Best Equestrian Camping near Guntersville, AL

The campground is right on the banks of Lake Guntersville and it has a beach area so it's great if you want to play in the water. It doesn't have as much shade as it used to due to tornados but it is still a really great campground. There are a lot of great hiking, biking, and horse-riding trails. On anygiven day you can drive through the park and see an abundance of deer. The state park is also home to a zip line and an excellent golf course and the lodge has a pool and a really great restaurant.

Lake Guntersville State Park, Guntersville, Al

We visited Lake Guntersville State Park for, you guessed it, a Trail Run event! This is an old school state park with a lodge and campground. They have incorporated new school though by adding a zip line area next to the lodge. 

  Then you have the lake, the Tennessee River runs through Lake Guntersville , (from the Ohio River, through Decatur, Al to Chattanooga , Tn) so a float trip through the area would be feasible with at least one over night stop at the Lake Guntersville Campground which is right on the lake. 

The campground is spread across a wide area, not much shade though. Not a lot of privacy, you are gonna see a lot of your next site neighbor. The sites are not huge, however they are large enough to set up base camp for your outdoor activities. Open year round. The showerhouse was heated and maintained, not horror movie scary at all.

Directly across from the campground entrance is a trailhead that goes UP the “hill” to the lodge and a pretty sweet view of the surrounding area. 

 The main attraction is the water sports, but the trails are challenging and worth exploring. You can spend a week and do something different every day including just sitting on the lodge deck and taking in the scenery. 

They have great facilities (super clean and conveniently placed). The locals are very helpful and welcoming. They were hit by a tornado a few years back and it took out a lot of trees and cleared a lot of beautiful landscape but since then they have worked hard to bring the beauty back and it's working on a huge scale! It's a wonderful place to hike the mountains and fish, bring the camper and relax, or just pack a tent and a cooler to enjoy the veiw. The lake is gorgeous and big! The best fishing I've had in Alabama is at Guntersville St. Park!

The walls of Jericho are an incredible site to see if you are willing to make the backpacking adventure to them. The hike in takes only about an hour and is all downhill. Park at either the Alabama or the Tennessee trailhead (make sure not to park at the horse trailhead earlier on the road) and descend down into the canyon. When you reach the bottom of the trail and cross a river there are several campgrounds that you can set up at. After getting settled keep following the trail back into the canyon and you will get to the first waterfall/pool. Don't stop there though cause the real view is the waterfall at the back of the canyon that takes a little scrambling to get to. While there recently with my wife we spent 2 nights camping at the horse campground and spent our full day doing a loop hike into Tennessee. The only thing you have to be cautious of is it can get pretty muddy if it has rained heavy recently. I would suggest going in spring cause that is when everything is blooming and so beautiful.

The park is one of the nicer parks. Great mountainous drive to get to the entrance of the park. Right on the banks of Guntersville lake which has great fishing and watersports

A few years ago a tornado took out a lot of the big pines so it's a bit hot with very little shade. But it's still the best place to camp around Guntersville!

One of our favorite places to stay. Situated on beautiful Lake Guntersville, there's lots of water and wildlife to see. Very quiet. Many of the sites are large with 50 amp, water and sewer.

A great beautiful lake. Lots of deer. Also numerous thunderstorms, unfortunately. Avoid area B where we stayed. Had no choice since we were there for our first Oliver Owners Rally and didn’t book soon enough. Those along Lake are best then F. Town of Guntersville has what you need, restaurants, etc.

Wonderful place to camp!!! Most sites include view of lake Guntersville. Several things to do here... Mountain bike, hike, fish, beach with volleyball, golf. Deer usually visit the campground several times a day. Take time to drive up the mountain to the Lodge and take in the great views. Friendly staff, clean bathrooms and showers.

We went to the state park for the weekend. Stayed in the A area which we were told had sewer (it does not but it’s very close to the dump station). Spots were average for a state park. The store at the front has a good variety of anything you might want/need. But, the views, the facilities, and the trails were awesome. Can’t beat lake Guntersville for beauty and nature.

