Best Equestrian Camping near Clarion, IA

Recent Equestrian Reviews in Clarion

39 Reviews of 7 Clarion Campgrounds

• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 8, 2024

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Surprisingly quiet campground on a summer weekend

  We tend to stay at campgrounds during the off or shoulder season for a quieter experience so it was with some apprehension that we reserved this campground for a summer weekend so that we could meet friends for Paddlefest. We were happy to discover that despite being a full campground, it was quiet at almost all hours of the day and night. It was, however, an entirely different story on the lake itself, where boats gathered all day to party!

  There is little separation between the sites but there are trees located throughout, some of which provide shade to the site. The camper pads were a mix of dirt and gravel and mostly level. We were lucky to snag Site 34 (reserved about three months in advance) – it was on the end, making it a much larger site than the interior sites (all end sites in our section were larger) and we had plenty of shade trees, a welcome relief on a very hot weekend. 

  The paved roads leading to the sites are very narrow and would appear to be one-way but are not designated as such, resulting in some confusion. The site numbers are only listed on one side, even though most of the sites appeared to be pull-through. 

  The restrooms and showers were clean and had soap and (dated) air dryers. 

  Overall, we had a very pleasant two-night stay even though we were prepared for a different experience.

• R

  Roger

  Guide

  

  Sep. 16, 2024

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  Great place!

  Standard site without electric was only $10.00 a night which includes a nearby water spigot to fill your tank with. Put toilets and showers available. The friendly hosts made a point to come by to chat. Two fawns were born there, under one of the picnic tables and they were around all weekend. I’ll be back !

• R

  Roger

  Guide

  

  Sep. 14, 2024

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  Great site to camp - non electric sites are $10.00 -“and electric are $18.00

  Nice place to spend the weekend or a week! Came in late and a resident helped me find a great spot. When driving to my site two fawns were laying near the playground.

• J

  Janet K.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 15, 2024

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Nice but crowded campground

  Nice campground with grassy pull thru sites. But very close together. If full, you would have no privacy. Fortunately, it was 1/4 full, so no problem. Bathrooms clean, nice warm showers! Nice beach, lots to do. Would be a fun place if you don’t mind camping next to neighbors!

• 

  Becky M.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 3, 2023

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Great State Park

  This is our second time camping at the Clear Lake State Park. The park is clean, the shower house is nice. It’s hard to control the temperature in the showers, too hot for little kids to stand directly in the water. The playground was fun for the kids, nice beach access! Limited full hook up sites. I wish there were more full hook ups that you could reserve. Paved roads are great for bike riding. Great shaded spots. DNR cruises the park daily which is nice to see.

• V

  Victoria

  Scout

  

  Jun. 12, 2023

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Nice place

  Overall nice place to stay. We stay each year with family so there are about 4 of our campers all there together.distance between sites can be wide or narrow depending on which site you’re on.

  Pros: Clean/well maintained, easy short path through the trees to get to the beach, sturdy picnic tables all around, long “driveway” for campsite

  Cons: pads are gravel and not very level, pads are very narrow, beyond the trees on one side of the campground is a major road so you’ll hear cars passing by, not a lot of restroom/bathhouses

• 

  Becky M.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 10, 2023

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Very clean park!

  We spent 4 days here and the park is a busy place! Very clean!!!!! Dump station was easy access! We were right by the shower houses. Check in and out was simple. We made our reservations online. The park had paved roads, great for bike riding, playground was a hit! The sunset was gorgeous in the evenings at the beach! We will be back!

• 

  Tammie C.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 6, 2023

  Shellrock River Co Preserve

  You can't beat free

  Secluded free camping with port a potty, fire rings and a shelter. My AT&T service worked enough for a podcast but not streaming.

• 

  Jeannie D.

  Guide

  

  May. 25, 2023

  North Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  GREAT lake!

  I like beach camp, but I LOVE north equestrian camp. Wish the boxes accomodated my rig. It's easy in spring or fall, we can get by with 30 amps. If you need 50 amps, you're going to want to head to the Beach Camp.

• 

  Jeannie D.

  Guide

  

  May. 25, 2023

  Webster County Kennedy Park Campground

  No Service

  Great sites, phenomenol hosts. LOVE the playground, and the culture; this is home during the summer months. Terrible WIFI, absolutely no cell coverage out here. Not sure how they justify raising camping rates here if the ameneties do not reflect modern needs for family enjoyment. Yes we like smores, and watching the birds, and fishing, and hiking; but so help me, we like our Netflix too, and I sure would like to be able to watch the weather report. Even Dish coverage is spotty out here. It's weird, we're not down in a valley or anything. Not sure why this is such a dead zone out here.

• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  

  Mar. 25, 2023

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  Layout of campground would be challenging if full

  General: A mixture of tent (non-electric) and electric sites, mostly arranged in several rows. 

  Site Quality: Mixed. Not all sites are level, and most do not have delineated parking pads (there is a small pavement indent to show where to access the site). A fire pit and picnic table complete the site. Most of the sites are too close together for our liking, however, when we were there (a Monday at the end of August, the day before school started), we were only one of three sites occupied so for our stay it didn’t matter. 

  Bathhouse: Basic but clean. My biggest complaint is there were no hooks or shelves for toiletries by the sinks. The showers looked nice but we did not use them. 

  Activities: Horseback riding (there are trails for this), hiking, fishing. Although we did see several trailheads, I did not have a map so didn’t explore them. There is an observation tower, but it is a two-mile walk/drive from the campground (on paved roads; I didn’t try to find hiking trails to get there). 

