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I've ridden at McKinney Roughs for a good number of years. First, I will clarify that the Happy Horse Hotel is NOT part of McKinney Roughs. MR is a state park and does NOT have camping. Happy Horse Hotel is a private business/campground about 1/2 mile away from the park. HHH is a great place and wonderful people. McKinney has two entrances for horse riding (do NOT go to the main park entrance). You pay your fee on the honor system by putting it in a box and picking up a map. There are many trails in the park but only some are for horses. The rest are for hiking/biking only. All trails are clearly marked. You can ride there barefoot -- boots and shoes are not necessary, however, there are some spots on the trails that are a bit rocky so that may be a bit ouchy for some horses. The park trails start up on high ground and go down to riverside so some trails are a bit steep. Most are under tree coverage so that helps with the Texas summer heat. There is ONE spot where you can get into the river. The rest of the river is only seen from the trail and not accessible. Since it is a state park you MUST stay on the marked trails. Also, if there has been any rain, any kind of rain (mist, sprinkles, heavy) you must call to see if the trails are open. The park closes if the trails are wet or damp. The trail heads have mounting blocks and wash racks. There are mounting blocks in few places on the trails along with tie racks and some benches/picnic tables in rest/viewing spots. While the trails do interconnect, most are long looping affairs meaning you have to go a good ways to be able to get to another trail or to get fro one end to another of the park. You have to make sure of where you are on the map so you don't end up on a trail that ends with no place for a horse rider to go since the connecting trails are non-horse trails. |