Horseback riding is a wonderful outdoor adventure in Busiek State Forest Park in Branson when we speak of outdoor activity and nature hopping. If you want to experience a fulfilling autumn vacation with a lot of outdoor adventures such as hiking, biking, and horseback riding, Busiek State Forest is the best place to visit. Although this forest park doesn’t have waterfalls or amazing rock formations, it does offer panoramic hilltop views of the Ozarks and several hiking trails and campsites.
If you are an outdoor enthusiast who prefers hiking or horseback riding as your favorite outdoor activity, grab your backpack and walking shoes and head on to Busiek State Forest. The state forest features several different trails of varying length and level of difficulty. All these trails cover a length of about fourteen miles, some of the trails have shortcuts and loop back on each other, but there’s nothing to worry as all the trails are well marked for easy accessibility and navigation.
The best horseback riding in southwest Missouri can only be experienced here at Busiek State Forest. The terrain of the state forest changes alternately which makes your horseback riding trail an exciting and thrilling experience. One of the most challenging trails to tackle horseback is the Silver Trail. In this trail, you can find large rocks and uphill slopes that require both the horse and the rider physical fitness and stamina. The Red Trail is a bit shorter with flatter lands and not as difficult and challenging as the Silver Trail. These two trails provide horse and rider some obstacles such as rocks, creek crossings, occasional fallen tree, falling rocks, and wildlife encounters. If you plan longer ride, there are places along the trails that you can get water for your horse or let her grab some grass.
The Missouri Department of Conservation who now owns the Busiek State Forest provides visitors multiple recreational opportunities. The state forest features Woods Fork Creek stream that runs through the middle of the forest. The park’s trail system provides great fun for hikers, bicyclers, and horseback riders. Deer hunting and fur tapping is allowed at certain times of the year in the forest. The hills elevation of the state forest is 980 feet to 1,200 feet above sea level, so it is prohibited to use motorized vehicles.
The Busiek State Forest also features another two hiking trail systems. The West Trail System has a length of 8 miles and the East Trail System has a length of 10 miles. Each trail system features three color-coded loop trails and are available for mixed use, which means open to mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding. The state forest has nine primitive designated campsites with unsupervised shooting range. Busiek State Forest is actually close to the Mark Twain National Forest but they are separated by several tracts of land.
If you want to spend a great family bonding this autumn season, visit the Busiek State Forest in Branson and enjoy lots of nature activities such as biking, hiking, and horseback riding.
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