Looking for the best horse camping near Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area? 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.
Tapo Canyon Regional Park is located in the midst of the rolling hills and canyons of the Santa Susana Mountains, north of Simi Valley. Hikers, equestrian riders, and mountain bikers enjoy this rugged and rural park, which features picnic areas, A group use area, playground, an equestrian arena, restroom and shower facility, and an RV campground with 16 full hook ups. Cell service is spotty depending on carrier.
Now Open
Located in the cliffs and canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains, Topanga State Park features 36 miles of trails through open grassland, live oaks and spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.
The park is located entirely within the Los Angeles city limits and is considered the world’s largest wildland within the boundaries of a major city. Excellent recreational opportunities for hikers as well as mountain bikers (restricted to fire roads) and equestrians.
The park is bound on the south by Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, on the west by Topanga Canyon, and on the east by Rustic Canyon. Numerous geologic formations can be found in the park, including earthquake faults, marine fossils, volcanic intrusions, and a wide variety of sedimentary formations.
$7 / night
Hammock spots, dipping holes and a fishing stream make Reyes Creek Campground an ideal hideaway. Located near the Sespe Wilderness alongside Reyes Creek you will find renewal and replenishment, Reyes Creek-style.
Trail hiking, fishing, swimming, group camping, mountain biking, hunting, horseback riding, nature viewing, and recreational mining are favored activities. Day trips to higher elevation snow play in the winter is also enjoyed.
This shaded streamside campground located at 3,500 feet elevation boasts an ample supply of riparian oak and cottonwood trees. The creek area is well shaded and runs year-round. Overhead you may catch a glimpse of red-tailed hawks soaring above the trees. If you are lucky, you may see a California condor!
Located south of Ozena Valley, this campground provides access to the Sespe Wilderness via the Reyes Creek Trail linking to the Piedra Blanc National Recreation Trail. This site is the trailhead for Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca National Recreation Area ideal for hiking or mountain biking.
$150 - $154 / night
Jeffery Pine shaded camp near creek. Dirt road to camp normally accessible by 2 wheel drive vehicle.
$100 / night
Legend
Although it’s not the most scenic campground itself, the state park has plenty of beauty to offer on its hiking trails. Not a single other party at the campsite on a Tuesday in September. The facilities and grounds were well maintained. Pretty short hike from the parking lot.
Traveler
This is a very nice campground near everything but still away from it all. No issues parking our 42' 5th wheel here. Clean and quiet despite the peacocks. They can be rather loud when startled. I swear they could hear my morning alarm and squawked their disapproval. The camp host Shawn is AMAZING! Bathrooms are very clean. Showers are coin operated. DO NOT expect cell service. I could only work from this spot by placing my mobile HomeFi router on top of the camper. Our Verizon phones were paper weights. Make sure your reservations are complete online before arriving. The Rangers check the spots multiple times a week. The kids enjoyed the playground and fields. It's not uncommon to see and hear movie/TV production crews at the filming locations along the road. Pet friendly but be careful at night. Mountain lions were spotted while there.
Traveler
Reyes Creek was great. The drive was nice, very scenic. The campsite was nice but small. Campsites are very, very close together. Some are smaller than others. Especially closer to the creek are smaller. The bathrooms are very clean for a campsite bathroom. Jade was very helpful and informative. She told us about two trails, we did the lighter one that was very nice. I can see this place being very nice in the summer. The weather on the apps are wrong. You have to google a few things to get the right weather. It was much colder than expected at night, woke up to 29 degrees F and ice on my tent and car windows. Other people with us said they had ice in their tent.
LegendCleanliness: 10/10 Privacy: 0/10 Location: 5/10 nice park but super close to the street and other vehicles. Service: in some areas, one bar (att) Area: close to food etc just right down the hill. I used to live in this area, had no idea this was here. If you need something in this area this is a good spot, but I wouldn’t stop by choice if you could keep going somewhere more interesting.
