Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range

For most of American history wild horses had no protection at all, and by the mid-twentieth century they were being rounded up and hauled off by the thousands. The tide turned largely because of one woman, Velma Bronn Johnston, known as Wild Horse Annie, whose campaign led Congress to pass the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971. That law recognized wild horses and burros as living symbols of the West and gave them a legal right to the public lands where they were found.

Little Book Cliffs was designated under that act and became one of just three ranges in the country established specifically to protect wild horses. The Bureau of Land Management manages it today, and a dedicated volunteer group, the Friends of the Mustangs, works alongside the agency to improve springs and range conditions and to track the individual horses. That partnership is part of why the herd here is so well known and so watchable.

The range covers four major canyon systems that drop from high, gently sloping plateaus down toward the Colorado River, a landscape of sagebrush and bunchgrass, pinyon and juniper, with water always in short supply. That dryness is why the range can only support a limited band of horses, and it shapes how the animals move, drifting between water sources and grazing across a lot of ground.

What draws people is the variety and the wildness of the herd. Unlike many mustang populations that trend toward one or two colors, the Little Book Cliffs horses run the whole palette, which makes a band moving across a red-rock slope a genuinely striking sight. They live in family groups led by a stallion, and patient watchers who learn the trails can come to recognize particular bands from one visit to the next.

There is no guarantee with wild animals, but the odds are real. The most reliable way in is the Main Canyon Trail from the Coal Canyon trailhead near Cameo, reached off Interstate 70 east of Grand Junction and Palisade. From there a network of nine or so trails, ranging from short walks to hikes of several miles, spreads into the range, and early morning and late afternoon are when the horses are most active and most likely to be out.

The single most important thing is distance. These are wild horses, not petting-zoo animals, and they can kick, bite, and bolt. Keep well back, never feed or try to approach them, let them set the terms, and carry a zoom lens if you want photos. Watched that way, from a respectful remove, a wild band on its own ground is one of the most memorable things you can see on Colorado's Western Slope.

The range sits just up the valley from Palisade, the fruit-and-wine town along the Colorado River, which makes an easy base. Fuel up, fill your water bottles, and pack for a self-sufficient outing, because there are no services once you leave the highway and the canyon country gets hot and exposed in summer.

Time your trip for the shoulders of the day and, ideally, the warmer months when the trailhead is open to vehicles, since the Coal Canyon access closes to motor traffic through the winter and into late spring. Give yourself a slow morning to walk in, scan the ridgelines, and wait. Even on a day the horses stay hidden, the canyons and the big river views make the trip worthwhile.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.