a pool table and bubble hockey game upstairs. Plenty of DVD's, dish network tv, puzzles, books, and some games. The beds are a little firm for our taste, but that is really the only negative that I have. Not ridiculous but just wish they were softer. We can't wait to go back next year!

Okay, I need everyone looking at this review to take my advice and book a cabin at this phenomenal…read moreLuxury Cabin Resort. I call it a resort because it absolutely fits the definition of a resort which is a place that is a popular destination for vacations or recreation, or which is frequented for a particular purpose. The destination is popular for all Canaan Valley activities (skiing, horse back riding, cavern exploration, etc). We frequent these cabins for recreation, relaxation, rest and recuperation. The cabins are second to none and the attention to detail is simply amazing. The cabins are decorated with five star quality and they all present that home away from home feeling. The kitchens have all the appliances, dishes, pots and pans that you need in order to prepare those home cooked meals while living in your home away from home. This was our second time visiting this luxury cabin resort and we decided to bring our brother and sister along for a birthday celebration. My wife and I stayed in the Royale Cabin and my Brother and sister stayed in the Majestic Cabin. When we arrived we walked right into our cabin and were amazed by the captivating appeal. The soft music was playing in the background and the cozy gas fireplace had the place warm and toasty inside. Both cabins were even meticulously decorated for Christmas holiday which was a very nice touch. Daniel & Jamie Marsh are Simply Outstanding and you can tell that they care about their customers experience. They have thought of everything in order to make your stay extremely enjoyable and relaxing to include the jacuzzi/Hot tub which was excellent during the winter nights. We will FOREVER support them and this astonishing luxury cabin resort because they understand professionalism, quality, customer appeal and customer service. What are you waiting for.....BOOK IT NOW!!

We had a younger nervous 11 year old rider on a horse that was not behaving. The trail guide went…read moreto try and hook up to her horse and it caused the horses to nip at each other and our young rider got even more nervous. The situation was not handled quickly or correctly as it was happening for a bit before she addressed the problem. The trail guide gave no instructions on how to handle the horses before we left. We were lucky we had all ridden before and already knew. There was no talking by the trail guide during the ride except once to tell us to lean forward going up a hill and then once to tell us to lean back going down a hill. We had a fun time but there definitely could have been more communication and information given with the horseback riding. We also had two people ride an ATV and they had a great experience and lots of fun and learned a lot about the farm and area we were in from their trail leader.

The family was super welcoming and very friendly. Especially Elizabeth. We were hoping for speed…read moreand adventure but this is slow steady ATV ride. All the same we had a ball.

The views were definitely epic, but they came with a couple of big hurdles…read more The first was that when I booked online there wasn't any way to put the ages of kids or expertise level of the people riding. It's fine, but they claim that you don't need any experience. When we showed up, our guide saw us waiting outside of the car and he told us to sign in. After filling the paperwork he came out and said he didn't know that there were kids riding on their own. (I had my 11 and 9 year old riding by themselves). He seems like a very nice guy, but the whole time he was complaining that he already dealt with kids that morning and the slow horses had been used so he didn't have slow horses for us to put the kids on. The second hurdle was that his horse was not listening, I think he might've been a young horse that wasn't as broken-in as his usual horse. He said his horse was hurt, so he couldn't use it and he had to ride a horse that was "nuts." There were horses that were in the back that he had swapped so I don't know why he couldn't switch his horse to different one. He kept having to smack him and pull the reins to try to get him to keep going on the trail because he wasn't listening. This wouldn't have been a huge issue, but he insisted in holding a lead to lead my daughter's horse since she was riding on her own. (he suggested my son go ride with my husband doubled up) His horse kept moving abruptly, and I felt like it was more of a safety issue for my daughter to be near his horse so I asked him to let go of the lead, and have her ride by herself without him pulling the horse. She seemed to do much better without him holding it because, thankfully, her horse (Diamond) was cooperative and chill. The whole time he seemed very frazzled and worried. Although it is understandable for him to want us to have a good experience with the horses and for everyone's safety, I think that him having a different horse and there being better communication when booking a riding session would've made for a much better experience. The whole time we pretty much felt like a nuisance, and I felt sorry for him. He suggested that we get a partial refund because our experience wasn't as great as it should've been since we didn't have the correct horses to have a smooth ride. When I communicated with the owner, they just said thank you for letting them know and they didn't offer any sort of compensation or refund. In future, if we were to do this experience again, it would probably have to be with a different guide, but I don't think that I would come back to this Ranch I would try somewhere else. On a positive note, the views were amazing, the horses that we had were pretty chill and kept trying to eat, but other than that they didn't cause trouble. They had helmets for us if we needed them and the guide was upset, but he was apologetic the whole time. The guide did a great job at posing the horses for our family picture.

