Horseback Riding Adventure
Your entire family will enjoy a guided trail ride through giant sequoia
tree groves. The scenery is breath taking and the memories will last a
lifetime.
Balch Park Pack Station is
located in the Mountain Home State Forest that is inside Sequoia
National Forest. The pack station offers may different types of
pack trips from one hour ride to multiple day All Expense Pack
trips and drop camps. The guides are experienced and the stock
horses and mules conditioned for back country conditions. They are
accustomed to crossing streams, logs and rocky areas. Make sure you
bring your cowboy boots if you have them. Lugged sole hiking boots are
not advised.
There is trout fishing , deer hunting (D-8 zone) near by, make sure you
have the appropriate California licenses and tags..
Some of the famous sequoia trees located in Mountain home state forest
are: Genesis, Summit, Euclid, Adam,
Methuselah and are over 200
feet tall
From Highway 99 at Porterville take the Lake Success
exit and drive 19 miles east on Highway 190 through the town of
Springville. At the east end of Springville, turn left
onto Balch Park Road . Look for a large white barn. Travel
about 3 miles and turn right on Bear Creek Road.. The Balch
Park campground is 15 miles up a narrow country road. The pack station
is near Shake Camp and not far from Moses Gulch campground.
You can get maps and information at:
US Forest Service Office
900 W.Grand Ave
Porterville, Ca
93257-2035
(559) 784-1500
www.r5.fs.fed.us/sequoia
Here is what one customer thought about the trip:
Well, I had been wanting to go to Balch Park for a
while, especially since I had heard alot about it from my dad. Me and
my family finally managed to break away from our work and school, and
the first place we wanted to go to was Balch Park. So we packed up and
headed out to the mountains. Needless to say, we had a great time.
When we arrived, the breathtaking beauty of nature
overtook our senses: the huge trees towered above our heads and the
quiet sounds of nature were music to our ears. We walked around the
lake, enjoying the cool breeze that wafted across the water. Fishermen
were lounging around with their poles, teaching their kids the ancient
technique of catching fish. Me and my dad were tempted to fish too,
since we had brought our poles, but we decided instead to take the
whole family on a horseback ride.
I was suprised at the hospitality of the Shaw family
who own the Balch Park Pack Station. When we came and knocked at their
door, they welcomed us with a warm smile and helpful information about
trail riding opportunities. The horses were accostomed to the rocky
trails, so me and my family, being inexperienced in horseback riding,
felt quite comfortable to have horses who knew the trail. The guide was
helpful and courteous, and we shared a grand time together. We all
enjoyed the ride and will no doubt do it again. If you want to see
nature from the back of a horse, this is the way to do it. You can
almost feel like a native in the old times going down an old hunting
trail, surrounded by glorious nature. We passed by the Adam Tree, which
was properly named because of it's monstrous size. Overall, the hour
long ride through the redwood groves was exciting and awe inspiring and
left us wanting more.
Our vacation was a good time to be with the family
and see the beautiful wildlife of glorious Southern California.
Undoubtedly, me and my family will cherish our memories forever, and
will hopefully be able to share it with future generations. I recommend
this trip to anyone who wants a break from the hustle and bustle stress
of everyday life, and hopefully many others will be able to experience
the awesome outdoors as we did. You not only grow to love nature even
more; you come to appreciate the intimacy and closeness of family time.
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