  Misc: A shout-out to the great host, Pam, who greeted us as we arrived. The observation tower, entrance gates, and picnic shelter were all constructed by the CCC and were beautiful. It almost seemed like the campground was an afterthought as it is outside the entrance gates and nowhere near the tower. The layout of the campground would be challenging if all sites were occupied.

• 

  Vanessa H.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 11, 2022

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Great spot

  We love coming to Clear Lake! The campgrounds are always very well kept, bathrooms very clean! Easy access to the lake, and the town has so much to do during the summer months!

• B

  Brandon P.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 11, 2022

  Shellrock River Co Preserve

  It’s nice quiet to listen to old podcast. Have a fire. Not much more is needed

  It’s quiet, clean, and has some pretty views of the Iowa nite sky

• 

  Eric J.

  Scout

  

  May. 26, 2022

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  This place is a GEM

  Beautiful campground. Well maintained. Nice facilities. You can’t beat this place for the price. Nice hiking trails too.

• 

  Jacob B.

  Scout

  

  Feb. 21, 2022

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  Enjoyable

  For $12/night on a 30AMP hookup, I really can't complain. This is my first of many stops in the new RV, needed a place to camp out before getting it serviced the next day. Enjoyable scenery, especially at sunset

• 

  Taylor A.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 26, 2022

  Beach Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  Friendly environment

  Great place to camp if you like fishing, horseback riding or a nice place to get away.

• T

  Tiffany

  Scout

  

  Jul. 13, 2021

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Nice

  Clear lake state park is a nice campground. It does get very busy during peak season and traffic is continuous. It is clean and close to the beach. Down town and other shopping is a short drive away. Lots of families camp here. Spots are nice.

• T

  Tiffany

  Scout

  

  Jul. 13, 2021

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  Our favorite

  This is our favorite place to camp. Never overcrowded, they have activities put in by Friends of Pilot Knob such as movie nights. Lots to do like hiking, biking, and fishing. Very clean bathhouse and bathrooms, park. Family friendly and quiet place to camp.

• S

  Stephanie B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 6, 2021

  North Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  North Equine Campground

  The only open site was in the North Equine Campground so we took a chance. We really did like the Campground, it was well maintained, clean and quiet. There were a few campers with horse but not many. Hitching posts behind each site which we enjoyed seeing. The roads inside the campground were all asphalt so lots of bikers enjoying rides around the grounds. There was also a nice playground for the kids surrounded by a well maintained, large, grassy area. There were many empty sites because so many had no electric. It made for lots of nice open space. Unfortunately, we had no shade in the afternoon so weren't able to eat dinner outside or enjoy a fire in the evening. We are fortunate we camped in a 5th wheel so we could escape the heat, we would have left after the first night otherwise.
  We did drive through the Beach Campground and the South Equine Campground. Beach had very little shade and was primarily families with younger children. The beach looked real nice, not too crowded for a hot, July day. North Equine was where most of the horse folks were staying it was quite crowded. A very bustling area.

• V

  Victoria G.

  Guide

  

  Apr. 19, 2021

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Clean and quiet

  Loved this state park. Sites not too level, but spacious. Camped in mid April and park was not very busy which was nice. Full hook up sites and W/E only sites. Close to town and lots to do.

• S

  Staci I.

  Guide

  

  Mar. 15, 2021

  North Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  The Stars Were So Bright!

  Camped here in order to be close to Fort Dodge first thing in the morning.  I stayed in the Beach Campground.  It's not on the beach, but close to it.  There are 3 total campgrounds in the park.  My choice was a very well manicured campground.  The shower house was not open yet due to the time of year, but the drop latrine was open, very clean and well lit.

  This little nugget is laid out on a vast prairie.  Most sites have younger trees that provide some shade.  This is not the big wooded type park.  There are trails to get you out and away from the "park" and closer to the rustic woody nature.

  Fire rings are all adjustable, sites are well kept and they offer "buddy sites" that are 2 sites really close together for those times when you bring friends, but have too many tents/vehicles to fall into the rules.

  Verizon 4G fluctuated between 0-2 bars.  Was able to send pictures and only dropped a call once.

  Very little light pollution

• R

  Randi

  Traveler

  

  Dec. 17, 2020

  North Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  Wonderful

  Great for tent camping, very spacious and grassy sites, clean, grill/fire pit was really very nice. Very clean and modern bathrooms, easy access to water. Hiking trails were well maintained. Can't wait to come again.

• A

  Adam

  Guide

  

  Dec. 12, 2020

  South Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  Big Park

  This was a super cool state park, great amenities, level and spacious RV spots. We loved it and will go back if we're in that area again.

• S

  Stella S.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 11, 2020

  North Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  Nice surprise in Iowa

  Great for an overnight on my road trip back the Denver. Clean bathrooms and showers.

• 

  Andrea H.

  Guide

  

  May. 15, 2020

  South Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  Relaxing never bored

  First time camping at south campground. Loving it so far! Restrooms/showers and playgrounds are all still closed due to covid but there is still plenty to do! Walking, hiking and exploring. People are here camping with their horses but the campground is still nice and quiet.

• A

  Anna C.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 18, 2019

  North Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  Beautiful

  Open for off season camping. 14$/night for full hookups with pull thru RV sites.

• 

  Jennifer D.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 12, 2019

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Beautiful

  I love this campground! Clean, well maintained, and the hosts are very friendly. Trail to the beach is clear, the playground has nice, safe equipment for the little kids. Sad that there were so many back up sites over the holiday weekend, would have liked to have been able to camp here. It being full more than a week before the holiday, shows how great it is.