Looking for a rustic and comfortable horse camping experience near Mojave River Dam? Finding a place to camp in California with your horse is easier than ever. With our help, you'll find the best California equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
The Heart Bar Campground provides access to some of southern California's greatest backcountry hiking, biking and horseback riding trails, as well as a nice play to experience nature. A variety of recreation opportunities are available in the surrounding area as well, leaving little more to be desired from a campsite.
A variety of backcountry hiking, biking and horseback riding trails can be found near the campground, including the famed Santa Ana River Trail, which provides miles of scenic mountain views and points of exploration. The Wildhorse Creek Trail, which explores 5 miles of rolling terrain in the area, is accessed just north of the campground and leads to a remote camping area south of Wildhorse Meadow. It climbs nearly 1,100 feet in elevation and is moderately difficult. Creek fishing is also available nearby.
The campground is nestled among pine-covered mountains, at an elevation of 6,880 feet. It is not far from Big Bear Lake, but far enough to retain a remote and secluded atmosphere. The mature trees provide some shade to the area, but understory is limited, leaving campsites with little privacy in some places.
Big Bear Lake and its adjoining town are located approximately 20 miles from the campground, offering a variety of water-related recreation opportunities, as well as golf, shopping and restaurant options.
Rules & Reservation Policies As you make travel plans that include reservations on Recreation.gov, there are standard policies that apply to most locations of which you should be aware. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many exceptions, so it is best to review reservation information listed on individual facility pages for those policies and procedures that pertain to your specific locations. Any location or activity requiring a permit or lottery will have unique requirements and policies. Please check individual facility pages for pertinent information for those sites. Booking Window For most locations, you can reserve six months in advance of your stay for individual sites and 12 months in advance for group sites. There are some exceptions, so it is best to check with each facility. Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Tours & Tickets: You may request changes to tour dates at no cost before the arrival date. If you cancel before your tour date, you may be eligible for a refund. Cancellation fees apply. Please check the tour facility description details page for cancellation policies. Permits: Varies by location. Please check the permit details for the permit location. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Tours: A tour or ticket no-show is one who does not cancel a ticket before arrival and does not arrive for the tour. Tour no-shows are not entitled to a refund. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as "Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July
$29 - $58 / night
Due to the Line Fire, Lake Gregory will remain closed until further notice to keep the roads open for first responders and those under evacuation.
Located alongside an old riverbed in the high desert south of Victorville, Mojave Narrows offers lush plant growth, acres of waterways, impressive strands of cottonwood and willows and broad meadows all naturally landscaped by nature. The park is home to more than 1,500 species of watchable wildlife.
In addition there is year-round fishing, disc golf course, equestrian trails, a playground, climbing rocks, splash pad and hiking trails.
For campers, there are tent campsites along the shores of both Horseshoe Lake and Pelican Lake. RV sites with full hook-ups are also located near Horseshoe Lake.
Mojave Narrows Regional Park offers many options for camping and is dog-friendly and is accessible for people with disabilities.
Camping Amenities
38 RV or trailer full hookup sites (no tents allowed) 31 tent camping sites along Horseshoe or Pelican Lakes 6 group camping sites 3 group equestrian sites Hot showers and restrooms Grills and fire rings Dump stations
$3 - $40 / night
Holcomb Valley Ranch provides campers with an enchanting escape from the city. We invite you to kick back and relax at our private, 400+ acre ranch in the San Bernardino Mountains just 25 minutes from the Big Bear ski slopes and 15 minutes from Big Bear Lake- A large recreational, fresh-water lake for Summer swimming and water sports. Each campsite is approximately one acre(or more), generously-distanced from neighboring campers with its own fire ring and picnic table. The Ranch feels remote and private. Yet is only four miles to town. Neighboring the Pinnacles, for incredible rock climbing, and surrounded by the National forest, the location offers seemingly endless hiking and epic off-roading trails to enjoy and explore. After a day filled with adventure or relaxation, take in the breath-taking sunsets over the meadow. Then, blanketed in a sea of stars, enjoy toasting up some s’mores and hot-coco over a beautiful warm campfire. The horses are vacationing in sunny Palm Springs for the winter and will be back this Spring. ACCESS AND DIRECTIONS: Please pay close attention to the driving directions we provide. Your GPS may suggest you take Van Dusen Canyon Road or Rim of the World Drive, however, we highly suggest you take Polique Canyon. It is the most direct. The Ranch is about 15 minutes or 3.5 miles up Polique Canyon, on the left. Polique Canyon is a forestry road it does not get ploughed after a snowfall. Particularly during winter months, a 4x4 or AWD vehicle is recommended. After a snowfall, 4x4 or AWD combined with snow chains will likely be needed to successfully navigate Polique Canyon to get to the Ranch. WINTER CAMPING WEATHER CONSIDERATIONS: Big Bear is popular for its snowy white winters. Nighttime temperatures can fall into the single digits. Please check weather.com or another weather app prior to your visit and plan accordingly. When travelling to the mountains during the winter months, be prepared for winter weather driving conditions and always carry chains, extra food/ water, warm clothing/ blankets, and a full tank of gas in the event you become stranded. The sun sets around 7:00PM this time of year. Please arrive and check-in after 2PM and before night fall. Last check-in is at 8PM. WATER: The Ranch has been winterized to protect the pipes from the cold temperatures. Thus, the water has been shut off for winter. Our shower and flushing toilet buildings are currently closed. There are numerous, very clean, portable toilets throughout the Ranch and near each campsite, for guests to use. Please bring a plentiful supply of potable water for drinking, cleansing and extinguishing fires. FIRES: Campfires are permitted at the Ranch unless the Forest Service institutes a fire ban in the surrounding national forest or high winds are expected. Firewood is available for purchase on-site. Just ask your camp host for some bundles when you arrive. CELL RECEPTION: Verizon gets pretty good cell reception at the Ranch. AT&T gets some. Other cell carries are pretty spotty. Please note: Weather conditions in the Big Bear area can change dramatically and rapidly during the winter months. As such, Holcomb Valley Ranch reserves the right to cancel any reservation up to 24 hours prior to arrival due to any extreme or cold weather conditions. Remember the s’mores and always follow the“Leave No Trace” principles. We look forward to hosting you at the Ranch!
