We're here to help you find where to go horse camping in Shelbyville. Finding a place to stay in Indiana while traveling with your horse is easy. With our help, you'll find the best Indiana equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
An expansive view and good fishing beckon you to Summit Lake State Park, near New Castle. More than 2,680 acres, including a large lake, await your visit. Facilities include 120 electric campsites, three boat ramps, a beach bathhouse and two large open shelters that can be reserved for family picnics and other events.
Summit Lake has an excellent bird watching and wildlife observation area. The property has always been an important area for waterfowl because of the many low-lying wet meadows and prairies. Migratory species have included rare species like the black tern, bald eagle, sandhill crane, American bittern, least bittern, king rail and osprey.
$23 - $31 / night
A part of the Brookville Lake-Whitewater Memorial State Park Complex, Whitewater Memorial State Park is a great family getaway because of its 200-acre Whitewater Lake, access to Brookville Reservoir, and other recreational facilities.
Shoreline hiking, flat-water boating, swimming, fishing and camping opportunities are abundant around the man-made lake. The access to Brookville Reservoir provides many opportunities for seeing migrating flocks of birds.
Whitewater Memorial State Park boasts 9 miles of horseback riding trails with access both for day users and from the horsemen’s campground. The saddle barn concessionaire offers hayrides, guided trail rides, and sleigh rides, weather permitting.
The land for the park was originally purchased by the surrounding counties of Union, Fayette, Franklin and Wayne as a memorial to the men and women who served in World War II. It became the 16th park in the Indiana State Park system in 1949.
The camp is located along Tower Ridge Road in the center of the Charles Deam Wilderness area, approximately one mile from Highway 446. The camp also is a trailhead for the Charles C. Deam Wilderness trail system.
Blackwell is a campground for all types of users. It provides access to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Trail system with approximately 35 miles of trails. The nearby Hickory Ridge Trail system is also available.
The camp is a large grassy area with gravel parking areas on the east and west end. The trailheads are located on the east and west ends of the camp by the parking areas.
Guide
I found this place a few years ago and it has become my local go to. It is free camping and first come first serve. There are vault toilets. Plenty of space to spread out.
GuideOpen areas with pit toilets and water available. Shade and sunny locations. Pick a spot and set up with hammock-large rvs spots. No fee, no reservations, no problems. Officers from federal, state, and local patrol. Cell service by various providers is 1-2 bars. Highly recommend.
Traveler
A staple of our state here in Indiana. Unfortunately due to some storm damage, trails were rerouted or straight up inaccessible.
Great places to find and set up camp. We even discovered a few extra hidden sites just by being forced off trails due to the damage.
Every dispersed camper should add the hikes to the lake to their checklist.
Scout
Cool place
Guide
Very long secluded road. Took a bit to find the first spot to camp, once we found it the other spots weren’t too far past.
RangerThe perfect dispersed site for my way through, quiet and peaceful. Good spot for tent camping , we enjoyed our stay.
TravelerWe really liked the set up of this campsite. The fire rings were spread apart amidst a green hill. There was some shade available around the edges. Plenty of room to spread out from your neighbors; it wasn’t too busy when we were there (a Thursday). Camp accesses two trailheads directly. There were two bathrooms, a place for garbage, and potable water. Screech owls and active birds made it an exciting evening.
TravelerBeautiful secluded site that is pretty far off of the road, but not too far. There was no traffic or other people in site. I have a promaster conversion and had no trouble making it to this site, however the road was gravel and steep at times. I have lived in Indiana for ever and have made many trips this way, but I never knew sites like this existed.
Legend
This is a State Forest campground near Nashville, Indiana. Primitive camping. Pit toilets only. This is by Yellowwood Lake, so boating & fishing opportunities.
All these sites are first come, first serve. No reservations.
There's a Forest Office with area information & a small display.
There's several trails of varying length.
Believe it or not- gold panning is a thing here! You need a permit.
They rent boats at the Forest Office. Electric motor only.
There's several camping loops. There's a horse camp also.
The boat ramp is near the horse camp loop.
We didn't go down the Red Pine Loop, but did check out White Oak/Redbud& Black Gum.
Hickory loop is right off the road & the sites are visible from the road. They looked nicely spaced.
White oak loop had several nice sites. Redbud is close to a building they call a camp store. It may have been many years ago, but not open now.
Several picnic spots by the lake. The best site in Redbud would be 39. Large site with some shade. I would also say 38, but site 37 is directly behind it. This is the camp host spot, so occupied. These sites are near the pit toilets.
The best spot in Black Gum would be site 75. Large site at the end of the loop & right by the lake.
If you go back to Hwy 46 where the road split on your way in, follow the sign to the dam. Just a large earthen dam, but there's trail heads here. There's the Scarce O' Fat Trail which has been mentioned on the Facebook Indiana Hiking page.
$13 per night regular camping.$16 per night for horseman's.
