Catalina Island, which has plenty of horses in its history but stopped offering rides to visitors in 2008, is bringing trail rides back.
The fledgling, Avalon-based Catalina Horseback Adventures offered its first guided rides Feb. 22. Most rides take 45-90 minutes and include hills, valleys, clifftops with ocean views and occasional encounters with deer and island foxes.
This move draws on island tradition that goes back to the 1930s, when Catalina’s owners, the Wrigley family, set up a ranch known as El Rancho Escondido, which grew into an Arabian horse-breeding operation. The working ranch continues, 12 miles outside Avalon, and is often open for Saturday tours.
But the new guided rides are a separate business, owned by Jeff Skelton, with the Catalina Island Co. as landlord. So far the operation includes 12 horses, “but we have more coming in a few days,” Skelton said Friday. The stables also have one mini horse (not available for riding), dubbed Peanut in a community naming contest.
All rides are led by guides and open to riders from beginner to advanced, ages 9 and up. The weight limit for riders is 240 pounds.
Introductory prices for a 45-minute group ride are in the range of $125-$175, Skelton said, and may be adjusted as the operation settles in. Prices will be higher for private rides, which can include as few as two guests and as many as 10. (Catalina residents get discounts.)
Public horseback rides were a feature of island tourism for about 60 years until 2008, when the Catalina Island Co. (which owns most of the island’s developable land) shut down the stables near Catalina Island Golf Course. At the time, the company cited safety concerns over possible flooding after fires that had stripped vegetation from hills above.
The new stables are in the same location, but with a different layout, Skelton said. Riding trails cross the golf course, which means golfers occasionally pause to let riding groups “play through.” Once they reach more rugged territory, the riders sometimes encounter deer or island foxes, but not the bison that are known for roaming other parts of the island.
Skelton said the idea of bringing back public trail rides came up in recent years while he was on rides with a group called Los Caballeros, which has organized private rides on the island since the 1940s.
“I kept saying somebody should do it,” Skelton said, and as it turns out, “it’s me.”
