Longrider... I've never riden in TX, but I thank you for your time and efforts on behalf of all riders.  You're not alone.  I burns my biscuits to see the trash on the trails. 

A thought:  Bring a bunch of used grocery sacks.  as people pass, ask them to carry a little bit of the trash on their saddle horn back to camp.  Then you don't have that huge sack to deal with.  And they get to help keep the trails clean.

I agree, if people can carry in they can carry out.  I will put on my saddle bags on and take a day to pick up cans and trash.  I ride the trails enough in our public park that I'll clear or clean them off like their my own because the trash will just be there the next time I ride. It takes away from the enjoyment of my ride to look at trash rather than mother nature's beauty.  It gets really bad after the holiday weekends when the park is packed with riders.

I've met others on the trails collecting cans. One man carried a long stick that he picked up cans with without getting off the horse.  He had something on the end that would clamp the can.  Also seen someone else that had like a frog gig on the end of his stick.  Met another lady collecting cans to help pay for her gas, it took her two hours driving to get to the park. 

In Iowa we have five cents refund on cans so it helps encourage some to pick them up.  We also have a couple of bins in the campground where people can toss their cans in and the money they get from the cans will be put towards maintenance of the trails.  

Don't get me started on people drinking and riding. One time I was sitting in camp watching this horse walk down the road towards me and I had to look twice because the horse was walking to the side and then to the other side and wasn't walking a straight line.  When the horse and rider got up to me, I realized the rider was soooo drunk he couldn't sit straight on the horse and so when he leaned, the horse would walk in the the direction he leaned.  It was obvious the rider had fell off at one time because his face was messed up and alittle bloody.  Met another man on the trail that got off to make a nature call and was so drunk he couldn't get his foot in the stirrup to get back on.  His good buddy with him help him get his foot in the stirrup and pushed him back on.  He proceeded to fall over on the other side but was saved by his friends horse that stopped his fall. 

It bothers me the neglect these horses get when drunk riders don't feed and water them when they come back in off of a hard ride.  Had the same group three years in a row have to call a vet to the camp the next morning and then they wonder why.

What bothers me most is the ones you know that don't always camp and probably drive home half drunk pulling a trailer.

Longrider,  Thanks for the good work for all of us riders.  We are planning a trip from Oregon to Texas this spring.  I could certainly use any info you could give us about Texas trails and areas to camp with our horses.  Once again hats off to you and your wife.

Didn't mean to offend anyone that likes to have a drink and is responsible, it's the ones that get really drunk that bother me.

I'm a regular out at Shimek and I'm there every weekend riding during good weather so I've probably seen it more than most.  It's usually the same groups getting drunk and loud in the campground and having no respect for others camping. They're the ones that neglect their horses.

There's one group that's out there on a regular basis that I've always seen with beer but have never seen drunk, there's a difference. 

I've just seen the horses down the next morning that can't get up because their dehydrated. colic, or tied up. I also know of a few people that should have never drove home.  It doesn't happen very often but it does happen.

The majority of the people I meet around horses are great people and take good care of their horses.  Part of the fun of riding is the good people you meet along the way!

Appy4me,

You didn't offend me about Shimek, it's the truth.  I've ridden in Big Piney, Hoosier, Emminence, Shawnee, Panther Creek and I'd have to say my back door has the most cans.

I'm guessing you camped in the lower camp during Labor Day.  I didn't camp but went riding with some friends that camped in the upper camp and they said one night they played loud music until early hours of the morning and then someone turned music on loud around 6-6:30 a.m. to get back at the late nighters so they had to hear both.

During Labor Day you're better off in the lower camp.  There's a group that camps every year during that weekend that can get loud.  The local group that usually gets loud doesn't camp that weekend because they take their trailers up to the Rodeo to get a good spot.  Most of the time the upper campground is the quietest.

They've changed this year in the State of Iowa on the parks where now you can reserve a spot in advance.  They're taking some of the camping spots and making them where you can reserve them and the rest will be first come.  Sometimes everything is taken by Thursday on a holisday weekend so if I was driving a distance, I'd probably reserve a spot.

Where is Loud Thunder Forrest? Haven't heard of it and I'm always looking for a new place to go.  Heard Siloam Springs is very nice and was packed to go but my horse got a serious cut on his leg so we didn't go.

Safe riding!