ScoutFor those of you who don't understand disperse camping this is the perfect site for a tent to camp without anything but what you bring in and take out understand what dispersed camping is and then there won't be any complaints about can't get a camper in or whatever I always see the complaints this is dispersed camping at its best
GuideLots of primitive campsites here. Many have short trails from them to the lake edge, making for some great night fishing with a cozy fire to return to.
ScoutHuge sinkhole that makes for a cool look. Dry area for tent, not big enough for a camper but cool for car camping!
ScoutSolo camped here with my dogs. First time I’ve ever been camping but this spot was really cool. Clean. Secluded and peaceful, though every night at around 5pm I would hear rustling in the leaves, I assumed it was a pack of cayotes and they would leave once I started banging on stuff and primally yelling. Very spooky! Awesome spot, though albeit I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I’m glad I found it!
GuideFree camp ground. Very private. Decent sized space to park for 2-3 vehicles. Trails, plenty of dry wood, away from the roads, no running water or electricity, decent amount of spaces we came in at night and counted about 9 very far spread out camp sights. Good ground to pitch a tent to. There was other camp grounds bigger than the one we stayed at and had several people at them with a big bonfire going but what’s great is when we found our spot we couldn’t see their fire or even hear them! One thing to note is that some of the camp sites are tucked back into the trees a little and can be hard to spot. At night we thought one was open but there was actually someone there and just couldn’t see them from the road so we had to back out and go to the next site (sorry whoever that was lol). It is also a ways off the beaten path for through car camping but honestly if we were ever coming back through this way I would make the hour detour to stop here again!
Guide
We enjoyed the stay at site 77. The description of the site did say it had a slight slope so were aware. We tent camped which means our tent was on a slope. Next time we’ll pick a more level site. Bathrooms were clean, just your run of the mill park bathroom with some spider webs. We hiked a pretty easy trail and loved the walk. We saw several sites that we’d love to try when we return. So we’d definitely go back.
TravelerAbsolutely loved my time here. So quiet and peaceful.
Scout
The Rules sheet that is included in some of the pictures indicates that no tent camping is allowed. Someone should update the icons on the page for this site.
GuideIf you are looking for solitude and peace in the forest, you will find it here! I went to the 2nd or 3rd site past the coordinates provided. It was very clean, flat, and had a nice fire pit. The sites are far enough apart that I truly felt like I had the woods all to myself! It stormed all night...that was a little scary, but the misty trees in the morning were magnificent!
GuideThere are a couple walking trails around, as well each site is fairly far apart. It's really quite only seen a handful of cars drive by and I've stayed here for 2 nights, would highly recommend.
TravelerWhole site is on a slope except for a small area near the woods. 35' pull behind felt really to big for this one. Would avoid if rain expected. Secluded site with woods nearly completely surrounding.
ScoutVery nice!
Scout
Short hike to the lake. Great beach area and shower facilities. Pet friendly, horse trails, camp store. Liberty is a short drive and has all essentials plus J’s Dairy Inn 🤤
Guidethis is a nice campground in a very touristy area. we arrived on a thursday and stayed through sunday. it got more and more crowded friday & saturday but quiet hours were observed and it was a relaxing stay at the end of a long trip. it says big rig friendly, i disagree, we have a 20’ trailer and it was tight. the lake is beautiful, no swimming kinda sucked. hiking was great.
ScoutIf you’re a solar person, this is your spot! It’s a giant open field with vault toilets. It says horse camp, but anyone can stay here. If you’re looking for shade or here in the summer months, you may try elsewhere as there is not much shade to be had.
ScoutQuiet with sparse campers. People who were there were nice and we felt safe. Free. Easy to find but slow going w rig on winding narrow roads. No water hook ups had to drive to Hardin 3 miles over and pay $5 for their shower and water for our horses
GuideThis campground is in a state park just north of Brookville lake. In fact you can access Brookville lake from the park. The campground is clean. Standard sized campsites. I believe most of the campsites are electric of which there are 330 individual sites. The restrooms and showers were clean. However, I believe there were only two bathroom/shower houses on the property. Not a whole Lotta area for Bank fishing so if you went fishing it was usually crowded. You could rent canoes or boats at $10 per hour. I spent a lot of my time on the hiking trails of which there are several. They are well marked and well traveled.
Guide
Westwood is a beautiful well manicured park. The restrooms are very clean. The campsites are, I would say, normal size maybe a little cramped. Enough to park two cars in each site. It’s a small campground with around 33-38 camp sites and it’s first come first serve. No reservations. The lake is nice. Lots of small bass. If you have a boat, trolling motors only. Bank fishing is limited from what I walked but plenty of places you can fish. There is a 10 mile hiking / biking trail all the way around the lake. There are horse riding trails too. I will visit again.
Horse camping in Indiana offers a unique blend of outdoor adventure and equestrian-friendly amenities, making it a great choice for riders and their horses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Shelbyville, IN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Shelbyville, IN is Johnson County Park with a 3.4-star rating from 8 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Shelbyville, IN?
TheDyrt.com has all 14 equestrian camping locations near Shelbyville, IN, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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