Have you ever been on a trail ride? How about a week-long trail ride where you camp overnight? The Salt Grass Trail Ride, the largest and oldest trail ride in the US, started 67 years ago and takes place each year in the week leading up to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
1. In what year was the first ever Salt Grass Trail Ride?
The 2019 trail ride started on February 15.
2. Write this date using metric notation.
Almost 1,500 people on horseback or in 19th century wagons participate in the ride. Nineteenth century wagons! How old are they?
3. How many years are in a century?
4. In what year did the 19th century begin?
5. Write the number of people in expanded form.
To participate, riders are required to be members of an official ride organization, called a wagon group, from the Houston area. Riders usually own their horses. Below is a map of the entire trail.
Click to enlarge
The ride starts at Cat Spring and ends up at Memorial Park in Houston.
6. Will the ride travel from east to west, or from west to east?
A lunch stop on the Salt Grass Trail Ride.
7. The lower left hand corner of the map shows 10 km followed by a line segment. What is this?
8. Each Lunch Stop is followed by a set of numbers, 2/21, 2/22, and so on. What do these numbers represent?
One of the participants who has ridden with the group for 18 years, describes what it’s like on the road: “People want to come and pet the horses. Every child wants a horse, and they come over to the park to see us all gather and be with us,” she said. “By the time we arrive here [Katy Park}, people are eager to see us because it’s not something that they usually see.”
Let’s take a closer look at one section of the trail.
9. Which direction will the trail ride be traveling on FM 159?
Horses walk at an average speed of 4 miles per hour.
10. Will it take more > 1 hour or < 1 hour for the ride to travel from Cochran Store to FM 3346?
11. Will the ride turn east or west on FM 3346?
12. Will the ride be traveling north or south on FM 359?
13. How far will the trail ride travel in total on Monday?
The first day, leaving Cat Spring, the trail ride will travel 5.6 mi to a pasture, where they will camp for the night. The next day, the ride will travel 12.6 miles from Wittenburg’s Pasture to the Austin County Fairgrounds. Day 3 will find them traveling 17.2 miles to the Waller County Fairgrounds. Day 4 is another long one, 17.3 miles to Miller Farms Pasture. Day 5 is a little easier with a walk of 15.6 miles to Katy Park. Day 6 it’s 12 miles to Houston Farm and Ranch Club before they finish off on Day 7 with a last leg of 17.8 miles ending at Memorial Park in Houston.
14. Calculate the distance of the entire trail ride, from Cat Spring to Houston.
The exhausting week long ride into Houston finishes off with the group part of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s opening parade in downtown Houston.
Check out this short video describing the ride, why people participate and what it’s like to be a part of it all!
1. In what year was the first ever Salt Grass Trail Ride?
Answer: 2019 – 67 = 1952. The first Salt Grass Trail Ride took place in 1952.
2. Write this date using metric notation.
Answer: The international standard date notation is: YYYY-MM-DD. Written using this pattern, the first day of this year’s trail ride is, 2019–02-15.
3. How many years are in a century?
Answer: 100 years
4. In what year did the 19th century begin?
Answer: 1801
5. Write the number of people in word form.
Answer: 1000 + 500
6. Will the ride travel from east to west, or west to east?
Answer: The ride travels from west to east. Houston, the ride’s end point, is east of Cat Spring.
7. The lower left hand corner of the map shows 10 km followed by a line segment. What is this?
Answer: The map scale. Each section of the trail, equivalent in length to the line segment, is 10 km in distance.
8. Each Lunch Stop is followed by a set of numbers, 2/21, 2/22, and so on. What do these numbers represent?
Answer: The first number is the month of the year, in this case February. The second number is the day of the month.
9. Which direction will the trail ride be traveling on FM 159?
Answer: The trail ride travels northeast on FM 159.
10. Will it take more > 1 hour or < 1 hour for the ride to travel from Cochran Store to FM 3346?
Answer: The distance from Cochran Store to FM 3346 is 3 mi. It should therefore take < 1 hour (less than an hour).
11. Will the ride turn east or west on FM 3346?
Answer: The ride will turn east on FM 3346.
12. Will the ride be traveling north or south on FM 359?
Answer: North
13. How far will the trail ride travel in total on Monday?
Answer: 8.8 mi + 3 mi + 4.1 mi + 1.3 mi = 17.2 miles. The trail ride will travel 17.2 miles on Monday.
14. Calculate the distance of the entire trail ride, from Cat Spring to Houston.
Answer: 5.6 mi + 12.6 mi + 17.2 mi + 17.3 mi + 15.6 mi + 12 mi + 17.8 mi = 98.1 mi. The trail ride will travel a total of 98.1 miles during their week on the road.
Common Core:
3.NBT.A – Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
4.OA.A.2 – Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division word problems
5.NBT.B.7 – Add and subtract decimals: word problems
Photos:
Lunch Stop YouTube screen shot
All other YouTube screen shots
