Western / Reining in Wisconsin

Glaciers built half of Wisconsin's riding country and skipped the other half, and both halves are worth the trailer haul. In the southeast, the Kettle Moraine State Forest rolls over the hills and kettles the ice sheet left behind; in the southwest, the Driftless Area the glaciers never touched drops into bluffs above the Mississippi River. Trails thread through dense forest, along lakeshores, and across open prairie between them. Two centuries of farming left the state with a horse culture to match: stables, training facilities, and guest ranches serving English and Western riders alike, in numbers that surprise people who think of Wisconsin as dairy country only.

The far north is the wild end. The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest opens up serious timberland riding and pack-trip country: big woods, countless lakes, the Apostle Islands region on Lake Superior, and wildlife around most bends. The Central Sands offers something rarer: sandy trails through pine barrens, footing and scenery you won't find elsewhere in the Midwest. And the unglaciated southwest delivers coulees and river valleys steep enough to make a trail horse pay attention. Backcountry miles or an easy loop past working farms, the state covers both.