$25 / night
$10 - $119 / night
Located on 160 acres in close proximity to the Deep Creek Hot Springs. Rural property with natural landscapes in the mountains of the high desert. Showers, bathrooms and running water on site, no RV power hookups. Private hot spring rental and glamping tents available. Large group sites available, secluded sites, event venue available. Ziplines on site.
$15 - $119 / night
There are 19 Coon Creek Yellow Post Campsites available on a first-come-first-serve basis. No reservations. Maximum of 8 persons per campsite. Amenities includes picnic table and fire ring. There are no restroom facilities or drinking water.
$35 - $40 / night
Temporarily closed until further notice
$40 - $55 / night
Launch Pointe is the Southern California RV Camping destination place to be. It was designed to provide guests with a truly unique RV resort experience. Launch Pointe is conveniently located between Los Angeles and San Diego, off the I-15 freeway.
$55 - $140 / night
Scout
Nice place, beautifull views, good bar. Rustic place for camping. Just to sleep, no services.
Scout
Great campground for families. Lots of activities for the kids to do, like smores by the fire, art, splash pad, and play ground. Facility was clean
Traveler
My husband and I tried to get to the Coon Creek yellow post sites on May 21st, but the gate was up, as the road right at the gate was washed away. So there's no way to get in to the sites right now. Hopefully the forest service will repair the road soon, but there weren't any crews out there, so it's probably going to be a while (hopefully before mid-summer!). :(
Unfortunately, I didn't think to get a picture of the washed out portion of the road, as there was a truck right behind us, also trying to get to the sites.
Legend
General: A mix of FHU RV sites tent sites, group sites around Horseshoe Lake and some additional dry camping and equestrian sites around Pelican Lake. There are also four RVs you can “rent” in the Horseshoe Lake area. The sites around Horseshoe Lake are close to an active rail line. And by active, I mean really active – I stopped counting after I counted 24 trains lumbering by during our short overnight stay.
Site Quality: IMO the waterfront tent sites are the nicest. They are farthest away from the trains (but not far enough!) The other dry sites have paved camper pads; some are “doubles” which would kind of suck if both sites were occupied by people who did not know each other! (Ours was one but fortunately, this was not the case for us on a Sunday in November).
Bath/Shower House: There were two restrooms about equidistant from our campsite, but both were very basic– no soap, hooks or shelves and no mirrors (it looked like they had been ripped off the wall). The floors were concrete, and the entire appearance was very drab. I did not use the shower.
This was an overnight stop for us, so we did not take advantage of any of the activities (horseback riding, hiking, disc golf, fishing). There was a very nice playground in the day-use area, a reasonable walking distance from the Horseshoe Lake sites. I had called about a week ahead of time to make a reservation (the online reservation system has been down for quite some time) and was assured would not need a reservation. However, there is a gate that is locked at 4 pm and we knew we would not arrive in time, so we called and were able to make a phone reservation when our site was assigned. We were a little concerned when we saw a security guard making rounds around 10 pm (and this combined with the locked gate), we wondered if we were in a safe environment, although we did not encounter any problems. Make sure you know that the park is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (which seems a bit bizarre) so you will need to know the gate code after 4 pm and on those days (the code seems to change daily). Also, I read that seniors (62 and older), active duty military, and veterans receive a $5 discount Sundays through Thursdays but you have to go to the office and show proof and then you will receive a “rebate” a few days later (which we did). This was just an overnight for us as we worked our way back home but we would likely not stay here again.
ScoutVery nice gated and secure campground with many amenities.
Scout
LegendJake from the Dyrt here! Deep Creek Camp is a great spot to get out in nature and check out one of the coolest geological features in the area! Check them out and leave a review about your stay on the Dyrt!
TravelerThe RV Park is located in a natural reserve. The scenes are beautiful!! We stayed by the river and had a great time. The only downside is that there are railways near the park and trains running by all night long.
