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Equestrian Camping near Herod, IL

24 campgrounds · Check availability for any dates.

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    SUMMARY PRESENTED BYT-Mobile

    Hayes Canyon Campground near Herod, Illinois offers horse corrals for equestrians camping in the Shawnee National Forest. The campground provides horse-friendly amenities including water hookups, electric hookups, sewer hookups, showers, and sanitary dump stations. Campers can choose from tent sites, RV spaces, cabins, and glamping accommodations, all accessible via drive-in access. The campground maintains dedicated horse corrals, making it suitable for travelers with horses. High Knob Campgrounds, also in the area, caters specifically to equestrians with extensive trail access. The campground features stalls that are designed for safety, though some users note that shower facilities can be less than ideal. Sites typically offer some shade for both horses and riders.

    Numerous marked trails traverse the rocky, hilly terrain of Shawnee National Forest, connecting equestrian campers to scenic destinations including Garden of the Gods. Maps are available at both High Knob and Hayes Canyon campgrounds, though some trails would benefit from better markings. Horse campers can access portions of the River to River trail that meanders through the region. Both campgrounds accommodate larger rigs necessary for horse transport, with High Knob allowing extensive staging areas for equestrians planning multi-day treks. The entire area provides excellent trail riding opportunities with varied terrain featuring hills, rocks, and cliff areas. Horse owners should note that High Knob strictly serves as a horse camp and does not accept tent-only campers without horses, according to visitor reports.

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    Best Equestrian Campgrounds near Herod (24)

    Filters    Tent onlyRVDispersedCabinGlampingPetsEquestrian

      1. Camp Cadiz Campground

      4.7(6)11mi from HerodTents

      "On a gravel road, in the back country like most everything else on this side of Illinois , fill your gas tank up and your food locker or you will be driving back out a ways to refill. "

      "It's super quiet despite the gravel road nearby. The vault restroom is kept very clean. It has easy access to the River to River trail, and I love the CCC stonework."

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      2. High Knob Campgrounds

      3.3(4)6mi from HerodRVs

      "deffinitly caters to equestrians, my only complaint is the shower houses. The potty area is clean but showers are usually kinda gross."

      "High Knob is a Horse campground in Shawnee National Forest near Garden of the Gods off Il1. The entire area has extensive trails through some awesome, hilly, rocky, cliffy areas."

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      3. Shawnee Forest Campground

      4.5(37)26mi from HerodRVs, Tents, Glamping

      "We followed our GPS to the clearly marked CG entrance but our GPS showed we still had about a half mile to go."

      "Super friendly camp host, conveniently located off the interstate and feels pretty secure and tranquil. I will say some of the gravel was washed out which is surprising given how dry it’s been."

      from $40 / night

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      4. Little Lusk Trail Lodge & Campground

      3.7(3)8mi from HerodRVs, Tents, Cabins, Glamping

      "Little Lusk is the most Spacious and beautiful equestrian campground in southern IL.    Bring your horses, or just come and camp and stay in the lodge. "

      "I will be back next time I'm near shawnee."

      from $30 / night

      5. Hayes Canyon Campground

      5.0(1)9mi from HerodRVs, Tents, Cabins, Glamping

      "A luxurious crowded but nice campsites older stalls cabins available great trails and maps available store and cowboy church. Permanent sites available"

      from $15 - $32 / night

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      6. Double M Campground

      5.0(1)10mi from HerodRVs, Tents, Cabins
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      7. Bear Branch Campground

      3.0(2)11mi from HerodRVs, Tents, Cabins, Glamping

      "Under new ownership buy many cabins from 40 a night on up nice shower houses electric sewer and water at a lot of sites great trails well marked maps available stalls available store and restaurant to"

      from $30 - $200 / night

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      8. Deer Ridge Campground — Ferne Clyffe State Park

      4.3(16)30mi from HerodRVs, Tents

      "Ferne Cliffe State Park is situated in the Shawnee National Forest, in the southern part of Illinois."

      "Dog friendly, pretty well spaced out campsites but some are used as paths with to get to farther back campsites. Good set up, not too close to neighbors and it’s heavily wooded in between."

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      9. Dutchman Lake Camp

      4.7(7)27mi from HerodTents

      "We pulled in around midnight and left at 8 am."

      "It’s off the highway down Amish/Dutch country. It has a maintained gravel road beautiful lake and in June it’s covered with lightening bugs. Lots of wild flowers and the sunset- WOW!"

      10. Harmonie State Park Campground

      4.3(34)44mi from Herod194 sitesRVs, Tents, Cabins, Glamping

      "It is located back in the hills, far off the highway. Very little cell phone signal. Very relaxing and enjoyable."

