Best Equestrian Camping near Smyrna, DE

We do Lums Pond at least twice a year if we can get reservations.

Sites are big and all were redone in the last few years with concrete pads, 30 amp service and full sewer. There are some equestrian and tent sites as well.

Lots of boating (electric motors only) and kayaking on the pond and a decent amount of hiking. There’s an off leash dog park, equestrian center and boat ramp. Book early because it fills up fast!

Tuckahoe is a hidden gem on Maryland’s mid-Eastern Shore region. With many of your standard amenities and a quiet atmosphere, it was a great spot for my first time camping with my kids.

Our campsite was on the non-electric loop. We had a small creek and trail back up to our campsite. We only had a handful of neighbors and foot traffic at the time was almost nonexistent, so we practically had the park to ourselves.

There is an electric loop with electric hookup, but no water or sewer. Those can be found at the campground entrance. Each loop has a wood shed and clean, well-appointed bathhouse. There are water pumps along the road for refills.

There are 4 basic cabins on each loop and most sites are designed for RV and/or tent use. There are 3 sites that are tent-only on the non-electric loop.

Multiple trails in the area are widespread. Wear comfortable hiking shoes and bring a map! They also have equestrian trails with an equestrian center nearby. The lakefront boasts a picnic area with individual tables and grills, recycled tire playground, and kayak rentals (for a fee). Fishing is allowed, but no swimming (which was a bummer for us, but exploring some of the local creeks helped provide some relief from the summer heat).

Nearby is Atkins Arboretum. Their 5 mile trail system covers around 400 acres. There are woods, “grasslands,” and “wetlands” to explore the various ecosystems of the Eastern Shore. They also had a goat area and garden play area for children. There is a fee through the Visitor’s Center which supports the center, but some of the trails can be accessed via other Tuckahoe trails.

Centrally located, you’re still within easy access to a local town center (Denton), supplies, and dining. I can’t recommend Tuckahoe enough if you just want a quiet spot or you’re new to camping!

I understand why it is so difficult to get a reservation at Lums Pond.  I don't know if it's the host campers or the management, but they're definitely doing something right.  

I have to say, Jim, the host camper by us was fantastic.  As it was our first trip after a long winter, I managed to forget to put the anode back in our water heater.  I went over and sheepishly asked him if I could borrow a 1 1/2" socket.  He not only lent us a socket, but asked if I needed help, and if I had teflon tape (which I did) and was willing to lend a hand.

The site was fairly level, side-to-side, so I really only needed to level front to back.  That was a bonus.

Our daughter really enjoyed the playground (which was excellent, by my standards). The only complaint I have is that the kiddie swings seem to be modeled after the seasickness machine that they had on Mythbusters (https://archive.org/details/MythBusters..Season.3..480p576P..DVDripHDTV..X265HEVC..O69..FIXED/Mythbusters+-+S03E26+-+Seasickness+-+Kill+or+Cure.mkv).  I could only go on the swing with her for a little bit before I started to turn green.  Other than that?  She fought us about leaving the playground, and really would have been content if that was all we did.

I took her older cousins to  the fishing pier, and we didn't even get a nibble, but I think it was too cold for panfish that close to shore.

The trails were well marked, and the day we took a hike, we ended up on the equestrian trail that runs all the way around the pond.  It was a long, but easy hike.

The bath house was absolutely immaculate, and the design made even my public-bathroom-phobic sister-in-law comfortable and at ease.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip, and I hope to go back soon.

This State park campground is very well maintained. The staff is friendly. Quiet, clean area and had no problem navigating in our 40’ 5th wheel. Great place to stay and check out “Lower, slower Delaware.”

The only thing about this site specifically is the trail was close by so you’d occasionally see people walking by but not enough that it didn’t still feel secluded. Nice hikes in the area, great weekend!

Spent a weekend in BO1, spacious campsite, grill, picnic table, firepit, parking for 2-3 cars plus overflow parking. Firewood was easy to get and was plenty of it. I was only one in the forest ATM but saw some hikers occasionally throughout the day walking by.

Only 8 sites in the campground, very spaced apart. Each site has lots of room, very much enjoyed our stay and will return! No running water- only port a potties but they were clean

This is a good free state forest with maybe 10 (or less) designated tent-camping sites, and designated areas for deer hunting. Each campsite features a picnic table or two, and a fire pit, plus one bundle of firewood. The ground is dirt covered with woodchips and sometimes evergreen needles -- pretty easy to sleep in a tent. There are a couple portapotties in the camping area, which are a few feet from one campsite, or a few blocks from another. There is one water pump. And there are plenty of hiking trails in the state forest, complete with mushrooms, and deer-hunting-stands.

RV camping is not encouraged. Horseriding is encouraged. And you may regret not brining mosquito repellent. The blood-suckers are relentless.

My only beef is that it's a legitimate campground, which means, neighbors. But the neighbors aren't unreasonably close, so it's actually pretty good.

super pretty. shower up in the dark but was super easy to navigate with a map. people super friendly.

My family had a great time here. The camp sites are spaced out a good amount so each site has good privacy. There are multiple port a potties here but some sites are a bit far from them. Each site has a fire pit, a grill, and two tables with a decent amount of space for tents. I would highly recommend this campground and will be returning.

At arrival we went straight our site,68. Large paved pad and huge grassy area around it. Trees around but none directly on the lot keeping us shaded and exposed and different times of the day. Very quiet. Fishing dock, and walking path. Across the pond is boat rentals and a zip lining. Great area. Def adding this to the list of places to return!!

What a clean, quiet, well cared for campground!!  I saw some negative comments on another site and was very surprised.  The sites are sufficiently large.  Certainly one can see other campers but check the site map and you can certainly find sites more private than others.

