My Reviews

Trail Rating:
Camp Rating:

My stays were actually in 2014 & 1015 but after seeing and hearing so many things I feel the need to give my review. We have stayed at True West a couple of times and on our last stay we decided we would never go back. Our first trip was a guided trail ride to Charit Creek (26 miles round trip). We enjoyed that stay for the most part and camped very close to the barn. A letter size sheet of paper with ALL of the barn and campground rules had to be signed that we had read and understood them. Like we honestly had time to read them during the check in process and paying. We had traveled 3.5 hours to get there and the horses were still on the trailer so we didn't really have time to read the rules. Once we had our trailer in our campsite and the horses in their stalls, we were met by Shawn and verbally given the barn rules and campground rules and this happened with both of our stays. Don't throw any trash or food scraps in the fire to burn, don't leave anything or any food scraps on the ground or out because they don't want their dogs and cats eating it. Honestly, I truly believe that most adults don't need to be verbally given rules of the campground. If you feel you need to give verbal rules then please make a note in the file that you've stated you keep on your campers that I have been there before and that you did not have any problems from us. I have seen a few complaints on here about how long the barn is and I would like to comment on that. The barn is extremely long and the stalls are nice but the problem is when you have to muck your stalls daily and you're at the front end of the barn, you have to dump your wheel barrow at the other end. If your campsite is at the bottom of the hill, you have a good hike up a hill to the barn. Our second trip, we took some family members and some friends with us for another guided trail ride. This time we were not informed in advance that this guided ride would be an additional fee per rider. My husband and I had just camped the weekend before at Timber Ridge so we knew where all the sites were and told our group we would take them on the trails. Our campground was at the bottom of the hill and within the verbal barn/campground rules we were told that we were not to take our horses down the hill because it would cause problems with the grass and damage to the hill. If we wanted to take our horses to our trailers we had to take them around using the gravel drive around the camp. It was preferred that we leave our feed, saddles and tack in the barn in front of our horses stalls. When we were on the trails, Shawn saw us and made the comment "so you decided to do the ride after all". When we arrived on our second trip and after we were set up and thinking about taking a short ride out, my husband asked Shawn if there were any trails directly out of the campground, behind it or any that were close. Shawn's response was not really, there's one over there (and pointed) and that's all he said. I never felt welcomed to be there by Shawn really. I don't feel the trails are close enough to the campground and you have to ride on a gravel road for about a mile or so before you hit a trail. The trails are nice on the state park but if you're looking to see Hippy Cave, Wildcat Den or any others, you will be riding from morning until dark. Donna was very friendly when we arrived both times and was very social on the Charit Creek ride. I have seen a lot of posts on Facebook from Donna when she gets upset with campers and the problems they cause or the extra work those campers cause her or her husband. There was an instance where one camper's dog killed her cat and I can completely understand her pain there but she proceeded to go on to tell everyone how those campers couldn't even return her call. She's complained about campers not mucking stalls daily and leaving them to do the stripping. I don't think an owner of a business should go on and on about their horrible campers and that she'll be making a note in their file to charge them more or to up the rate with a possible refund. I don't understand how this place is receiving so many awards/campground/RV camground of the year to be honest. I have run in to so many people on the trails that refuse to go back for a lot of the same reasons I won't go back. One example I was told about was that this couple had arrived a few hours earlier than their "check in" time so Shawn charged them an additional $12.00.

Reviewed by TammySelvidge on 11/28/2016 3:59:46 PM

Experience: Expert

Ride Date: 5/1/2016

Hometown: Cleveland, TN