Horse camping is the perfect way to enjoy Bloomington. If you're an equestrian lover who prefers nature-based adventure, yet still wants comfort, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Camping with horses is a beautiful way to experience nature. With our help, you'll find the best Idaho equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
Famous for its brilliant Caribbean-aqua blue waters, Bear Lake Utah camping is an otherworldly oasis nestled between the Utah and Idaho border. Vast and extensive soft sand beaches attract visitors from all over the world, who come to fish, boat, camp, and recreate in the outdoors.
Aside from lake itself, off-roading and exploring the mountain trails are another popular activity. There’s a number rental locations nearby which can lend out their OHV (Off-Highway-Vehicles) to traverse the area’s various geographic oddities for a reasonable rate.
Speaking of the geography, Bear Lake State park is extremely organized and easy to navigate. In fact, there are three districts of the park meant for different types of recreation. First is the State Marina, located on the west side of Bear Lake. North end of Garden City, one mile north of the US 89 and SR 30 Junction. Second, is Rendezvous Beach, on the southwest curve of Bear Lake. Roughly 2 miles NW from Laketown on SR-30 from the CIsco Road and SR 30 Junction.
And finally, The Park’s Eastside Areas- Eastside of Bear Lake, including First Point, South Eden, Cisco Beach, Rainbow Cove, and North Eden. Distances vary from four miles to 13 miles on Cisco Road from Laketown and the Cisco Road SR 30 Intersection.
$25 - $45 / night
Paris Springs Campground is situated in scenic Paris Canyon, about five miles from Paris, Idaho. It is about 20 miles from Bear Lake, at an elevation of 6,600 feet. The campground gives Bear Lake visitors the opportunity to camp in a quiet area with lush vegetation.
Paris Creek runs alongside the campground, after bubbling up from Paris Spring, which can be accessed from a 300-yard trail within the site. Campers enjoy hiking and fishing along the creek.
A mixed conifer and aspen forest covers the campground and much of Paris Canyon. Plentiful shade can be found throughout most of the campground. Summer wildflowers dot the landscape.
The Highline Trail, part of the National Trail System, can be accessed nearby. It is the premier trail of the Montpelier Ranger District, stretching 55 miles along the backbone of the Bear River Range. The trail is enjoyed by hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, motorcyclists and off-road vehicle enthusiasts from around the world. Paris Ice Cave is also not far from the campground. Self-guided tours of the cave offer a look into an unusual cavern filled with ice year-round. The cave is not developed but a footpath leads through it. Beautiful Bear Lake State Park is about 20 miles away, with boating, water skiing, fishing and swimming. Bear Lake's Raspberry Days festival occurs annually the first weekend in August, with a parade, fireworks, craft booths and a rodeo.
$100 / night
The Hobble Creek Campground is a beautiful and remote campsite on the Kemmerer Ranger District. The Hobble Creek Campground is located at the trailhead to Lake Alice and offers 18 campsites, toilet, trash and potable water in the summer on fish-filled Hobble Creek. Corrals are available for stock. Lake Alice, is a short 1.5 mile hike east from the campground. Trailers longer than 30 feet are not recomended. The Hobble Creek Campground is also located close to the Hobble Creek Trailhead where visitors and continue along Hobble Creek and eventually connect in to the historic Lander Cutoff of the Oregon Trail. Visitors are strongly encouraged to practice clean camping techniques and to store attractants (e.g. food, toothpaste) in a manner that makes them unavailable to bears.
Malad Summit Guard Station is located 14 miles north of Malad, Idaho on Malad Pass just off I-15. The rustic one-room cabin is in a forested setting in narrow Mill Creek Drainage, and offers a secluded retreat on fenced acreage surrounded by scenic high country views. The original guard station was established in 1908, but was replaced by the existing cabin in 1934. The cabin is accessible by car when there is no snow. Guests should be prepared in snowy conditions to ski, snowshoe or snowmobile half a mile from the plowed road to reach the cabin. The guard station offers many amenities for a comfortable stay, but fewer conveniences are available in winter.
The surrounding area offers a variety of recreational activities. Trails are provided for hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and off-road vehicles (Idaho OHV safety message).Anglers can fish for small brook trout in Mill Creek. Hunting for game and game birds is another popular pastime.
The surrounding area offers a variety of recreational activities. Trails are provided for hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and off-road vehicles (Idaho OHV safety message).Anglers can fish for small brook trout in Mill Creek. Hunting for game and game birds is another popular pastime.
