09/29/2026
In Franconia, New Hampshire, you can trade a fall road trip for a horseback adventure through fields, forest, river crossings and White Mountains views. 🐴🍂
Franconia Notch Stables sits beside the historic Franconia Inn, just north of Franconia Notch. From there, guided rides head into the Easton Valley, where the pace changes almost immediately.
Instead of looking at the mountains through a windshield, you move through the landscape at a horse’s pace, past open fields, through the woods, alongside the river, and beneath views of Mount Lafayette, Cannon Mountain, and Kinsman Ridge.
And fall gives the whole ride another layer.
Horses move quietly beneath gold and rust-colored leaves. Sunlight filters through the trees. The mountains stay close in the distance. Then the trail reaches the Ham Branch River, where the horses cross the water and the ride suddenly feels less like a standard White Mountains outing and more like stepping into an old New England postcard.
The rides are designed to be beginner-friendly, so you do not need to arrive as an experienced rider. Guides start with brief riding and safety instruction, and helmets are required and provided.
This is not a fast adventure. That is the point.
A horseback ride slows the mountains down enough to notice the hoofbeats, the river beside you, leaves moving overhead, and the way the White Mountains look when you are no longer passing them at 50 miles an hour.
📍 Franconia Notch Stables
1172 Easton Road · Franconia, NH
At the Franconia Inn, just north of Franconia Notch
🐴 One-hour guided trail rides
🍂 Fields, forest, mountain views, and a Ham Branch River crossing
🏔️ Views toward Mount Lafayette, Cannon Mountain, and Kinsman Ridge
🪖 Beginner-friendly; helmets required and provided
📞 Reservations required
Save this for the person who would happily trade one fall afternoon of driving for a horse, a quiet trail, a river crossing, and the White Mountains in the distance. 🐴🍁
📸 Photos courtesy of NH Division of Travel & Tourism Development