Scout
Does not allow tent camping
Traveler
Our family stayed at Heart Bar over Memorial Day weekend.
The campground was great. The spaces are enormous. We felt like we had a Midwest backyard all to ourselves! The parking was fairly level, but we still needed a couple inches of leveling block to sleep flat.
The wildlife in the alpine environment is great. The stellar jays are up and about at sunrise to pick over your evening scraps.
The campground is close to the river for fishing and gold panning. We only found pyrite, but it was fun to try.
RangerVery polite courteous no rude people here we enjoyed every minute of our week stay prices vary in how close to lake u r
Traveler
Rough ride in but totally worth it
The hike to the springs is pretty rough but also worth it when you get there. No hot showers
RangerGreat little campground 25 min from Big bear. Higher elevation so its a great place to cool down in the summer nights
GuideWe spent 4 nights here. The park is renovated and clean. Best laundry room I’ve seen in our travels. Sites are gravel with a concrete pad and picnic table. Each corner has a super bright street light. Thank goodness for blackout shades. The lake was closed due to algae bloom. They have a great area of vintage trailers that can be rented, as well as some super nice yurts. The restaurant was only open one of the nights we were there. Not impressive. We were the only diners there. We explored the area. As it was winter, there wasn’t much to do.
TravelerLaunch Pointe was a great stay for our family and dog! Check in was very speedy. The campground was clean as can be- no overflowing garbages, all utilities tastefully hidden. The privacy fence in each spot is nice and our kids loved the playground, we enjoyed taking walks through the park.
Traveler
Holcomb Valley Ranch is absolutely beautiful, the shower facilities are clean and the portapotties are clean for portapotties. You can buy wood on-site. The campsites are huge - I doubt there’s a bad spot. The drive up is treacherous if you have a lil sedan - I was worried for my Honda Fit.
TravelerTips: When you’re on the road heading into Holcomb go slow (Rocky). Prep for dusty ground sediment. Bring extra water and chargers. Dropped to around 40 degrees at night so bring extra blankets/ jackets. Bring firewood from town. Otherwise, As expected when arrived with fireplace, secluded space (enough from other tents), space to spread out, and scenic meadow views. We saw mule deer and of course the horses! Check out grand view mountain trail, it was a gorgeous view- across the lake. Oh and it’s rifle hunting season in Oct, FYI.
TravelerBeen camping here since i was a kid in 50 years the campground has changed very little,weather was amazing high of 84 and night time low of mid 50's
Guide
Bring some bug spray if you’re bugged by bugs. Other than that there was plenty of space for plenty of campers.
GuideGreat campground 25minutes from town. Accommodates travel trailers/rv well, water spigots around. Lots of trees, shade & blue jays. Alpine bike path!
TravelerThis was a very well kept, clean campground. Spot 056 had a lot of sunshine, which made my RV hot, but my solar happy. TMobile single was spotty, but enough to check the basics.
TravelerNo individual campsites. They’re set up in groups 2, 3 or 4 But it’s probably never a problem as this place doesn’t seem to get lots of visitors. It is a nice place and campground with lots of trees that provide some shade during the day. Sadly (because of our ongoing drought) trees and vegetation are in great need of water. I’d love to come back here after a rainy day.
Bring lots of mosquito repellent. You will need it.
Scoutso far great spot! i came the week before memorial day, expecting some traffic so i arrived early enough i figured there wouldn’t be an issue. i ended up in site 16, which is nice and open, but quite a ways out and the road isn’t great getting in. manageable in a 2 wheel drive, but not great.
roughly half the site’s are being “held” with chairs for the coming weekend. please remember this is a first come first serve space, which means no reservations. i understand people don’t get off work early enough etc, but it makes it incredibly unfair to those who are out aside from the weekend. its currently early wednesday and about half the sites are being “held” using chairs.
TravelerAT&T - Good. 2-4 bars. Verizon - Good. 2-4 bars. Starlink- >10% obstruction.
Trees provide lots of shade and some privacy despite campsites being fairly close to one another.
Easy road in most anything can drive it.
Shade obviously made solar and Starlink less than perfect but also made energy consumption far less too.
Very cold at night!
Horseback riding on weekends and some other day users.
ScoutWas great trip
Traveler
Parked at Three Points parking lot and hiked about 3.5 miles on the PCT. I believe it has 5 campsites with tables and fire pits. Beautiful river runs in the middle and an added bonus is that it has 2 outhouses. Truly a beautiful secluded campsite.
GuidePlenty of room to be by yourself and shoot some pictures.
Horse camping near Mojave River Dam in California offers a unique opportunity to explore the scenic beauty of the area while enjoying the company of your equine friends. With several campgrounds catering to horse enthusiasts, you can find the perfect spot to set up camp and ride the trails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Mojave River Dam?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Mojave River Dam is Heart Bar Campground with a 4.8-star rating from 19 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Mojave River Dam?
TheDyrt.com has all 23 equestrian camping locations near Mojave River Dam, with real photos and reviews from campers.
