Best Equestrian Camping near New Hope, AL

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 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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

This was the first place we stayed in our RV. Amazing ! Is a understatement. We stayed walking distance to the water and 3 of our 4 kids fished for 3 days. They loved every minute of staying here. We will be back !!! Plenty of wild life and fishing.

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.

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

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.

We like to come here for lake time.  Easy to bring and access your boat from launch and paid boat slip.  Campground store is nice.  Some sites are nicer than others.

We stayed here in May 2019. It was very enjoyable. Full hook-ups. Bath house clean and functioned normal. Sites really don't have water views on even on the water that we saw. They have boat ramps and docks/slips. Tons of deer in the park. Drive slow dusk to dawn. We ate at the lodge and it was just average. Lake is beautiful and fishing is great. Nice cleaning station also. We will go back in the future. Also has golf course but I did not play. Sites are level and easy to back into.

It was a beautiful campground. The site we were on was not ideal. As soon as we stepped out the door we had to go up an incline to get to our picnic table. Our camper was pretty level and most of the other sites looked much better than ours, but that is what we get for booking late. The sites were packed in together, but everyone one was really nice. They had a clean bathhouse with laundry. There was a playground, small splash pad, and the beach area for swimming in the lake. My kids had a great time with all there was to do. The paths around the campground were paved, so they enjoyed riding their scooters around.

Full hookup sites. Great views. Due to tornados in recent years, there are not many trees.

Most spots are very close together so you don’t eat much privacy. Super crowded on the weekends. Great place if you like to fish.

Tent camped here on the water, absolutely no shade since the tornadoes brought all the trees down, even with the water nearby, temps hardly ever went below 85 at night. Poor planning on our part, not their fault. Much better for RVing.

Such a beautiful spot! We like a bit more trees, which they had until a tornado came through in 2011 or 12. There is mot a lot of privacy; but we love to SUP, which was great there. The camp hosts and staff were very nice!

Well maintained, friendly staff, few trees due to the 2012 tornado that came through the area, golf course and lodge available.

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!