Best Equestrian Camping near Washington, GA

Bussey Point is primarily for equestrians. The campsites have pre-installed horse hitches and plenty of room to move a horse trailer. The sites have a picnic table and a fire pit. The campground has a well for water and an open pit latrine. There's no power which is perfect for camping off grid away from all the trailers.

The campsites are right on the water and the view is beautiful. Over the weekend I was the only one here and the only person I spoke to was the volunteer Camp Ranger from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

There is a 12-mile horse trail that goes out on the peninsula and some pack-in or canoe-in campsites out on the peninsula.

Fee per night is on an honor system at $10. I have no complaints about this campsite only about the other campers that leave their trash behind.

I recommend this campground if you're looking to get away from all the people especially the crowds at the more popular campsites at the state parks, and if you're fine with more primitive camping that doesn't involve daily showers.

Large, well maintained sites. We stayed on 17 and it was very private. We hiked from the campground to Lake Buncombe and also hiked from Sunset Drive trail to Lake Liberty and the office. Equestrian trails are closed to hiking during the weekend. Equestrian campground has a new stable and bathhouse and a campground that is under construction now. The old equestrian campground and stable are still there. The cabins on Federal Lake just reopened after getting new flooring. All of the rangers were friendly and helpful. We did the A. H. Stephens museum tour and that was very nicely done. We did a day trip to Greensboro and walked the shops and went to Oconee Brewery. Everyone was raving about Yesterday Cafe so on our next visit Lucy May have to stay back at the camper. We will definitely return in warmer weather for canoeing and a trip to Warrenton which is close by.

Very nice quiet park with a small campground (21 sites, all with electric and water). The sites are shaded, and flat with a gravel drive and tent pad. We hadn’t planned on staying here but were pleasantly surprised to find a few vacancies on the first Saturday in November. There is also an equestrian campground located several miles from the main campground. The main feature is a covered bridge, the longest one in Georgia, that is located ¾ of a mile from the campground (an easy walk). 

A nice perk was laundry facilities outside the restrooms. The restrooms were very clean. 

There are seven miles of hiking trails, five miles of bike trails, canoe rentals, and we saw several people fishing. 

There was also a nice day-use area with picnic tables within view of the covered bridge.

We have camped at this beautiful park NUMEROUS times and there is a reason that we keep coming back (actually there are multiple reasons)!

HLC has an amazing staff that is there when you need them and not there when you don't! The camp hosts are friendly, the Ranger rides through on a regular basis and is friendly/outgoing (you can tell that he enjoys his job)!

The campground is not cramped at all and most of the sites are spread apart to provide privacy!

Not long ago, as many of the GA State Parks are doing, HLC swapped over to "site-specific" reservations..meaning that you must choose a particular site when reserving. This is VERY useful if you're familiar with the campground and have a favorite site (such as we do) but it can be a shot in the dark if you're not familiar with the campground.

The bath houses/comfort stations are brand new (including laundry rooms) and the camp hosts keep them spotless! The campground roads are newly paved and there are a couple of new sites.

There are hiking trails, kayak rentals, a beach area (swimming) and two nice lakes! There are equestrian trails and even an equestrian campground!

The park has numerous cottages to rent, a group shelter, picnic pavilions and even a mini-golf course (newly renovated)!

Not far from the campground (in Rutledge, GA) there is a Dollar general in case you forgot something that the park store doesn't have.

If you've never visited this beautiful park, ou are missing out on one of our hidden gems!

Hard Labor Creek State Park is one of the Georgia State Park system's best kept secrets! Located just minutes away from Rutledge, GA, HLC seems like a whole world away! Away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, HLC is still convenient to Rutledge and Madison, in case you forgot to pack something.

HLC features hiking trails, mini golf, newly "renovated" campsites that include two BRAND new bathhouses (comfort stations). The comfort stations have restrooms/showers, as well as two family restroom/shower facilities. The comfort stations also feature vending machines (drinks) and a laundry facility!

Kayak rentals, a beach/swimming area and numerous special programs are available!

Cell phone service is very spotty in the park but that is alright with us, camping is about getting AWAY and enjoying the outdoors, not staring at your electronic devices!

If golf is your thing, HLC has a beautiful 18-hole golf course!

Our favorite park is Mistletoe, a GA state owned park. This park is just a few miles away from Mistletoe and we only stayed here because we could not get a site at Mistletoe. In the end, we are glad that we did as this park is about 35% less expensive than Mistletoe and provides the same great lake views (ok, Mistletoe is still our favorite, but for the money this is a no brainer).

We stayed on two sites as nothing was available for our entire duration. So, we started on site 38 and then moved to 58 after a couple of days (we can be quite fast at breaking down/setting up for in-park moves).

Site 38 was interesting because we had about 100 whitetail deer in our back yard every night. The camp host apparently was feeding them, and he set up spot lights so that they could be watched as they ate. The deer had no fear (not sure that is good), but I am sure the appreciated the food. The only bad side to this is that the lights stayed on very late and it was impossible to block the light from our windows. I can overlook this, though.

Site 38 was large enough and had big, flat, surface for the picnic table, fire ring, camper, and truck. Beyond this pad there was not much distance before you got to the next site, which just had a tent camper (who mostly was gone because this time we visited during a VERY cold spell and I don't think the tent camper would have survived the night!).

Site 38 had views of the water, kind of like a finger cover, but it was not very close to the camper. Still nice though as the walk through the woods to the water was easy. 

We moved to site 58 after a couple of days and it was directly on the water. This site was smaller than 38, and was only one of a handful of RV sites that are situated in an yurt camping area (if you have family that does not have an RV, you could stay in your RV and they could stay in the really upscale yurts!). 

The weather, as noted already, was very cold and moving to a true waterfront lot made going outside something only for the brave! It was 40 degrees with 60 mph wind gusts that day...kind of fun!

We walked around to see what the park had on that side, and it included a nice sandy beach, picnic tables under the shade, and a really cool primitive camping area that was out on a peninsula.

As noted at the start, a nice park for the money. The cost was only $25 a night in March 2022 and that is hard to beat. If this were $40 a night I would de-rate it to 4 stars.

All of the photos are from site 38 except the white caps on the lake, which was taken On our walk near 58.