The rustic single-room cabin is tucked into a deciduous and conifer forest at an elevation of around 6,000 feet. Mill Creek meanders through the site. The front porch invites guests to sit and enjoy views of the forest and possible wildlife sightings. Black bears, wolves, elk, moose, mule deer, bison, grizzly bears, mountain lions and pronghorn are some of the species native to the area (bear safety tips).
For facility specific information, please call (208) 236-7500.
$60 / night
Cottonwood Group Campsite is located near the scenic Cottonwood Lake below Salt River Pass in the forest of western Wyoming.
The lake offers great canoeing and boating for smaller craft and fishing for brook and cutthroat trout. Hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails are in the area, as well as a motorized route for trail vehicles <50". The west loop of the campground includes horse corrals. The east side, where the group site is located, includes the motorized trail head, so trail vehicles are allowed passage.
Peaceful North Fork Creek flows through the campground. Its banks and the surrounding canyon are forested by dense stands of pines and aspens, which offer excellent shade and privacy. Vibrant summer wildflowers are abundant.
$35 / night
The trail begins with a small ATV bridge across the creek from a dispersed campsite and parking area just on the west of Greys River, about 46 miles upriver from Alpine, Wyoming. It provides motorized access for 2 miles, then becomes a horse/hiking trail that connects to the Way Trail, or over the top to Sheep Pass. Spring Creek Falls is an attraction.
Guide
Lots of families camping here. Close to town and lots of day use area. Campsites pretty close together but lots of grass and trees. Clean bathrooms and pretty neighborhood for walking
Scout
Tons of land, tons of campsites.. but most are "occupied" by empty trailers with no other vehicles or people around. There's empty cars parked on top of fire pits, no tents or any sort of life nearby. Felt strange.
This road is rough and very bumpy. Didn't feel comfortable "taking over" a campsite with things already parked there. Wouldn't recommend coming here.
GuideEnded up driving this road up to Idaho to find a bigger spot and some solitude. Took the dirt road for about 30 minutes and got the most perfect spot. Nobody was near us and the view was amazing. We went at the beginning of June, it was a bit chilly some mornings and at night, so come prepared.
GuideThis is a nice quiet place. Near city limits where there is places to buy groceries, gas, or go out to a restaurant. They have about 20 spots with electrical outlets. It would be good to call and ask if you can stay, where it is a fairgrounds.
TravelerLots of spaces here. Big pull-in spots for camper rigs. And some small side pull outs for sedans who don’t mind walk-in tent spots.
TravelerGot in late around 2100. Plenty of spots available in the back without electric. I did get a spot right next to the lake. Has picnic table, firepit, and charcoal grill available. I camped out of the back of my truck. There is a road that runs on the north side of the ground that can be loud from passing traffic, otherwise quiet. Handicap accessible bathrooms and showers, plenty of hot water!
GuideAbsolutely beautiful location off highway 89. A popular place especially for ohv-ers. Lots of places to park but most of them seemed to be “claimed” (tents or trailers with no vehicles) for the upcoming weekend. That is the only reason for the loss of one star. We were there on a Thursday night just for and one night stop-and-go, so any of those claimed spots we could have used had they not been there.
There is a creek that flows back and forth around the area, we had that for our soundtrack as we slept.
At about mile 2 from the turn-off, there is a cattle guard and clear signs that the road is public but the land is not. It is possible that there is another cattle guard further up and more dispersed passed it as we saw more rvs head up and not turn around and come back, but we did not investigate that.
Well worth the trip in the search for a spot though. It was an amazing stay.
ScoutI have grown up camping in the Franklin Basin area. It is the perfect location for anyone looking for places to hike or ride. There are many different places to visit throughout the area such as the "Plane Crash" site, Beaver Creek, old logging trails, and more. If your looking for a place to just get out in the dirt and relax, this is the place.
Guide
Location is out about 7 miles out of town but has beach access which is great for families with kids.
It gets really windy from one moment to the next.
The water is absolutely beautiful! Can’t wait to come back again.
Don’t use address provided on their website. It’ll take you to Marina.
GuideReally beautiful spot. Pretty good campground.
Traveler
It has a big camp site, big enough to fit a big family. Enough parking for all vehicles. Would totally recommend coming here.
GuideStayed here on a road trip across the west. Easy late check-in, quiet (mostly RVs), and hot showers. Perfect for a night in the Logan area — it’s located within a neighborhood on a lake. Felt much safer than other rustic options nearby. Would stay again if I were passing through. There are a couple cabins for rent (which you can see in my photo). There are features located near the bathrooms sharing historical info, where I enjoyed learning the history of this area that is the Cache Valley. We enjoyed our morning coffee with a beautiful view!
