Escape the typical tourist trail with our Wild Terelj Trails horse trekking experience, an immersive journey into the hinterlands of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. Ride alongside a local herder—one of our long-term community partners—and discover the region’s rich herding traditions and diverse landscapes of steppe, forest, river valleys, and wildflower-strewn meadows.

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park is one of Mongolia’s most popular destinations, often featured in standard tour itineraries. However, our Wild Terelj Trails horse trekking experience goes beyond the typical 'must-see' sights, offering a more personal and immersive connection to this monumental region.

Venture into the hinterland of Terelj—a stunning area waiting to be explored. On this nomadic journey, you'll be hosted by a local herder, one of our long-term local community partnerships, travelling alongside him on horseback. You'll gain firsthand insight into the herding culture and traditions local to the region and explore the diverse ecoregion where he herds his livestock including the wide-open Mongolian steppes, wildflower meadows, forests and mountains, and winding rivers.

Duration: 6 Days with 4.5 horse trekking days

Maximum Group Size: Our tour pricing is based on groups of up to six, but we’re happy to accommodate larger numbers for private journeys—just get in touch for details.

Your Local Team: Throughout your journey, you’ll be supported by our trusted Mongolian team—typically a male driver and a female trip assistant—who not only handle the logistics but also offer genuine warmth and insight along the way. You’ll also experience the hospitality and friendship of the local families we’ve built long-standing partnerships with. Jess and Tuya are available throughout your trip via WhatsApp for any questions or additional support.

FAQs: We’re a small company, but when you book with us, you can do so with flexibility & confidence

All images used throughout our website were taken either by EL guests or members of the EL team. This is the Mongolia that you will also experience.

Group Size – Minimum of two or pay a surcharge | For group sizes larger than six, please get in touch for details.

Final group size of 2 guests USD 1850 pp (2025)
Final group size of 3 guests USD 1835 pp (2025)
Final group size of 4 guests USD 1760 pp (2025)
Final group size of 5 guests USD 1625 pp (2025)
Final group size of 6 guests USD 1505 pp (2025)

Where Does Your Payment Go?

We understand that budget is a personal consideration, and everyone has different preferences. Our rates may be higher compared to some other agencies, not because we position ourselves as a luxury tour operator, but due to our commitment to a form of tourism that is fair and equitable. By limiting our operations to around 150-200 travelers annually, we focus on delivering personalized and meaningful journeys rather than generic tick-list experiences.

Commitment to Mongolia: We are a registered Mongolian business, contributing to the local economy through taxes, employment, and social security payments. Your tour payment stays within Mongolia, supporting local initiatives and fostering economic growth.

Empowering Employment Opportunities: We offer long-term employment to individuals often overlooked by other tour companies. Our team includes female Mongolian trip assistants who break barriers in the tourism industry, paving the way for other women to flourish in tourism-related roles. Similarly, we employ older, traditional male drivers, addressing high unemployment rates and supporting extended families within Mongolia. Learn more about our initiatives: Empowering Mongolian Women and Supporting Male Drivers.

Community and Herding Family Support: Our trips are designed to benefit Mongolian herding families and local communities that we have formed long-term local community partnerships with without disrupting their lives or work. Our sustained support helps these families face the challenges posed by climate change. Discover more about us.

Climate Emergency Advocacy: As members of Tourism Declares A Climate Emergency and signatories of the Glasgow Declaration, we are committed to finding solutions to the climate crisis. We pioneer regenerative tourism practices that minimize our carbon footprint and contribute positively to our planet’s well-being. Learn about our climate initiatives: Climate Emergency.

Included in the experience:

All meals outside of the city of Ulaanbaatar: These are mainly prepared and cooked by your local team so they are fresh and it means we offer more flexibility for any dietary requirements. We also provide filtered drinking water (not bottled), tea, and instant coffee.

You'll be supported by one of our great teams of a Mongolian driver and a female English-speaking trip assistant, ensuring an immersive experience. Jess and Tuya are available throughout via WhatsApp and we can provide assistance with any onward travel in Mongolia.

Our complimentary 'Intro To Ulaanbaatar' experience including a local lunch and welcome drink

Entrance fees to monasteries, temples, and museums are included when you are with the local team. Please note this excludes camera tickets.

Not included in the experience

International airfare to and from Mongolia

Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar: Our trip pricing excludes the price of accommodation in UB though. Why? Everyone is different is the standard of accommodation they prefer at the start and end of a trip. As there is now such a variety of hotels in UB it is easier to exclude this cost. I provide a list of ideas covering varying standards and budgets and I can also help with booking. There’s everything from a homestay through to Airbnb, US$10 guesthouses and the Shangri-La!

Domestic flight where/if applicable including any fees for excess luggage

Passport and visa fees: Let us know your nationality at the time of booking and we’ll confirm whether you need to apply for a Mongolian visa. It is a relatively easy process depending on your nationality and we can help with some of the formalities.