      "Located in Southwest Indiana, about 40 miles from Evansville.  This is a typical Indiana State Park. Some sites are pretty close together, some are spacious."

      from $20 - $43 / night

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    Recent Equestrian Camping Photos near Herod, IL

    3 Photos of 24 Herod Campgrounds

    Equestrian Camping Reviews near Herod, IL

    245 Reviews of 24 Herod Campgrounds

    • Michael M.
      Oct. 23, 2017

      Giant City State Park Campground

      Campground Improving in 2017

      There are currently 25 equestrian camp sites in this park in a different area than the normal RV and Tent campground. The campground is being upgraded this year in which I belive they are adding 50 amp full service to many of the electric only sites. There is currently walk in only unless you are reserving a horse camp. There are fantastic hiking trails and equestrian trails here and you would think you are in the mountains here. The geology is much like the Missouri area near the other bank of the Mississippi river. I have tent camped here and camped in a pop-up camper in the fall both times. Hiking is the best activity here unless you ride horses and that is great here too. This one and Wolf Creek on Lake Shelbyville are the best parks in Illinois for horse trails.

    • d
      May. 29, 2019

      Little Lusk Trail Lodge & Campground

      A beautiful equestrian lodge and campground. Ride out of several trail hea

      Address: 50 Barger Rd, Stonefort, IL.

      Little Lusk is the most Spacious and beautiful equestrian campground in southern IL.    Bring your horses, or just come and camp and stay in the lodge.  Ride or hike in the beautiful Shawnee National Forest.  Campsites are spacious and can accommodate very large rigs. High lines behind sites.  Stalls can be reserved. some sites are full hookup. Primitive camping also available.  CALL them for more info at 270-205-7138.  Arena and huge event barn on site. Event barn can be reserved for weddings.  Numerous sites have electric and water.  They have a Facebook page with numerous photos.

    • A
      Aug. 12, 2018

      High Knob Campgrounds

      Lots of trails

      deffinitly caters to equestrians, my only complaint is the shower houses. The potty area is clean but showers are usually kinda gross. Love the sites most have a little shade and the stallsa are nice and safe. The trails are great maps available some trails need marked a bit better.

    • Anton T.
      Jul. 31, 2016

      Deer Ridge Campground — Ferne Clyffe State Park

      Ferne Cliffe State Park

      Ferne Cliffe State Park is situated in the Shawnee National Forest, in the southern part of Illinois. It is not among the best known parks, and its distance from bigger cities makes it more obscure and less frequented than other places I have visited. The campground is small, situated on a limestone bluff which is cut by a small rivulet and some seasonal small waterfalls. The area is really a hidden gem - one has to hike down to discover the natural canyon with the awesome sites. The campground is clean and well maintained. A site of interest nearby is the Garden of the Gods wilderness, which 300 million years ago was the bottom of a sea. The whole area was spared by the glacier activity, yet the weathering of the rocks has given us a sandstone plateau with numerous hoodoos. Close nearby are also Cave in Rock and Land Between the Lakes, both worth seeing.

    • Shelly S.The Dyrt PRO User
      Jun. 21, 2018

      High Knob Campgrounds

      The way to travel

      High Knob is a Horse campground in Shawnee National Forest near Garden of the Gods off Il1. The entire area has extensive trails through some awesome, hilly, rocky, cliffy areas. There are some excellent things to see. The trail traverses some of the River to River trail that meanders through the area. There used to be an annual ride through “One Horse Gap” I don’t know if it’s still a thing. 

      The campground has options in addition to sleeping in your rig, cabins, travel trailers and a “hotel” . There’s also stalls and tie outs in the area you park in. A good staging area for Shawnee NF treks with several trailheads to pick from. Groups can set up in here and either stage or use it as base camp. Quiet , depending on who you are camping with, all amenities available on site too. (showers, laundry, store)

      We enjoyed the trails though we went no where near as far as the horse people do. (There is so much to see, we have been going to Shawnee NF for over 20 years but I still find something or somewhere new almost every visit.)

    • Cindy C.
      Aug. 7, 2018

      South Sandusky Campground

      Wonderful for all ages. Located on Rend Lake Illinois.

      North and South Sandusky campground is located in southern Illinois on Rend Lake. It is a large state park with tons to do. From boating and swimming to hiking and relaxing. The sites have many areas that fit different needs. I have stayed this year in both. My site at North Sandusky was on the water and I could pull my pontoon right behind my campsite. The kids were close enough to the bathrooms and showers to walk. And there was fresh water located there as well. There was a park a bit further down the way as well. But no need as the lake was in the backyard.

      South sandusky site was across from a park, bathrooms, showers and water. The beach was a 2 mi hike on a beautiful trail. But we could walk across the street to a fishing swimming spot as well.

