Yosemite’s renowned mounted patrol has roots in the 1890s, when U.S. cavalry soldiers served as inaugural park rangers. Today, the program remains a keystone of essential activities in the park, as rangers use highly trained horses to support search and rescue operations, carry out ceremonial duties, connect with visitors and more.

In 2018, your gifts enabled the park to bring in seven young patrol horses, including two wild mustangs, Drifter and Sandman, adopted from the Bureau of Land Management. After receiving their initial training from incarcerated inmates through a well-established prison program, the mustangs joined the Yosemite team in the spring and started honing skills for mounted patrol work. Through this grant, the park also purchased four mules to support backcountry pack strings.

As the new animals began their service in the park, older ones were adopted out to owners ready to provide them with a well-earned retirement.

Your support helped Yosemite’s long-running mounted patrol continue to shine as a leading cultural institution in the National Park System.

Completed in partnership with Yosemite National Park.

Justin Fey

Mounted Patrol Program Manager, Yosemite National Park

Project Notes

Yosemite’s mounted patrol is surrounded by a celebrated history and tradition. Continued support from Yosemite Conservancy allows us to secure that legacy for the next generation of rangers and visitors to experience.