Travel insurance (mandatory)

Gratuities: Each member of the local team receives a responsible but fair salary and none have to rely on receiving gratuities to supplement their income. In addition, we make sure that everyone who works with us or helps us is fairly rewarded for their work and the service they provide. At the end of the tour, if you wish to make a gratuity to the local team then thank you – it is not compulsory but it is appreciated when given. We give detailed information on booking.

Personal Expenses: We provide detailed guidance on booking

Alcohol: Alcohol is available to buy in shops and supermarkets throughout your trip, and your team will make regular stops.

No domestic flights. Emissions per km for domestic flights are high because a large proportion of the flight is spent taking off and landing. As we are serious about tackling the carbon footprint of the trips we offer, we try that a majority of our experiences don’t include domestic flights.

We only offer a very limited number of departures for this experience. Although we all love spending time in nature, we need to strike a balance. By having a limited number of departures each year we’re not creating a tourism circuit.

The maximum group size is six which is refreshingly small for the travel industry and allows us to manage our impact.

The experience has been built with a focus on Mongolian culture and on creating local benefits for local people & communities including families we work in long-term local community partnership with – helping to supplement their income to help prevent urban migration, face the challenges of climate change and allowing them to maintain their fragile herding lifestyle. More about who we work with.

Our team of female Mongolian trip assistants is breaking down barriers in tourism and leading the way for other Mongolian women from a diverse range of backgrounds to work in and be supported by tourism. Mongolia’s growing economy has not directly translated into better employment opportunities for women and by choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to create long-term development and employment opportunities for our brilliant trip assistants.

High unemployment rates and toxic masculinity are two very real issues faced by older more traditional men in Mongolia. By choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to provide long-term employment for our team of older, more traditional male drivers who have experience and accumulated knowledge but who would otherwise struggle to find employment and provide for their extended families.

We are in the process of measuring the carbon footprint of each experience we offer and balancing the footprint through the Mongolian Nomad Carbon Project. We wanted a high-standard project local to Mongolia where the local community had a positive say in the scheme and its impact. It’s the first project of its kind in Mongolia.

A donation is made to the Mongolian projects we support and that you will visit such as the Uuliin Nuur Community Project in Ulaanbaatar.

We are members of Tourism Declares A Climate Emergency and a signatory of The Glasgow Declaration which requires us to publish an annual Climate Action Plan. It also means we have essentially signed up to work towards halving our emissions by 2030. We must report publicly on an annual basis on progress against our interim and long-term targets, as well as on actions being taken. We do this in our Climate Action Plan linked above.

One of the five pathways defined in the Glasgow Declaration is ‘measure’ and we have started the process of measuring the carbon footprint of our tours.

We wanted an accurate footprint analysis whilst also keeping the process manageable, achievable, and affordable. Of the limited carbon calculators available to small tourism companies with a restricted budget we have signed up with the carbon calculator tool Carmacal – specifically designed for tour operators and the 2017 winner of the UNWTO Award for Innovation in Research and Technology.
However, there are limitations with this online tool in the fact that – like most online carbon calculators – you can only measure transport and accommodation and a few very specific activities. But, the main contributors to carbon footprints are food, consumption, transportation, and energy, and all are heavily utilised during a tourism experience.
As a result, founder Jess has worked with two postgraduate students from the Responsible Tourism Management Postgraduate Course of Leeds Beckett University in the UK – the only responsible tourism management MSc certified by the UNWTO – looking at how we can measure the carbon emissions of meals on tour as well as the carbon footprint of our office as well as certain tour activities.

Balancing Our Carbon Footprint

We are in the process of measuring the carbon footprint of each of our tours. Once this is complete, we will balance those emissions by purchasing Plan Vivo–certified carbon certificates (environmental service certificates that each represent the reduction or avoidance of one metric tonne of CO₂) through C-Level and the Mongolian Nomad Project, delivered in partnership with the Mongolian Society of Range Management. The Plan Vivo Standard is built on ethical principles that deliver long-term climate, livelihood, and biodiversity benefits.

In the meantime, we have partnered with C-Level to fund a secure carbon calculator (linked below) for our guests. Through this, you can:

Balance the footprint of your flights
Offset a chosen amount of CO₂ (including your annual footprint)
Or make a direct donation to support the project’s work

Each contribution is invested in Plan Vivo Certificates that support the Mongolian Nomad Project

We know this isn’t perfect, but it is a start. As the saying goes: “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.” For us — a small business with limited resources — this approach is both realistic and achievable.

Meet The Naraa Family – Your Hosts On Our Wild Terelj Trails

We form long-term local community partnerships with Mongolian people, rural families, and communities – slowly building up relationships with them and providing long-term support. Naraa and Bujee are part of the network of herding families we work with countrywide. Naraa and Bujee’s home is located in the Baruun Bayan Valley in Gorkhi Terelj National Park near a small tributary of the nearby Tuul River in the further reaches of Terelj, accessible only by fording the Terelj River.