My wife and I stayed in one of the cabins here over the weekend. We had a fantastic experience to…read moresay the least. Our host, Jess, was extremely welcoming, helpful, friendly, and made sure our stay was top notch. She provided detailed information, maps, a guide, food recommendations that were spot on, and brought us pizza our first night that was delicious. Our second day, Justin gave us a guided hike through the mountain to a couple private waterfalls. He was very friendly and accommodating of personal limitations for the group. Later on we had a trail ride on horseback with Justin. He made sure to pair each rider with an appropriate horse based on their skill and experience level. The views were absolutely stunning, and the ranch definitely lives up to its name. We enjoyed every second of our stay and did not want to leave. I hope to return sooner rather than later.

Had a great time today. I called in the morning and was able to get into a group of four others…read moregoing out at 2pm for a one hour trail ride. The facility is lovely and very clean. I arrived 15 min early and hung out until everyone had arrived, using the time to browse, ask questions, meet the horses, and pet the two dogs that were lazing about in the barn. Once we were paired with a horse and helped up into the saddles, they gave us a brief speech about how to control the horses and what to expect on the ride. The horses were all very sedate and happy to play follow the leader with very little input from us. The ride took us mostly through open fields, but also through some light woods and along the side of woods. There was a good amount of elevation change, but it was nothing difficult and it provided some lovely views of the surrounding lands. Our guide frequently asked how we were all doing, kept a keen eye on the group, pausing to allow a lagging horse to catch up from time to time, and stopped at the midpoint to walk through the group making sure we were still all okay and our horses and saddles were good. When we got back, staff members came out and helped us off the horses and led them off to drink. It was a lovely experience. Very sedate and easy, though I guarantee I'll feel that in my thighs tomorrow. LOL. Going into it, I was a bit worried that I'd be bored. Today's digital age has shrunk my attention span and I knew we'd be going walking pace in a line. But at no point did I want to pull out my phone and surf social media or read a book. I just enjoyed the bouncing jolting sway of the horse, the scenery, the lovely weather, and the chit chat around me. I would totally do this again. Thanks everyone at Circle R Ranch for a lovely afternoon.

A great way to spend an afternoon riding horses. The stables were very clean and well…read morekept and all the horses seemed healthy. The two women who helped us and guided our trail ride were great. They know all the horses personalities and were able to pair us up with a horse suitable for our riding abilities (beginners). You can tell the horses are well loved and taken care of. The trail we took gave us nice views and the horses were all well behaved. This is a small family owned business that we'd love to visit again when in the area.

Amazing! This family-run guided horseback tour was a great value (cost less for a half-day ride…read morethan the Homestead charges for a one hour ride)! My husband and I enjoyed our cool, sunny late September outing while vacationing and camping in the area. The Outfitters is run by a farming family; some of the trails go through the valleys of their farm. We had a small group of four riders so were able to load up the horses and drive to a wooded trail which was cool and pleasant. The horses were well behaved. The novice riders of the group were given gentler, "follower" horses which didn't cause much ruckus. I have a bit of riding experience (both English and Western, though this outfit is all Western-style) and was given a former "lead" horse named Mickey. Mickey was spirited but responded well to gentle guidance. They are training a new guide horse to lead, and Mickey resented not being the leader and would occasionally try to nip his rump or pass him to take the lead. The thing with horses are that they are not very sneaky, and I was able to tell from his body language when he was plotting a coup and head him off with literally reining him in. It was a blast. The guide was super friendly and professional and frequently checked to make sure we were having a good time and that everyone felt safe and in control of their horses. Before we set out for the morning, each rider received a brief private lesson and an assessment on how they handled their horse. The novice riders received longer instruction. Overall, this was a fun and scenic way to see the area. We felt quite safe and enjoyed the entire ride.