Visited Lake Guntersville State Park, for the day. After taking our granddaughter to Screaming Eagle Zip-line Adventures, located at the gorgeous Lodge, we visited the Campground…and it’s amazing! At the office, we were helped by Rocky, who was friendly and knowledgeable! We received CG info and a map, as well as rates. We are already planning our next trip to visit! The general store was stocked with necessities, as well as souvenirs. Of course we had to get some ice cream! There are several types of sites, monthly, cabins and tent camping. There are boat slips (local rentals) and a Pavilion on the water, basketball and tennis courts, playground, shady dog park, splash pad, and clean bathhouses. Firewood and ice can be purchased at the store. There are also many trails to hike and bike . It is easy to see that this SP is well maintained! The SP Lodge is worth visiting, which has a nice restaurant. LGSP has a golf course, and the quaint town is close by and has shopping and several restaurants.

This is one of the larger campsites available at Walls of Jericho and definitely the easiest to find. I have stayed here a couple of times and always enjoyed it. The one downside to this site is that it can get somewhat flooded after heavy rains. It can also get fairly crowded since there are multiple firepits and tent clearings not far apart from each other. This is definitely the best site if you have a large group or want to be able to set up multiple tents. It is also at an easy access point to the falls as well as the other trails in the area. The site has easy access to water most of the year and can provide space for over 10 tents. If it seems crowded and you want more privacy though you can turn left off the trail and walk a short ways to the horse camp which is more secluded and removed from the trail. My last suggestion is that if you are here on a clear night head out to the field abutting the site and enjoy some stargazing!

Lake Guntersville State Park campground is just about as idyllic as it gets. It definitely has that “summer camp” kind of feel to it as opposed to the typical “we have some land you can camp on” vibe most places have. The camp store was very well stocked, and at the time we camped there wasn’t a limit on firewood so we were able to keep our fire going despite it being damp wood. The restroom facilities were immaculate (with A/C!) and clearly cleaned multiple times a day. The primitive campgrounds themselves were first come first serve and not assigned, but we lucked out with one of the best sites available, even on a Saturday arrival. Our closest neighbor was at least 100 feet away. The only logistical downside to the primitive sites is that they don’t have picnic tables, so be sure to bring your own if you do any sort of cooktop cooking. Outside of what the campgrounds lacks, our biggest problem ended up being ANTS. Once they discovered the scent of my cooktop, there was no getting rid of them, and there were a LOT. It even made sitting around the campfire a constant game of picking them off your legs. I’m not sure if there’s much the campgrounds can do about it, though. But the ants pretty much stayed to the cooktop and never got into our tent or anything. The view we had was absolutely second to none, though, and absolutely made the ants a very minimal gripe in the end. I would absolutely visit again!

We arrived one day early which was semi planned, but we were not in the spot we were staying for 11 days. Thank goodness because the pic on the site Vs reality was a pretty big difference. We have a big rig and no way we would fit. I figured I would have to finagle something in my own to get us a different site. NOPE! They guy at the gate helped us out and 5 min later we had a site! Store has a few things in it, including some Lake stickers/shirts/etc with Lake Guntersville on them. There is a little library box by the store with books people have put in after reading. There are sites for full hookup, water/electric, or primitive. There are long term sites as well. There is plenty to do! Beach, boat, water pad, basketball and tennis courts. Laundry available. Nice bathrooms and bathhouse. Dog park for bigs and Littles! The power went out once for a couple minutes and then again due to an accident on the mountain. There are neat things within the park to see and do. Hike/trails, golf, fish, zip line, horseback riding. A must stop is to see the donkeys, goats and emus. Towing to get here is interesting, but doable! We have a 42 ft RV with a 16 ft boat behind and we made it. Close enough to town but you have to go over the mountain. There are some neat stores down town and a farmers market.

This is a nice state park in a small town in north Alabama. The lake is really pretty and the campground has a nice view of it. The facilities were really nice and there is a store and restaurant all within the park. It’s a bit of a drive to get to town so try to get the essentials before setting up camp. The campground is nice– a definite recommend!

Cherokee Rock Village is the closest campground to Sand Rock, Alabama. In fact, all of the campsites sit atop the crag. Sand Rock great outdoor climbing area for beginners to novices, with ratings from 5.7 to 13+. The facilities at the campsite have been recently updated and include a bathhouse with showers and toilets, a large communal pavilion, a playground, large dumpsters, and multiple water spigots. All sites are first come, first serve, and a few of them even overlook the valley! I've never had an issue with other climbers/campers being too loud, and it seems like the park enforces their policies quite well. It's a great basecamp for a weekend climbing trip.

