A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, bridle road, or horse trail, is a thoroughfare originally made for human transport on horses. In some areas bridle paths developed as transport routes where the terrain was so steep that the route was impassable by wheeled wagons and vehicles.
In present day usage they can serve a wider range of uses, including equestrians, hikers and walkers, and cyclists. The laws relating to allowable uses vary from country to country.
In industrialized countries, bridle paths are now primarily used for recreation. However, they are still important transportation routes in other areas. For example, they are the main method of traveling to mountain villages in Lesotho.
Read more about Bridle Path: Bridleways in The United Kingdom
Famous quotes containing the words bridle and/or path:
“Is there a bridle for this Proteus
That turns and changes like his draughty seas?
Or is there none, most popular of men,
But when they mock us, that we mock again?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The living language is like a cowpath: it is the creation of the cows themselves, who, having created it, follow it or depart from it according to their whims or their needs. From daily use, the path undergoes change. A cow is under no obligation to stay in the narrow path she helped make, following the contour of the land, but she often profits by staying with it and she would be handicapped if she didn’t know where it was or where it led to.”
—E.B. (Elwyn Brooks)