On the
outskirts of Atlanta, you’ll find numerous horse farms and riding rings, from Milton to
Dallas, from Sharpsburg to Conyers. The Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers –
with more than 500 permanent stalls and the availability of 130 additional
temporary stalls – is where the 1996 Olympic equestrian events were held. The park continues to
host state-of-the-art equestrian
events in a variety of disciplines, attracting equine enthusiasts from all over the country.
Other
communities maintain public arenas for horse shows and rodeos. One such place is Alpharetta’s Wills Park
Equestrian Center with a covered ring and 29 stalls on 50 rolling acres of
fields and woods. Another is the Heard County Covered Arena in Franklin, Georgia, which hosts a
variety of horse shows,
rodeos, livestock shows and community events year round. Adjacent to the
Heard County Covered Arena are riding trails developed and maintained by the
Heard County Saddle Club.
Some
Georgia State Parks welcome horseback riders, offering miles of horse trails, equestrian campsites, stalls and
riding rings.
F.D. Roosevelt State Park offers guided
rides on 28 miles of equestrian
trails, and even overnight rides with primitive camping.
Most state park horseback riding trails are loop rides with links to other trails, allowing you to customize your adventure. In addition to F.D. Roosevelt State Park, A.H. Stephens, Cloudland Canyon, Fort Mountain, General Coffee, Hard Labor Creek, Don Carter and Watson Mill Bridge offer horseback riding trails. Designated equestrian campsites are found at A.H. Stephens, General Coffee, Hard Labor Creek and Watson Mill Bridge state parks.
Georgia State Parks require all horse owners to present a negative equine infectious anemia test, and a current negative coggins test at Watson Mill Bridge State Park,
before bringing any horse onto the park property.
Horse riding and horse camping are not restricted to Georgia State Parks. There are miles of trails in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests as well (be aware, these trails are often shared with hikers and mountain bikers). Willis Knob Campground in the North Georgia Mountains features camping for horseback riders, riding and hiking trails, and fishing in the nearby Chattooga River.
Georgia’s
Willis Knob Trail is designed as one 15-mile loop but combines with
South Carolina’s Whetstone Horse Trail to offer 27.5 miles of scenic horseback riding. Campsites feature
standard amenities (grill, picnic tables, lantern post, etc.), troughs with
hand pumps, posts for securing horses, and access to a chemical flush facility. Cottonwood
Patch Campground near the Tennessee/Georgia border and Jacks River
Fields Campground near Blue Ridge, Georgia offer similar equine access to Willis
Knob.
If you’ve
always imagined riding along the shore with ocean waves spilling toward you,
Georgia has those opportunities, too. The Stables at Frederica offer
daily beach rides at
the Sea Island resort, on historic Musgrove Plantation, and the woods of
Frederica Township.
Three
Oaks Farm takes riders through the
maritime forest of Jekyll Island, along the salt marsh and for a beach ride on beautiful
Driftwood Beach.
Several resorts in Georgia offer trail rides as an activity for their guests. In Adairsville, guests love to explore Barnsley Resort’s 3,000 acres on horseback while they take in the history and romance of the resort’s past.