      The beach is super clean and monitored well.

      The bathrooms were cleaned every morning before 7 am. Water had great pressure and was always nice and hot.

      I love these campgrounds and can’t wait to go back.

    • M
      Aug. 19, 2018

      South Sandusky Campground

      Picture perfect

      Full hookups to tent camping and spacious sites. This is a Corps of Engineer Campground so bring your America the Beautiful pass! Well maintained on beautiful Rend Lake in southern Illinois. Reservations accepted on reservation.gov. Walk ins also welcome.

    • Travis R.
      Sep. 14, 2020

      High Knob Campgrounds

      Horse camp only

      They do not accept tents, this is strictly a horse camp, they will rudly tell you so if you call.

    • Art S.The Dyrt PRO User
      Apr. 17, 2021

      Camp Cadiz Campground

      Dusty, rustic camping at the edge of Shawnee

      This small, rustic camp is at the edge of Shawnee and only had a few campers staying multiple nights with us. Then the turkey hunting season came upon us and the sites filled.

      We had site choices that ended up being along the gravel forest road that goes by camp. This put us away from other dogs but caused other issues. Every vehicle that went by generated dust which then coated everything in our camp. If you come here, we suggest taking the site that is furthest from the road (it's right next to the small forest road that heads off to the hiking trails. They had shade as well as sun and no dust. 

      The sites are large but there isn't any foliage between them. Luckily the dogs were in camps further away from our dog so she was able to relax. The water pump got frequent use and the twin vault toilets were plenty for the campground. 

      The hiking trails that headed out from the camp were wonderful. We even hiked down the forest road and found a hidden cemetery tucked away. The river to river trail heads out from camp too - we saw a group of backpackers leave their cars and head off for the night. Garden of the Gods area is a short drive away for more hiking options.

      Choose your time wisely. Camp filled up with hunters who started generators at 3 in the morning to get ready to head out for turkey. Once we realized what was going on, we put our dog's bright shirt on. Everyone was wonderful and we had some interesting conversations. It was also morel mushroom time so some people were hunting for them.

    Guide to Herod

    Equestrian camping near Herod, Illinois offers access to the rocky terrain of Shawnee National Forest at elevations ranging from 300-1,000 feet. The region experiences hot, humid summers with temperatures often reaching the 90s and mild winters with occasional snow. Campsites in this area typically feature shaded areas with dense deciduous forest cover that provides natural cooling during summer months.

    What to Do

    Trail exploration: Garden of the Gods is accessible from several campgrounds in the area. At Camp Cadiz Campground, campers can access the River to River trail. "I wanted to see grades of the gods. What I didn't want was to camp on top of someone else... Cadiz was spacious, quiet, and the other campers wanted to camp not party," notes Jeremy G.

    Historical sites: Explore old cemeteries within walking distance of campsites. At Camp Cadiz, visitors discovered hidden historical spots. "The hiking trails that headed out from the camp were wonderful. We even hiked down the forest road and found a hidden cemetery tucked away," shares Art S.

    Seasonal mushroom hunting: Spring visitors to the area can participate in the local tradition of morel mushroom hunting. "It was also morel mushroom time so some people were hunting for them," reports a visitor to Camp Cadiz Campground, highlighting a unique seasonal activity not widely advertised.

    What Campers Like

    Quiet atmosphere: Many equestrian camping areas near Herod maintain a peaceful environment. "This small, rustic camp is at the edge of Shawnee and only had a few campers staying multiple nights with us," notes Art S. about Camp Cadiz Campground.

    CCC stonework: The Civilian Conservation Corps historical structures add character to camping areas. Chelsea D. from Camp Cadiz appreciates these historical features: "I love this campground. It's super quiet despite the gravel road nearby... and I love the CCC stonework."

    Spacious sites: Shawnee Forest Campground provides ample room for larger equestrian rigs. "The sites are spacious and have picnic tables and fire rings. Full hookups is a plus," notes Greg S., making it suitable for horse trailers that require extra space.

    What You Should Know

    Limited cell service: Many areas have spotty reception. Hannah F. from Camp Cadiz notes: "Stayed here in March 2020. My favorite part about this campground was that there were only 8 campsites so it was very quiet and remote."

    Water availability varies: At Deer Ridge Campground, access to water requires planning. "Water only available at few spots and you would need a really long hose to attach if open faucet available," reports Glenda.

    Dust control: Campsite location matters for dust exposure. "We had site choices that ended up being along the gravel forest road that goes by camp. Every vehicle that went by generated dust which then coated everything in our camp," warns Art S. about Camp Cadiz.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Herod, IL?

    According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Herod, IL is Camp Cadiz Campground with a 4.7-star rating from 6 reviews.

    What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Herod, IL?

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