The Clark Cemetery campsite is a moderate sized campsite along the Walls of Jericho trail and is located just yards from the Clark Cemetery and the Turkey Creek Bridge. The site is approximately 3.1 miles from the Alabama hikers trailhead parking lot. The campsite is level and large enough to accommodate many tents. There are also many trees that would be suitable for hammock camping. You can choose from a shaded space to a sunny space depending on which side of the site you set up on. I counted at least six fire rings at this site, so multiple groups could be accommodated. With the very close proximity to the Clark Cemetery (a 1800’s family cemetery) I imagine the campfire stories could be very entertaining. 

This is backcountry camping so plan appropriately (no bathroom, pack it in- pack is out). We found no cell phone service with Verizon at this site. Water can be sourced from Turkey Creek if it is flowing, but should be treated/filtered (on this visit Turkey Creek was pretty dry after a very dry summer, but Hurricane Creek is just a short walk away).

Campground Review: Since this is one of my favorite campgrounds I would suggest checking out one of my older reviews for an overview of the whole site. On this trip, we stayed at one of the sites in the central free for all wooded areas. This section of the campground has many spaces and fire pits where you can set up camp any free/flat ground you can find. Normally this would not be my first pick but we got there late on a Friday and most other spots were taken. Overall these sites are still nice but if you can find a space closer to the rocks or the ledge I would highly suggest doing that. We were able to purchase some firewood from the front office and had a very nice night relaxing in our private area. The next day we planned for a full day of climbing and the rocks did not disappoint. Even though there were a ton of people at the crag that weekend we could easily find spots to set up our top ropes and everyone was so friendly. It was such an amazing experience climbing here and by far my favorite in Alabama. There is every type of climbing available from bouldering to top rope to sport. Overall, the earlier you can arrive and claim a spot the better but definitely make a visit to this amazing campground. 

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****Product Review:** **

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products while out adventuring. At this campground, I relaxed in the GCI Pod Rocker with sunshade. After using this amazing chair at placed ranging from the beach to the woods some of my favorite features are: 

1. Rocking: I know it seems obvious to say but it is still an incredible design of this chair. It has built-in shock type devices that allow you to feel like you are in a rocking chair on almost any surface. It works on the beach or on rocky terrain in the woods. I use it on my deck in the summer or on the sidelines of a sports game. It really adds a whole level of relaxation and takes the packable chair to another level. 
2. Sunshade: This has been one of the features that I thought would be a silly extra but has ended up being one of the most useful parts of the chair. It is designed so that it folds up compactly behind the chair when packed up then locks open and can be adjusted when the chair is set up. The design also allows it to be closed up and moved out of the way when you don't need it. It is just the right size to provide shade for reading a book or taking a nap and the adjustability allows you to move it to wherever the sun is most direct. 
3. Durability: Although the chair is on the heavier side it is worth it for the durability it provides. The chair is incredibly well built and will stand up to years of use on all kinds of terrain. The folding mechanism is reinforced in several places and all the components and materials are of high quality. This is not a chair you want to take backpacking but any time you only have a short walk it is the best option on the market. 

Overall, this chair is incredibly comfortable and so well designed. The rocking feature works perfectly and takes the camping chair to a whole new level.

Located on a huge lake, the campground is clean and the hosts are especially friendly.  We did not know about the tornado damage in 2011 while we were there, but we did like how wide open the campground was even if it was cleaned out by the tornado.  The lodge and golf course on top of the mountain behind the campground.  Small store at the check point and you have to buy their firewood.  Wish we could have stayed more than one night!

If you like to fish then this is the place to go! Our campsite was very clean and didn’t have people right on top of us which was nice. There was a bass tournament going on when we arrived but there was so much room we didn’t even notice. It stormed the night we were there so we didn’t get to do everything we wanted to but we will definitely be going back!

We had a great time. Very clean place and great fishing!

Tent site... full hookups... plenty of space

We chose a primitive site for a quieter camping night. Although the furthest away from a bathhouse, we truly enjoyed this site. It’s “pick your own” and we picked the site next to Seals hiking trail along the water. Each site has a fire pit and is mostly level. No table, so bring your own. No water spigot so make sure you have your own. Beautiful location with amazing sunsets.

There isn’t anywhere that doesn’t have a view connected to a great golf course and fishing that can’t be beat. Can get crowded but has places to get away on trails and the water