Horseback Riding

If you want to get a more down home perspective of Maui, horseback riding is the way to go.

Our 2004 experience with Ironwood Ranch was very enjoyable. (The first company we went with in 2000 has since gone out of business).

Ironwood Ranch is located about 20 minutes north of Kaanapali, high in the West Maui Mountains above and to the north of the West Maui resorts.

In this photo you can see Molokai, and if you look closely, behind Molokai you can see the eastern tip of Oahu. We took the one hour personalized tour with a guide, which was perfect for our family group.


One thing that stood out on this horseback riding adventure was the variety of scenery. You can see along our trail that there was some beautiful wooded areas.


A large portion of the trail winded through a large pineapple plantation.

Some fun facts about pineapple: It's harvested every 18 months. A pineapple plant only produces two good pineapples in its lifetime. It's against the law to pick a pineapple -- there's a $500 fee attached to it! Our guide warned us to not let our horses go into the pineapple fields primarily because the pineapple plants are sharp and could cut the horses' legs, irritating your horse, and then you might end up in the pineapple field yourself! This never happened to us, of course, as the horses are very well trained.

My horse did like to stop from time to time to eat shrubery on the side of the trail. So I had some fun saying "ye-hah!" and "giddy up!" to my horse - I felt like a true cowboy (smile).

If you haven't ever gone horseback riding, or if you've only gone on the mainland, Maui is a great place to get on a horse and enjoy the ride!



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