   VERY dog friendly.  They have an off leash dog area and swimming  area.  The trails are nice, wooded, uncrowded.   Cross the street and you can access the canal trail surrounded by protected land.  Great for walking/biking combined with canal traffic watching.  We walked the dogs along trail and saw 1 other person. Another day we drove along the dirt roads along the canal and saw 2 other vehicles the whole time.

Easy to ride into Wilmington as well as very close to the Brandywine area.

Do yourself a favor and visit Hagley Museum!

I  definitely recommend this campground!

Clean and well kept grounds, quiet atmosphere. Lums is very small and can be hard to get a weekend reservation. Campground is a short trail walk to the lake for fishing. On the other side of the lake there’s boat rentals and a zip line. Lums is one of favorite, however there isn’t much to do in the surrounding area.

Well maintained, easily accessible place. Great outdoor area around it. 5/5 👌

Our GPS wanted to take us to the main park entrance on Howell School Rd versus Red Lion Rd to the campground entrance on the other side of the pond. The gate and store were not open so we went directly to back-in site 26 with FHUs. Our reservation sheet and vehicle pass were on the post when we arrived. Back-in was okay with having to swing our F-450 and 39’ 5th wheel into the grass between sites across the street. Utilities were smartly placed at the middle of the pad. We had 2 to 3 bars on Verizon and 2 bars on AT&T. However, we had trouble with AT&T maintaining internet on our Weingard Connect. The CG is in two loops. Sites 1-30 make up the first loop and that is where most of the larger rigs camped. A rough estimate(double check site size online) is that sites 12- 18 will take larger rigs up to around 45’ but you’ll need to park your tow vehicle or toad angled in front of your rig. Our site was long enough for our 39’ fifth wheel but we had to park our truck at an angle as well. The second loop does have larger sites but is mainly suited for small rigs to include a tent area. Both loops have a large grass field in the middle that the sites back up to, which is great for playing outside games and without many trees so you could use satellite from almost all the sites. From a spaciousness point of view, the best site in the CG is 17, but it is near the walking trail. The shower house also contains a small laundry with 3 washers and 4 dryers that are reasonably priced, although one washer was out of service at the time. However, there was not a change machine. You could purchase firewood from one of the on duty camp hosts. A short drive from the campground to another Lum’s Pond State Park area there’s a really cool dog park where you can walk the dogs off leash down trails and with open play areas along the pond. One of the best features of this off-leash area is how secluded it is away from the main road. Supposedly this is known as a haunted campground, although we didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. If in the area, we would stay here again.

This was our first time here and it’s only an hour from home. I was hopeful for another nice DE state park and I wasn’t disappointed. All DE parks are nicely laid out. There were shaded spots and sunny spots. Bathhouse was clean. The camp loop is a nice walk but there are also trails. They were pretty muddy when we were there. Site 35 was quite spacious as were many of them. Sites do sit close to the road but are spacious side to side. There is a large field in the center and woods surrounding the loop. Site 33 was close to our back side but site 37 was far from us. There is one cross road with sites and those were closer together. Sites on pond side were more spread apart than the opposite side. The one tent area was behind and slightly surrounding an RV site which was weird. The other tent areas were separate from RV sites. I would recommend this campground.

We spent one night here last week on our way to NYC. Staff was great. Sites were nicely spread out. Full hook ups.

I was able to book my site the day before the trip. The site itself was set back some, and felt secluded while still being near the parking area.

Walk to bathrooms and camp store was on the longer side. Firewood was $5 a bundle, but the register wasn't working and they could only take cash.

The hiking in the immediate area was beautiful, lots of fun trails and wildlife. Fishing, kayaking, zip lining, tons of great activities.

The firepits have grates over one half, so campfire cooking is a breeze. Cook up and use the provided picnic table for an easy dinner set up.

The park itself is very dog friendly and most sites had dogs. There is also an off leash dog park at Lum's pond and dog water dishes outside the camp store.

The showers and bathrooms were incredibly well kept with hot water and stocked supplies. If you didn't feel like walking so far, the tents had a spiget with running water near the parking areas.

Reception for Verizon was spotty, t mobile was pretty great. Wish there was an ATM on site though I don't think the cash only situation is a normal one for this campground.

All in all an amazing trip, and I'll be back as soon as possible.

It was a great experience with the exception of your neighbors being pretty close to you in the tent area. Still wanting to try more dispersed camping because it was just a little too loud/busy for us. But the staff was great and the walk to the pond was an enjoyable one! Nice, easy, flat trails so this would be great for the younger or older explorer!

Quite, spacious sites, lots of walking trails and a large pond.

What a great little campground. Shaded well spaced sites with full hookups and yurts to stay in.

The sites are large and the whole campground is very open. There is a small camp store with the essentials and very clean bath and shower facilities. The pond is huge; perfect for kayaking or canoeing.

Loved this place. Sites very well spaced, facilities clean, laundry room spotless, camp store has everything you might need and the hiking trails can’t be beat. We camped there twice…and did not disappoint either time. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because there is no Wi-Fi…even though description states differently.

No big complaints. No big praise.

We needed a place to stay for the night and it provided that. If I were going to pick a camp to just hang out or enjoy nature, it wouldn't be this one.

Verizon cell service was fine.

We came in July. We want to come back in October when the leaves will be in full color. Huge campsites! Very quiet and the other campers are friendly. The camp store doesn’t follow its hours posted, so make sure to get there early for firewood. Our 11 & 4 year olds loved it. Very peaceful.

Stayed for two nights passing through. Facilities were very clean. Campground quiet. Bike paths were more for mountain biking. AT&T good service. Stayed on 13. Nice and shady not close to bathroom. Most sites are level.