Zephyr Cove Stables

Great experience. Horses were really calm. Our tour guide was super nice. Highly recommend.

On our honeymoon and we were looking forward to this! We scored on beautiful weather and an awesome guide! Loved my horse snowball though I think I pissed her off and called her snowflake! We did the hour trail ride and only had four in our group so it was nice. Beautiful scenery and got some great photos! Highly recommend this place!

Visited Lake Tahoe in October, with a mix of weather, and ended up timing the horseback riding just right between rains. I was glad all the rain they’d had in the last 36 hours did not ruin the trails for the horses.
The facility is nice and the horses are well cared for. The leader didn’t talk much, but I appreciated that because I just wanted to enjoy the nature, peace and quiet. I rode a horse named Bob and he was gentle and cooperative. The scenery was beautiful. I would do this again if in the area.

What a beautiful ride! Went out in early sept and the weather was perfect. We went through the forest with views of the lake Great ride for beginners and beyond. Our trail guide Scott was friendly and professional. These horses are beautiful and well taken care of. Definately one of the best parts of our trip.

We made a last-​minute reservation for the day-​of and Zephyr Cove stables took us in kindly. We arrived a bit early and were quickly put on horses and had a great 1 hour ride. We were led by Cowboy Kaleb who was very sociable, kind, and friendly. We had great conversations and had a wonderful time riding up to the top of a hill/​mountain and got

Zephyr Cove Stables, right across from Zephyr Cove Beach is a fantastic way to spend your afternoon. The tour guides are extremely knowledgeable and make you are safe and happy at all times. The scenery was beautiful and the guide was talkative (in a good way).
Make sure to call ahead for an appointment, but you can also drop by the day of. Just be prepared to wait if need be. I really the enjoyed the place and I enjoyed hanging out with the dog in the office. I’ve been coming for here years during my Tahoe vacations and it never gets old. However, I time I get on a horse it damn hurts. Make sure to use your core!!!

We really enjoyed this! We booked the hour ride and it was beautiful scenery all the way around. They have about 50 horses, and all look like they are very well taken care of. The hour ride was plenty enough for us, next time I think we will book the hay ride & breakfast/​lunch/​or dinner adventure as well. Definitely something we’d like to do at least once a year, especially when family comes to visit.

Great experience highly recommend.
Three of us booked the 2 hour ride. Its been raining and hailing in the afternoons so we wanted to ride in the morning from 10 to 12pm. We had a guide for just the 3 of us. We went deep into the pine forest, quite a bit of climbing too so we were glad we were riding not hiking it. The 2^nd part of the ride we went down to a creek area and guide said its where the black bears sometimes hang out. Too bad we didn’t see any but we did spot a deer.
Best to wear long sleeve as you get up close to branches. For beginning rider I thought 2 hr was very comfortable.

My daughters and I made a reservation for the 2 hour guided tour ride up the mountain. I had made the reservation for the wrong day but they accomadated us any way. The staff was very friendly and put us on horses according to our level of experience. Jackie was our guide and if she had wanted a nice peaceful ride she was sadly disappointed for my youngest daughter plied her with questions the entire ride. She was so patient and kind in answering her questions and was very knowledgable about the horses and the surrounding area. She made sure we got plenty of pictures and made sure we got any instruction we needed. The trail was beautiful and the horses sure footed. It was $ 82 apiece because of high season but I feel well worth while. My girls and I loved every minute of it and will visit again.

All of the staff is very friendly. My wife and daughter went on 2 different rides. While they were out one of the staff members placed my 2 year old on a pony for a short ride. (while i walked next to him). Very enjoyable experience. Recommended.

Slow and easy ride — actually my husband’s first time on a horse! Our guide was lovely and we stopped for a few photo opportunities along the way. Although I wish we could have moved a little quicker than a mosey, I doubt my hubs would have appreciated it. Lol

Dear Zephyr Cove Stables,
Wonderful /​beautiful stable, tour and horses. I loved my greeting from Magpie, and felt welcomed by the staff. Mandy was a great guide and fun to talk with. I will come back for a longer ride next time. Thanks for your hospitality! :)
Nina S.
From The Bay Area, CA

Loved it. Had a great time and cant wait till next time. It was an hour ride coz the 2 hour one was sold out. Horses are so noble and well trained. Staff courteous and friendly. Incredible views .
Such a cool experience for the hole family.