LegendThe address we put into our GPS took us to the Marina so we drove further along the lake to Rendezvous Beach area where we checked in at the gate house with no problems. We then proceeded to the Birch campground(CG) FHU site 55, which was a pull through. The CG map shows there are 4 CGs(Willow, Birch, Cottonwood,& Big Creek). Big Creek is the oldest with a lot more shade trees than the other listed CGs. The CGs run in sequence along the south end of the lake. The sites are well spaced with a nice little covered patio with the picnic table. The beach is about 100 yards away and we had a sliver of lake view. We were surprised that dogs are not allowed on the park beaches. There was a fire ban that included charcoal grills(propane okay). We had great water pressure, used 15’ sewer hose, and received about 30 OTA channels. We had a clear shot to the southern sky, but didn’t need/use our satellite. We got 4 bars on Verizon. We where not sure what to expect when we decided to come to Bear Lake SP but we sure were not expecting it to be dog restrictive. Dogs are not allowed by the lake/beach or in day use areas so we were limited to walking them around the campground. We also were not expecting a tourist trap, sunning beach, and crowded with families during the week(Mon- Thur) late in August. There were plenty of CG workers but they did not keep up with the trash laying about. Our fire pit, which we couldn’t use, had trash in it to include a pair of kids underwear. We did enjoy going to Montpelier and visiting the Oregon/California Trail Center and Butch Cassidy Museum. One and done for us.
GuideI've camped here several times since I was a child. It's nice that there is a river that runs nearby. There are about 50 campsites on a first come first served basis. The road gets narrower as you drive up the canyon and the campsites are spread out along the way over about 5+ miles. I wouldn't recommend going too far in with a big trailer. Fires are allowed only part of the year. The forest service puts flags in the fire pits when it gets too dry. There are hiking trails (such as leathams hollow) and a few rock climbing routes as well. Lots of people go four wheeling and motorcycling as well.
Traveler
Nice little campground with plenty of space between campsites. Kids and dogs had fun playing in the nearby creek (water is very cold), with lots of great hiking opportunities.
I had no problems pulling my 26' TT into here, but I don't know if I would attempt to bring anything in much larger than that.
Added bonus, there were a lot of wild strawberries and raspberries in the area.
Scout
RangerWe stayed here in mid August and could not have had better weather. You are pretty exposed here, so don’t expect to park in shade. though there are shaded picnic tables and the water was so fresh!
I have never been in a more blue lake, think Lake Tahoe CA blue...
Camping was $10 a night and there were a ton of sites.
The beach itself was pretty rocky, but it’s a very short walk from the campsite.
Fire rings and the shaded picnic table made this and easy place to work! We love out of our van and rely ok Verizon service. Which was roughly 2-3 bars of LTE.
Dogs are allowed here, so our two dogs were able to swim.
Bathrooms were nice and clean! Vaulted toilets, but man were they clean...
You are 25 minutes from a town if you need supplies or a raspberry milkshake.
Worth the trip/stop if you want to hang by a clear blue lake and enjoy a starlit night.
RangerLoved this place will definitely go back. Spacious and not too crowded. Lots of hiking spots!
Ranger
Literally the most perfect place ever minus the crowd but the waters are insane!
GuideWhile the sites are uninspiring with very few shade trees, the beach is right there, the sand is nice, and one can wade out quite far in the water to lounge all day. The hosts were super--they went out of their way to go get us firewood in their golf cart as we weren't able to do this with just our motorcycles available.
The one dig on this which isn't reported elsewhere is that this thing is downwind from a cow pasture, and boy do you know it during the height of the day when its warm and the breeze is filling your nostrils with that fresh dairy smell. Again, get down to the beachfront and stay there.
Guide
We wanted to try this out with our 28' bumper pull. Luckily it was not a busy weekend, we had to move sites to one that would accommodate. Hard to maneuver in the campground as well as getting up the narrow road. Perfect site for tents. Tons of shade and trees. There's a really cool spring and waterfall just a short hike up the road. We will be coming back with our friends.
Legend
Great dispersed camping area. Appears to be used by a lot of hunters. There is a nice big picnic table at one site and a few spots with campfire rings and meat poles. There are no other amenities. The Greys River is right near camp as well as Spring Creek. The Spring Creek Falls trailhead has a river crossing at the 2 mile mark, sign states it is 5 miles to the falls. I didn’t venture further than that. I stayed at this campground because I was hiking up Wyoming Peak in the morning. Wyoming Peak was a wonderful hike, highly recommend! This summer has had the most amazing wildflowers!
