Horse Trails Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your wettie, let's see what Horse Trails has got for us. This is going to be a bit of a mixed bag, with some real moments of magic if you time it right.

We kick things off on Sunday the 13th of September. Right out of the gate, the morning is looking like the standout of the whole period. It's glassy, there's a solid 6.9ft SW groundswell rolling in with a very long 14-second period, and the water is pumping with energy (1919). The water is a cold 54.7°, which is a full 5.4° colder than normal for this time of year, so you'll want a good thick steamer. That's a lot of juice for a sandbar set-up like Horse Trails, and that long period might make it a bit straight, but with those clean conditions, it's going to be a great session for anyone with a bit of experience. The afternoon gets a bit messy with a cross-on wind and rain, so make the most of that morning window.

Monday and Tuesday are a write-off. Strong winds, lumpy cross-chop, and poor conditions. You’ll want to leave the board at home.

We get a bit of a reprieve on Wednesday the 16th, but the wind is howling out of the SSE at 25 mph, making the 6.6ft swell messy. Not the one.

Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th look much more promising. The wind turns cross-offshore, cleaning up the lines nicely. Friday morning is the real gem here: a clean 5.6ft SW swell, 13-second period, gentle breeze, and good energy (1124). Saturday the 19th is similar in the morning, with glassy conditions and another 5.9ft of clean SW groundswell (1214). This is your window for some proper fun, lined-up waves.

The following week gets more complicated. Sunday the 20th sees a shift in wind, and the conditions become a bit more marginal. There's still swell, but the quality drops off.

The big news, and you'll need to mark your calendar for this, is the swell that arrives on Friday the 25th of September. We're looking at a massive 9.8ft W swell. The forecast says it's too big for this break, and I'd agree. That's expert-only territory, and the period is a short 10 seconds, so it's going to be a washing machine. That same huge swell pattern sticks around through the weekend, with 11.5ft and 13.1ft waves. Unless you're on a gun and know the place like the back of your hand, give it a wide berth. It looks more like a kite-surfing playground than a paddle-surfing spot. The energy numbers are insane, hitting 3880 and 4178, which is just a massive amount of water moving around.

Overall, the best bet is that Sunday morning the 13th for a truly glassy, powerful session, and then the clean Friday and Saturday mornings (18th and 19th) for the best quality, manageable surf. Stay away from that big, windy stuff at the end.

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