Don’t forget quarters for showers! Wonderful playground if you have kids. Lots of grass for dogs too
LegendCleanliness: 10/10 Privacy: 0/10 Location: 5/10 nice park but super close to the street and other vehicles. Service: in some areas, one bar Area: close to food etc
ScoutI love this campground, but reserving a site is a pain since there isn't a site map. Here's the sites in the main loop. Hope you all find this helpful!
TravelerPark for $7/night at Trippet Ranch and hike one mile to the campgrounds. It’s an easy hike and very quiet. Nice views during the day. Currently closed for repairs though.
Scout
The people here are so nice, the pool is clean and rarely busy from what we have seen. The shop has everything we have needed and the views are gorgeous 😍
TravelerFirst off, Jade the camp host, has to be one of the nicest people We’ve ever met! Super helpful and informative! We stumbled across this place as our original plan fell apart. Lucked out on a site and enjoyed a quiet, relaxing overnight trip. Sites were clean and kept up, bathrooms were clean and there was a nice little creek, perfect for a stroll.
GuideThe host Jade was one of the most friendliest host we’ve ever met. There are raccoons, squirrels and deers around. Nice little creek runs next to campsites and hiking trail. The ghost town was fun, too.
LegendNorth of LA. Easy to get to when traveling south. Staff very kind and helpful.
Traveler
Spare of the moment trip idea lead me to finding this campsite. Coming from Frazier, CA I was able to access the camp site with a 2012 Chevy Equinox LS FWD (By no means an off-roading vehicle) and return back home with no issues. The drive down into the little valley is spectacular. There are few cool rock faces on the drive into camp which I had a great time doing some bouldering. The campground was shared by one other vehicle and it was fantastic. The site was pretty clean! Only found and picked up the usual (glass, caps, twist ties, styrofoam, toilet paper, etc.) There are a lot of trails near by and the scenery is pretty incredible.
ScoutWe live in Simi and we’re looking for a close place to test out our new travel trailer and we found this awesome gem of a campground. It’s super clean, has all the hook ups and was only 10 minutes away. I highly recommend this campground!
ScoutVery Friendly and Very Clean,Can see God's Creation
ScoutI love camping here people are friendly has large pools (adult pool, family pool, spa and splash pool). Most people live in this campground. Management is really nice staff is friendly. Will stay here again. Super clean campground and each site has grass.
TravelerLoved the campground and the camp host is the best! We hiked the creek and loved the tree coverage. It’s even beautiful enough to enjoy despite the horrible campers that are so loud you can hear them in the canyon from dawn to dusk. The websites say that max 22’ RV is recommended. I drove a 24’ and managed the treacherous switchbacks… but much bigger and you’ll either get stuck or fall off the edge of a cliff.
TravelerThis campground was nice. The camp host really did a great job of keeping things clean and nice. Some shady spots and a really great seasonal creek.
Pros
Cons
GuideThis was a great stop over for a week. A little remote and you have to drive to the nearest town(s), but clean grounds and nice site. Very easy to book online.
The RV park is pretty large so it's a nice daily walk. We had an easy pull thru site with plenty of space for our RV and truck to fit and had some shade from a nearby tree. There were a few bugs at night, but nothing miserable.
Wifi worked fine for us. For video calls during work we used our hotspot just to be safe, but otherwise their wifi was reliable and worked just fine. AT&T service worked great.
Laundry was credit card which made it easy to avoid a hassle of getting quarters. They have a few pools and hot tub, but closed due to COVID.
GuideCute Campground situated right inside the regional park. There is a playground and large covered picnic area. First come first serve camping, decent sized spots with shade, fire pits, and water. Enough room to park your RV or tent, or both. Clean and quaint. Heads up there’s no cell service once your in the campgrounds.
ScoutCamp hosts were great. Valut toilets were in better shape. We went in June 2020 and it was hot. But there is a fun stream you can hike by and it did the trick. Nice and relaxing off the beaten path.