TravelerWe loved our stay at Paris Springs. The campground was in great shape, the drive up to our site was amazingly beautiful, and the campground hosts were very attentive and thoughtful. We misplaced our tent stakes and they offered some of theirs that they had. It was a windy night so we were very grateful. There’s a short 5 minute hike right by campground #4 that leads to an cool waterfall. It was a great way to start the morning.
The only issues that we had was that the water running to each campsite wasn’t drinkable so it was shut off. They discounted our nightly price in half which was nice though. Also, the water that runs along the side of the campground was high right now so some of the campgrounds were under water or muddy. That was only on 2 out of the 12 camp sites.
Other than that it was a great location, beautiful scenery, close to hikes, and not far from Bear Lake. We will definitely be coming back. Highly recommend camping there!
TravelerBathrooms and developed campsites with plenty of trees and a creek running through it!
ScoutWe had a good time, the beach is close you can cook and play, drive your food and gear down to the water. Sand is not real fine a little closer to dirt but kids had a good time. The wind can kick up and get a bit choppy and in season there is a lot of boat traffic the camp ground is also the boat ramp access. The showers are awesome lots of trees and good grass in the campground. It’s the typical cram in next to your neighbor type start campground. I would go back if it is ever part of another trip/route.
GuideNo frills but a great stop if your traveling threw .. great place to rest nice people quite
Legend
Campground Review: As you enter the forest boundary, there is a sign alerting you to road damage. The road is pretty rough getting into the campground. You will encounter some pretty significant potholes and washouts. Just take it slow, you’ll be fine. Also, the campground is not on the lake, it is about a 1/4 mile from the lake. The campground is quite nice back in the trees. There are 2 separate forks, one for equestrians and the other allows off-road vehicles.
I camped at site 13. It was near the water supply and a couple sites away from the restroom. It was also very close to the ORV trailhead. The only bear boxes are located by the restroom, which I though was unusual. I just made sure any food items were stored away in my vehicle and locked vs storing in the bear box. The campground was about half full on a Friday. The group site does require a reservation. The site I occupied had a small iron fire ring with a grill component. Some other sites had much larger cement fire rings. The lake is spectacular! it is the prettiest shade of teal. There is a boat dock at the far end of the lake. Near the parking area there is a beach area where you can kayak and paddle board from. The lake has brown and cutthroat trout. They were jumping like crazy in the evening and the fly fishing was excellent! I used my favorite yellow caddis. It was a little more difficult from shore but the boaters were killing it. I could have easily spent the whole weekend up here. My reason for visiting this area was to get away from the madness of the Lincoln County Fair that I was in the area attending and supporting my kids in 4-H. I prefer the solitude of camping in the forest ca the commercial campground at the fairgrounds.
This campground is recommended it you are interested in the following: horseback riding, fly fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, canoeing, hiking, ORV, wildlife viewing. Something for everyone!
Gear Review: Humangear http://www.humangear.com/ Quick Bites, Go-Tubes, FlexiBowl. As a Ranger with the Dyrt, I occasionally receive gear to field test while camping. While planning for this trip, I brought some easy dinner items to quickly toss together. Prior to leaving, I mixed up some sauce at home and transported it in my GoTube. It was perfect! The opening to the soft silicone container is nice and wide. I added some chili sauce, soy sauce, and Sriracha to the tube and replaced the lid and shook it to mix. The lid has a nice mechanism that will lock the lid to prevent it from opening during transport. When squeezed, the contents are very controlled and there is no drip once you release. I used the FlexiBowl to mix up my concoction at camp. I emptied a tin of canned chicken int the bowel. The top inch or so of the bowel will fold down to create a wider opening. I used my Go-Bites spork to mix the sauce i brought with the chicken. I ate this on crackers. It was delicious after a long day. Pardon my dark demo video, it was 9 pm when I got around to eating. Prior to having the Humangear Go-Bites double ended spork, I had a light my fire spork. I was doing a side by side demo of the strength and barely put any effort on the ends of the light my fire sport and it split in two. I'm a fan of the Humangear eating utensils. I have also use the DuoBites which are a fork and spoon that slide into each other for transport and so they stay together. I really like both utensils that i have tried! I also have to throw in a GREAT word for the Humangear CapCap! This is a huge step up in my Nalgene game! I don't know how i got by without one! No more spills down the front of my shirt! Bonus!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Bloomington, ID?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Bloomington, ID is Bear Lake State Park Campground with a 4.1-star rating from 15 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Bloomington, ID?
TheDyrt.com has all 10 equestrian camping locations near Bloomington, ID, with real photos and reviews from campers.
