Travel Guides
Travel Guides
Visit These Equestrian Campgrounds
Check out these campgrounds across the country with special facilities and amenities for equestrian campers as well as guided horse, pony or donkey rides.
Overview
There are several campgrounds across the country that offer special facilities for people who camp with their horses. Some campgrounds also have horses, ponies or donkeys on site and offer riding lessons for visiting RVers and their families. Other campgrounds are so close to horseback riding trails that they contract with neighboring outfitters who offer their guests guided rides.
Some campgrounds with equestrian facilities and activities are located near national parks, including Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. There’s even an equestrian campground in Wisconsin that offers its guests weekend training sessions on topics of interest to horse owners as well as special horse-and-rider activities for Halloween, including horse and rider costume contests and haunted rides in the woods.
Here’s a sampling of campgrounds across the country with special facilities and amenities for equestrian campers as well as guided horse, pony or donkey rides:
1
Artillery Ridge Campground & Horse Park (Gettysburg, PA)
Artillery Ridge Campground & Horse Park: This campground offers the only full-service horse camping in the Gettysburg area. The campground is across the street from the horse trail through the famous Gettysburg Battlefield. The National Riding Stables is also located onsite and provides battlefield horse tours with licensed guides.
Facilities for equestrian campers include a warm-up riding arena and round pen; 10 by 12-foot covered box stalls; single, double, triple and quad horse open gate corrals; and 24- by 32-foot two horse board corrals.
Other nearby bridle trails are also located at Catoctin National Park in Thurmont, MD, and at three Pennsylvania state parks, including Codorus State Park in Hanover, Gifford Pinchot State Park in Lewisberry, and Michaux State Forest in Fayetteville.
2
Geitner Homestead Equine Campground (Sturgeon Bay, WI)
Geitner Homestead Equine Campground: This location provides camping opportunities for both traditional and equestrian campers. Each of the equine campsites have their own 12-by-12-foot gated paddock. Overflow paddocks are also available for guests traveling with more than two horses. Other equine amenities include a 100- by 160-foot riding arena, a 60-foot round pen and over 70 obstacle challenges.
The campground also has access to 20 miles of riding trails. Weekend activities range from volleyball tournaments to poker runs on horseback to singing by the campfire. The campground also offers weekend educational seminars with different topics of interest to horse owners, from saddle fitting to confidence building and techniques that improve harmony and communication between the horse and rider.
A Halloween horse fun show and horse and rider costume contests are planned for October along with a haunted cornfield trail and a haunted horse trail in the woods.
3
Lone Mountain Riverfront Campground (Andover, ME)
Lone Mountain Riverfront Campground: This campground has several campsites that are designed for equestrian campers. The park is spread out over 33 acres and includes open field sites as well as some riverfront sites along the Ellis River, a small river where people like to fish. The park has 85 full hookup sites with water, sewer and 50 amp electrical service, including a handful of pull-through sites.
4
Red Coach Resort (Tony, AL)
Red Coach Resort: Located north of Huntsville, this campground not only offers RV sites with full hookups, but an equestrian farm to accommodate people who travel with their horses. The campground has several horse stalls and pasture areas that are ideal for RV enthusiasts who travel with their horses.
There are significant numbers of people who travel to attend equestrian events in Alabama as well as Tennessee and Kentucky. The campground also has one half mile of riverfront, with water suitable for swimming, rafting and kayaking. The park also has 20 acres of land that will be kept as a nature preserve.
5
Ruby's Inn RV Park & Campground (Bryce Canyon City, UT)
Ruby's Inn RV Park & Campground: This campground, which is just outside Bryce Canyon National Park, offers RV camping as well as a “horse motel” with horse stalls and other facilities for people who travel with their horses. Ruby’s also operates guided horseback rides through Ruby's Horseback Adventures.
Tours range from 1.5-hour rides through Dixie National Forest to half- and full-day rides through scenic canyons in the area. Its longest trip is “Ruby’s Grand Adventure,” a 5-night, 4-day horseback riding experience through the beautiful Bryce Canyon and Grand Staircase and Escalante area. The trails take visitors through some of the very same landscapes once ridden by the infamous outlaw Butch Cassidy.
6
Winding River Resort (Grand Lake, CO)
Winding River Resort: This campground is not only a convenient base camp for trips into Rocky Mountain National Park, but offers one- and two-hour horseback rides along the Colorado River at eight different times each day during the summer months. The minimum age for a trail ride at Winding River Resort is six-year years old.
Children must be at least 13 years old to ride without a parent or guardian present. The horseback riding weight limit at Winding River Resort is 250 pounds. The resort does not allow double riders. The campground also offers wildlife viewing activities-- moose, elk, fox, coyotes, bears, and many types of birds make the area their home.
7
Spur of the Moment Ranch (Mountain, WI)
Spur of the Moment Ranch: This campground provides guests with riding and driving lessons. They also have miniature donkeys, which are used to give rides to young children. The park also has paddocks to accommodate campers who bring their own horses and enjoy riding the trails in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
Final Thoughts
Whether you are traveling with horses or looking for horseback riding experiences, there are campgrounds across the country that provide the specific amenities, tours or access to trails for just about every type of equestrian adventure.
