Best Equestrian Camping near Madison, AL

While staying in the area we stopped by and checked out this campground and associated trails. It is in a wonderful part of Bankhead and close to so many trail access points. Additionally the campground is located directly on the horse trail so you can stay here with your animals and get up and go trekking the next day. For people like me who are more hikers than riders you just drive 15 min down the road and you are right in the heart of Sipsey wilderness. The campground doesn't have much in terms of amenities but if you prefer a little more you can stay at Brushy lake nearby. The major advantage to this site is its access to the horseback riding trails.

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.

This is off the beaten path a bit, but it has its perks. Here you can find potable water from the spickets all year long. It is essentially a large field with some very large loblolly pines. The nights sky is wonderful. Also, from here you can link together 22 miles worth of trail. We rode our bikes, the trails are more geared for the equestrian rider, but was friendly enough for bikes. We enjoyed staying here after being out of cell service for a few days at brushy lake, so we were able to catch up and coordinate our next destination.  As far as campground amenties outside of whats already been covered there are a had full of picnic tables and a pit toilet. 

Cost is $5 a night or $3 for day use. 2 bars of Verizon 4G LTE.

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!

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).

This place was still being built and was already amazing. There are large spaces in the woods only minutes from Huntsville. A quiet piece of heaven. A beautiful large creek runs through it, with miles of walking paths, a horse barn, and spaces to play and relax. LOTS OF SPACE Lee and Joy are fantastic hosts and will do almost anything to make the stay comfortable. We got a sneak preview while they were just getting open and I cannot impress on you how much this Park has to offer. Did I mention fossils? All over the place some of the oldest creatures to crawl the earth are there for you to find! I'm not kidding we saw trilobites everywhere along the creek. I cannot judge access really as they were still working on the roads and with the plans they have, it will be very easy to get aro[und. We have a 44 ft DRV and with a little care were easily able to get around. we had a boondocking site and had to go fill and empty tanks and could do so easily. Did we mention how much space there is? We did have poor coverage for our mobile data but the phones and texting always worked.

Small but secluded backcountry site with easy access to the river for pumping water. This site is nice because it is level and removed from the water enough that there is no concern of flooding. This site does have less privacy though so take that into account. 

Sipsey Wilderness is a protected but unmaintained area in Northwest Alabama that is well known for its intersecting creeks, streams, and rivers that play together with the many waterfalls and magical rock faces. The wilderness area is contained within the larger Bankhead National Forest and is accessible from a variety of different trailheads many of which are only reachable on dirt roads. Hiking here you definitely get the feeling that you have left the rest of the world behind and are in complete wilderness. Different times of year provide completely different experiences whether its the exciting and boundless blooms of spring, the overgrown wild of summer, the bold and expansive colors of fall, or the high river levels and easy boating access of winter. Just make sure to always do your research and plan ahead since it can change so drastically depending on when you go. My favorite is either fall or spring since the summer can be particularly hot and buggy. This trip we had planned to kayak down the river from the Sipsey River Trailhead to the Highway 33 Bridge take out but were thwarted by a recent lack of heavy rain and unusually low river levels for the season. Several sites online suggested over 4 feet gauge height would be fine but after talking to the Rangers we were told the only time that it was really navigable was in the winter or fall for a couple of days after a major rainfall. With that plan out the window, we decided instead to throw some packs in the car and move our gear around to make it a semi backpacking/hiking trip.