Extremely rude, disorganized, shocking experience. I really…read moretry not to leave bad reviews but I am shocked at how my dad and I were treated for horseback riding. I had purchased 3 gift certificates from Dwight last June. We weren't able to book last year and after winter I tried several times to get a hold of him to book the half day rides we had purchased. I eventually had to get in touch with them through Facebook messenger. We booked for April 25 at 8:45. We were about to head to the trail and another group drove up and they had also been booked for 9:30. Dwight had overbooked not remembering. They also had a wedding that evening. I understand mistakes are made and everyone is human. However, Dwight proceeded to be extremely rude telling us we had to wait over an hour for them to saddle up four more horses. We were expecting storms that afternoon, that Dwight had called me twice about concerned for the weather that day. We also had paid for 3 people which Dwight had initially said that would guarantee us our own time and private ride. He snapped out me saying no I was mistaken we would have paid $500 for a private ride. I asked him to not speak to me or my father that way and he yelled at me to get off his land and he would refund me. This was so shocking. He knew I had gotten this horseback riding trip for my dad because my mom passed away two years ago in April. I was extremely upset and he wrote me a check for a refund which ended up being $495. I would have paid the extra $5 if that would have actually gotten us a private ride. He was so unbelievably rude we couldn't believe it. I advise to never work with Dwight. The girls that were the trail guides were very nice.

Ive been here for trail rides several times and love it! This last ride was a special event one and…read morethey served us a warm home cooked meal and dessert and had ornament making. So welcoming and the trail riding is beautiful and fun every time. Thank you guys!

Inconsiderate staff. I understand that weight limits are important for the safety of the horses,…read morebut the way it was handled felt unnecessarily rude. The repeated questioning felt excessive and honestly left me wondering whether assumptions were being made about me before I even arrived. As a Hispanic customer, I can guarantee once my name was revealed, suddenly I didn't know my own weight?? Being asked to reconfirm as if I was expected to be pearl the whale. Furthermore, I almost died and they HARASSED ME!! I was in a hospital bed, calls after calls leading to the below messages. From an unknown number not registered to the business. Super unprofessional, will never consider this place EVER AGAIN. Gitty yo ass up out the way while you can.

Shadow Mountain Escape is a hidden Gem, as is Karen Riddle. Every detail, from the moment we…read morearrived, until the moment we left, was absolutely perfect. There are certain people that find their calling in life, and believe me, Karen has found hers providing a beautiful one stop destination/ultimate private elopement venue along with handling every aspect of our wedding (flowers, wedding cake, vows, officiant, venue, and beautiful photos). We were blown away and are so happy we chose Shadow Mountain Escape, and Karen Riddle for our special day!! We will be back.

SME is the kind of place that's so special, you want to keep it all to yourself, but can't help but…read moretell everyone you know about it! It is the coziest little getaway in Luray situated on an absolutely beautiful property. There are five cabins in total that are intended to be a couple's getaway, so the property is always very quiet and peaceful. It feels very connected to nature- we've seen deer very close to each of the structures when we've stayed. We've had the pleasure of staying in the Dragonfly, Bumblebee, and Ladybug cabins and have really enjoyed each one- they all have a similar feel but are built slightly differently. This time around, we were in the Bumblebee cabin, which is quite spacious and shares a structure with the Dragonfly cabin. There was a gas fireplace and a TV downstairs where we spent most of our time reading; there was also a couch upstairs in the hallway outside of the bedroom, and a cute balcony we probably would have spent time on if it was warmer! It is absolutely the kind of place where you can just stay in your cabin the entire time you're there, but it's also located pretty close to Sperryville and downtown Luray if you're looking to venture out. To fully take advantage of SME, I'd recommend bringing your own food or groceries to cook- there's not a whole lot close by (which is part of the charm!), but the kitchen is well-equipped with a microwave, oven, and stovetop. There's a pizza place that delivers right to the cabins, which is nice- honestly, the pizza isn't very good, but it's nice to have the option. There are also bottles of wine available for purchase in your cabin, which is nice to have available. You won't meet two nicer people than the owners of SME, Karen and Ralph. It is so clear how much they love SME and sharing their love of the property, which reflects their travels through Europe, with those who stay there. There will always be a delicious baked treat from Karen waiting in your cabin when you arrive, and if you're lucky, she or Ralph will show you around the property and tell you about the structures, all of which were built by Ralph and designed by them both. They are so friendly and kindhearted and make it such a special place to stay. As just one example- it snowed one of the nights we stayed, and Ralph cleared off our car without us even asking. SME feels so calm and peaceful- it's a true VA oasis. We're already planning our next trip back!