Best Equestrian Camping near Prescott, AZ

This majestic spot is roughly ~26 miles (from Bumble Bee) of bumpy dirt roads, steep terrain, switchbacks, and the occasional one vehicle bridge. The main city of Crown King has a general store with essentials and a 1 pump fuel station. Prices are steep so best advised to fill up on gas and supplies before heading up. The Hazlitt Hollow campground and Horse Thief Basin Lake are ~7 miles from the main city of Crown King and definitely require a high clearance vehicle (4x4 highly recommended). Horse Thief Lake is truly a magical place and beyond serene. The lake fish species present include Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish, and Muskie. The weather is very similar to Prescott with an elevation of 6,000 ft. Peaceful, quiet, serene, and soothing all describe this area perfectly.

Gorgeous easy dirt road ~27 miles from i17/Bumble bee. (There’s also a much more difficult trail from lake pleasant that requires very experienced off-roading 4x4). Great food and drinks(alcohol) at the crown king saloon and Mimi’s Cafe. There are amazing camping areas just past the main town, and even all the way up near Horsetheif Basin which is about 7 miles past crown king(requires 4x4). There is also an amazing ~30 mile trail from crown king that leads all the way to Prescott called Senator Highway. This also requires experienced 4x4 and like the trail to Horsetheif basin, there are many areas that are only single vehicle width. Amazing weather all year round, but extremely limited travel available while snow is on the ground.

The forest was closed in Northern Arizona so I decided to camp out at Dead Horse Ranch SP.  I was pretty pleased overall with my trip.  My campsite was comfortable and private enough, considering how close the sites are at this campground.  I had some shade trees to help keep my travel trailer cool but definitely needed to run the AC all night in order to stay comfortable.  The RV sites here have fresh water and power, but no sewer.  There is a dump station at the park entrance that is easily accessible when both entering and exiting the park. I enjoyed fishing, hiking, and bike riding while I was here but had to limit my outdoor activities to the morning hours due to the heat.  

One afternoon I went into old town Cottonwood, which is only a couple of miles from the park.  It's a great place to visit if you're into antiques or wine tasting.

This is a very beautiful campground for horse people only. Most sites are pull through to accommodate large trailers. The trails are very pretty. Parts are hilly, but well shaded. There are high lines and a corral at each site. As well as a firepit and picnic bench. Depending on site water can be close, the water is located throughout the campground. The pit toliets were clean,  and wheelbarrows and rakes were provided at the dumpsters to clean horse areas. There is no atv or other type vehicles allowed in campground, but they are allowed near the campground and on some trails, so take note of which trails if that is a concern with your horse. There are some other youth campgrounds around so sometimes you can hear band practice lol. Dispersed camping is allowed just outside the campground boundary as well.

We pulled into our spot at Dead Horse Ranch as the temps crept below freezing. This was our first night ever in a campervan, and we were feeling very fortunate for scoring the last site with electricity. 

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It snowed in the night (February) and we woke to discover that the bathhouse was heated with free hot showers. This, combined with dishwashing stations (again with hot water) and friendly campground hosts, made for a lovely stay at Dead Horse Ranch.

The only downside was the lack of privacy between sites - fine for van or RV camping, but not ideal for tenters. 

There are a couple of nice trails in the park, one leading into Old Town Cottonwood - try Old Town Cafe for their flaky croissants! Dead Horse Ranch is about 30 minutes from Sedona and fantastic hiking, which we took advantage of all three nights we were there. 

Bottom line, this was not a wilderness experience, but Dead Horse Ranch provides nice sites and great amenities, and you can't beat the convenience of the location. 

We preferred the Red Tailed Hawk loop to all the others, and really liked sites 57 - 64 for the views and access to trails.