Spring Creek Ranch

I have been visiting Jackson Hole for over 60 years. My Mother was born near Cody and each summer Wyoming was on our places to go. I go way back to the Jackson Hole before it was discovered by the mega rich (have zero problem with rich people and never worked for a "poor" person in my life) and the time when ranch hands came into town on horses. That said, Spring Creek gives you a base camp that is very close to town but with the feel you are in the mountains. We were lucky to get a corner room that had a wide view of the valley and the mountains. It had a wood fireplace and if that bothers you building your log fire is but a phone call away. After they place the wood and get it burning all you have to do is step out your front door and pick up a log or two. The room featured a sliding door out to a log deck where two could sit and watch the sun leave the mountains. Steps away was the famious resturant (we made our reservations two months early) that doubled as 4 star evening dinning and morning breakfast. Each was an opertunity to dine with the Tetons framed in the floor to ceiling windows. The breakfast and naturally the dinner were always top shelf. There is another place that features a deck and bar where you can get a burger and more in the late afternoon. It is located in the same building. If you are looking for a place to stay in Jackson Hole that gives you the feel of being in the mountaints. Spring Creek is your place.

This lodges have a million dollar view of theTeton Mountains. That's it. We stayed in a one bedroom with kitchenette. The couch sits low to the ground. The bed was a Murphy bed. It also was low and was hard as a rock. Neither my husband nor me wanted to sleep on it. We ended up buying an air mattress to sleep on. Most of the Windows do not open or close due to the brackets being old and broken. Monday when we went site seeing the maid had been in and left the sliding glass door unlocked. The next day she left it totally open. Mosquitoes! Squirrels! My stuff! So we stopped room service. A travel business set this up for us. Told them we were going to Yellowstone. This place is 2.5 hours from Yellowstone. My suggestion is to stay a few nights at hotel at South entrance and see everything down there on bottom loop, then stay the rest of time at the North or northeast entrance.

This review is for the horseback riding only, not the hotel. On the recommendation of the staff at Elk Refuge Inn we stopped here for horseback riding on our last day on Jackson. Took a while to find it, we were almost too late to book. We ended up being the only people for that two hour ride, bonus! The woman who led the ride was very knowledgeable about the area, sights, the horses, how they are trained, etc. I can't remember her name but she was from Cody. She was patient while my husband got his bearings riding. She gave good instructions for certain parts of the trail that were very helpful. The trail goes to the top of the butte and offers amazing views. The guide was very good at spotting animals for us. We could see the half day riders on another ridge. Two hours was a little bit long for me, as I was pretty stiff afterwards. But I really think the one hour would have felt too short, so it was worth being a little uncomfortable after :) Both my husband and I had a great time. Thanks!!

I wanted to go riding, and Jackson's overwhelming page of choices didn't help. I'm not sure how I ended up picking Spring Creek, which is conveniently located between Jackson and Wilson. They treat their horses well, and take you up and around one of the domed hill peaks that lead into Jackson between the Elk Refuge and the Tetons, giving you stunning views of all. They had a great check in process and a cute porch to wait on. SO WORTH THE MONEY.

Ok, I probably know a good deal more about horses and horsemanship than the average vacationer that shows up and wants to see the Tetons from the back of a horse. That said, I was extremely disappointed at the level of horsemanship I witnessed at SCWestern Riding. Anyone remotely involved in horses knows that there is an abundance of information available out there on horse handling. When I showed up one morning, Grant was orienting a small group of obvious beginners on what the ride was going to be like. "These horses are neck reiners. If you want them to go right, yank them to the right. If you want them to go left, yank them to the left. If they put their heads down to eat grass, bang them in the mouth and kick them hard." This is completely unnecessary, and downright ignorant. Apparently, it doesn't matter that the very sensitive inside of a horses mouth has a big chunk of iron sitting in it, with reins attached to it, that are attached to the riders hands. Bang them in the mouth and kick them hard? VERY disappointing, at the very least. NOT AT ALL SAVVY and ignorant at best.