Overall great experience. Took my family to ride horses for the first time yesterday during my kids spring break. My daughter was super excited since she’s been wanting to ride for awhile now.
The place was easy to find on a beautiful sunny and crisp day and was only about 3 miles from the casinos in S. Lake Tahoe up hwy 50. Parking was a breeze for us on a Saturday afternoon. And we were the only ones there. Once we arrived it took about 10 mins to get us on our horses including signing in and paying in which btw was cheap ($ 45 per 1hr. for 4 people).
My horses name was «Smokey.» Very easy to ride. In fact, these horses know the trail and follow each other so if you’re a beginner you don’t have to worry. Just sit back and enjoy the ride and blissful scenery. Parts of the trail overlook the actual lake which was nice.
Can’t remember our guide’s name, but was very friendly. Didn’t say too much during the ride, but overall was a nice older gentlemen. The only thing I wished was for the horses to gallop and that didnt happen. Not that it’s a show stopper for anyone wanting to ride on a horse, but definitely a nice to have in the future.

When we pulled up we were greeted by Max the dog. He showed us around the grounds for a few minutes where shortly after we paid and were on our way. I’m not a professional rider by any means but my horse, Hudley, made me feel like it. He was nice and slow, perfect for what I was ready for. My girlfriend rode Snowball and enjoyed her company as well. Our guide was fun and full of information, which added to the whole experience of riding along Tahoe. The trail was a lot more than I had anticipated, I’m used to straight paths since I’m a novice but the rocky terrain we were walking along kind of freaked me out. Great experience though!!!

Great experience horseback riding here! We had a small group of 4 plus our tour guide. Our guide was funny and made everyone feel comfortable.
I rode on Snowball who was a beautiful cream colored horse. My bf rode on Hudley and also had a great experience. We saw beautiful views of the lake and the landscape. Great value for a great ride!

Great experience overall. Not too expensive at $ 43 per person for a one hour ride. Family friendly. Helpful staff and plenty of horses to go around. Beautiful wooded and lake view scenery like hiking through the woods but using a horse for your legs.

super loved it! have to say they just opened over spring break, and only had 1 hour rides available (usually have 2 hour rides open) but it was fabulous! Our guide was wonderful. I loved my horse boogie… my 10 year old and 14 year old both had a great time (which is rare for a 14 year old daughter:))I know some of you hear me!
beautiful views of the lake, etc.
I did find a tick on me when I arrived home in Sacramento 7 hours later… gross! BUT that is the wildest!

This was my first time horse back riding and I would say it was a pleasant experience. I made a reservation for 8 people to ride for an hour, and the entire process was very simple. All you have to do is arrive 15 minutes before and you are set. I was running late that day so luckily they had one opening later on that could accommodate our group. I chose this place over other horseback riding places because the other one could not accommodate my group without splitting our group. I wanted us to stick together as much as possible so there were two guides for the 8 of us. Each guide can take 6 and we were able to stay on the same trail. At the other place, a guide can take 6 but with our group, we would go on separate trails which would suck.
So these horses are trained to do the same trail and you really dont need to do anything. You do not need any experience and you just sit and enjoy the ride. My horse’s name was Jerry and he was a good ol’ horsey for me. As it was my first time and I should have expected this, but I realllyyy wanted to gallop with these horses. You get none of that here and you just trot right along so you may get a little bored midway there. I really wanted a group photo at the top but since my group was large, they couldnt round up the horses together for a cute photo. So I recommend taking photos at the beginning before you head out. Overall it was a good experience to have for $ 40. I wouldnt go for the 2 hour deal because I thought 1 hour was a bit too much anyway.
WHAT TO WEAR
1) Tennis shoes– you dont need to be fancy with boots with a slight heel. Just any closed toe shoes will work.
2) Any pants– It can be jeans or sweats but just make sure your legs are covered. The trails can be narrow so your legs may brush along the bushes.
3) Any top will do depending on weather. It most likely will be hot so a tshirt or tank is perfect.
4) Load up on sunblock.
**TIPS**
1) Wear sunblock and sunglasses! It gets superrrr dusty so you may feel dirty after the trail.
2) Enjoy!

I give it a 3.5 stars. I called the reservations in and went down to the stables. It was a very hot day, like most summer days. It was an average, slow leisure 1 hour trail ride. I plan to return and give it another try later in the year when it’s less busy.
Our guide was a college student who works at the stables during the summer. I think i was on a 6-​person group (so this was SEVEN ppl including the guide). I thought it was too big of a group esp when the guide didn’t have a mic, we could not hear at all. I came during which it was super busy, high season so i can understand but they should get mics if they plan to lead a group of this size. We saw 2 other groups riding as we were starting out on our ride. I think they try to space the groups out in 30 min increments. The guide was kind of quiet so it was abit boring riding. Even if she spoke or tried to entertain us the ppl in the back wouldn’t have been able to hear anyway… I expected it to be more engaging after reading some of the good reviews here.