Grizzly and Black Bear Conservation and Tracking Horse Pack Adventure
Are you looking for an environmentally sustainable bear tracking horse pack adventure that allows you to make your contribution to nature?
Join a grizzly and black bear tracking horse pack wilderness adventure into the Chilcotin Ark of British Columbia, Canada, where wildlife tracking, conservation awareness, horse care, and backcountry living come together.
This is an active expedition, not a horseback riding holiday. Participants learn by taking part in the daily realities of the wilderness: helping care for horses, setting up and maintaining camp, getting involved in conservation of bears and other animals and the environment, preparing shared meals, learning tracking and observation skills, managing personal equipment and adapting to weather and trail conditions.
Our guides provide leadership, teaching, logistical support and a safe framework for travel. In return, we ask participants to bring curiosity, responsibility, flexibility and a willingness to contribute to the group.
Wildlife, changing mountain weather, long days in the saddle, simple camp conditions and moments that get you out of your comfort zone are not inconveniences to be removed; they are part of the learning experience.
Some of the opportunities you and your family will experience on a grizzly and black bear tracking trip with us are:
- Get involved with conservation and stewardship to help preserve wildlife such as black and grizzly bears
- Learn how to track and spot signs of Bear activity
- RIDE HORSEBACK ALONG THE SAME TRAILS EARLY PIONEERS ONCE USED
- Learn about the difference between black and grizzly bears with bear identification education
- Ride through wildflower meadows and to the mountain tops
- Ride at prime BC grizzly viewing times
- Explore the power of a true connection with nature and how you can conserve it
- Develop new skills that empower you to grow and evolve such as saddling your horse
- Personalized certificate and song to complete the trip
Grizzly and Black Bear Tracking Horse Pack Adventure itinerary
On our grizzly and black bear tracking horse pack adventure, arrive at the ranch and enjoy lunch in our historic lodge. Then meet your horse, learn how to saddle, take a short ride to prepare for tomorrow and review the grizzly and black bear tracking horse pack adventure itinerary with your guides.
Early next morning bring in your horses, saddle your riding horse, learn to pack the pack horses then ride out to camp. Scout for bears at prime spots along the way. Unsaddle and stake your horses in the wildflower meadows, cook dinner over the campfire and enjoy the night in your wall tent, allowing you to stay close to nature throughout the trip.
The next morning retrieve your horses from the staking meadow then return to camp for breakfast. Ride out to check for tracks and scout for bears in their prime locations. Learn about the differences in habitat and behaviour between grizzly and black bears. Enjoy a day ride to the mountain tops and learn more about the flora and fauna. Record every animal you see in our wildlife sightings form to contribute to habitat and population management. Remove invasive plant species and collect data along the way such as grizzly hair from rub trees for DNA analysis. Stake your horses again in their meadows, then return to camp for dinner prepared over the campfire or on the camp stove. With many different species in the Chilcotin Ark, you might also see mule deer, mountain goats, moose, California Bighorn sheep and wolves, depending on location.
On our seven day adventure, you will have two more days scouting for bears, returning to spots where you saw bears the day before, or trying somewhere new.
The next day, pack up camp and ride back to the ranch, looking for bears and tracks along the way.
On your final morning, learn how to do bareback riding, archery or biathlon target shooting before lunch with a final review of the week’s adventure, with a personalized certificate and song.