Traveler
Crossing the tiny bridge at the west end of Switzer Picinic area(park up top during the weekdays, adds half a mile), you’ll see Switzer Trail Camp. You snake up the hill(keep an eye out for those btw) and see breathtaking views from the top of the canyon, veer to the left down the hill and go downstream to the right. Switzer Falls is upstream to the left. Follow the creek( which is GORGEOUS with waterfalls and shade in the spring) and go all the way to the end. Trail tends to get iffy at points, but you kinda get to know the flow of it if it disappears into rocks or the creek. You start to go uphill again and the creek switches its flow so you’re suddenly walking up stream, then you’ll be there! There are fire rings but use responsibly- have lots of water at the pit to put it out, and make sure you do do that completely before you go to sleep. That place would go up faster than you can run, so be mindful. Animals love toilet paper, so make sure your cat holes are 6 inches deep because there are no toilets, and I did see the weekend crowds toilet paper and cig butts strewn about. Pack out ppl, pack out...
All in all, gorgeous place!! Breathtaking views and when the creek is ice-cold, you are just spoiled.
GuideReyes creek is beautiful! Great camping spots, beautiful creeks & hikes, cute abandoned town for a photo opp and awesome camp host. We ended up in group site 1 due to Covid they can’t have big groups and it was spacious and great for our doggos to have a big area. There are 3 neighborhood dogs that come and go through your campsite but they are sweet pups and don’t cause any trouble. The abandoned town is a 3 minute walk from camp and really interesting. Some camp spots are right on the creek and the running water is a peaceful background noise for your trip. Highly recommend!
GuideI didn’t actually stay here as I was looking for a tent camping spot, but I did drive around the facility and it was super clean and looked like a great spot if you’ve got an RV. Pool and clean bathrooms available, host also mentioned it has WiFi access.
Daily rates started at $65 a night, which was a little out of my budget, but if you’ve got the money and you’ve got the rig I’d totally recommend staying here!
GuideMusch Camp is an easy one mile hike from from the Trippet Ranch Parking Lot in Topanga State Park. If you want a longer hike you can hike up the East Topanga Fire Road and then drop down into Musch Camp on the Backbone Trail from Eagle Junction. This will add a few more miles to your hike and allow you to make a loop by hiking back to Trippet Ranch via the one mile Musch Trail.
The cost is $7 per person per night. You can pay at the Entrance Station at the Trippet Ranch Parking Lot or the Iron Ranger at the camp. If you are parking your vehicle overnight in the parking lot please leave a note on your dashboard so that the Rangers are aware that you are camping at Musch Camp.
The campground has around 6 campsites in two sections surrounded by fencing. Each site has a picnic table. FIRES ARE NOT ALLOWED. There is also a restroom with flush toilets' and sinks as well as a water spigot. There are also horse corrals across the trail from the campground. Some of the sites have shade.
There are meadows down the trail on either side of the campground. There is limited cell service at the campground.
LegendNice area for RVing. Good size campsites. Full hookups, Public Restrooms and nice playground area. There is a camp host on site and the Ranger makes at least a daily visit. Someone was still in our reserved spot, They were not in their trailer at the time and the Ranger said they could have the Rig towed, but we opted to have the Ranger change our reservation to another nice site.
Note: Be aware of checkout times, not just here, but any campground as it would be awful to come back to fine your RV had ben towed to an impound lot.
GuideThis is a small park right in my own home town. Lots of trees, and tucked away in a canyon. There is archery with lessons for kids on the weekends. Very fun! If you are new to RV camping, it’s a good place to practice.
GuideGreat campground with multiple sites. Fire pits & along Bear Creek (seasonal). Can be reached from Tom Sloan Saddle or Switzer Falls Trailhead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is Tapo Canyon Park with a 4-star rating from 11 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 equestrian camping locations near Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, with real photos and reviews from campers.
