Horse camping is the perfect way to enjoy Iowa City. If you're an equestrian lover who prefers nature-based adventure, yet still wants comfort, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Whether you own a horse or are joining a tour group, equestrian camping is an adventurous and unique way to experience the city. Search horse campsites and discover top-rated spots, as reviewed by other campers.
$23 - $33 / night
The Main Campground at the Saulsbury Bridge Recreation Area has the following amenities
· 24 camping spurs
· Electrical hookups
· Modern restrooms and showers
· Drinking water
· Dump station
· Firewood
· Playground
· Campground host
Campsites have picnic tables, fire rings, and on-site parking. Campsites are $20 per night. Campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis only. No reservations are taken.
$15 - $20 / night
Lake Iowa Park offers a quiet, safe and beautifully-maintained campground that includes 120 rocked pads with electricity, shower houses and a dump station. There are water hydrants with rural water spread throughout the campground to fill your camper tanks. There are two non-electric areas suitable for tents which are within a short walk to the shower house. Currently there are no reservations for camping, it is all first come first served.
2 cabins are available for rent. Each cabin has a full kitchen and ADA compliant bathroom and will sleep 8 people.
Primitive area with water & 20 amp electrical service and RV pads with water, electricity and sewer hook-ups.
Camp the way you like. We understand that some people like to pitch a tent and cook over an open fire, and others just don’t. That’s okay with us because we have campsites for both. The only restriction is that equestrians must utilize the designated sites within the Horse Corral campground, all others may utilize any campsite of their choosing regardless of their camping unit. Only one camping unit is allowed per site, "children's tents are considered a camping unit".
District policy does not allow staff to issue refunds of any kind on reservations or the relocation/switching of reserved sites, reservations require a two-night minimum.
All campers must secure a camping permit and check-in (reservation or no reservation) at the Park Office before they set-up camp.
$20 - $26 / night
Scout
It was beautiful, full of wildlife, easy to find,not too far from highway but far away enough to not hear
GuideNot too far off the highway. Very clean and quiet. The campground is above the lake but a short trail will take you to the lake. Couldn't see the lake from where we camped, but nice woody area behind our campsite. Nice little visitor area. Lots of trails to walk with the dog including a nice trail along the lake.
Great place to spend one night. If I had more time, I would have gone paddle boarding or fishing on the lake.
RangerVery well kept campground! Bathrooms and entire area was really in perfect shape. One of the cleanest showers and bathrooms I have seen. $10 for tent, $16 for electric - how can you go wrong?
Only issue is that the spots are pretty close together. Around 2:30am there was so much smoke in our van from nearby campfires that I woke up sick and my dog threw up all over the bed. At 3am we decided we needed to move to an electric site because it was too much to have the windows open. I felt really bad for anyone in a tent. I coughed all the next day.
The campground was not that busy so there is no way I would stay here on a busy holiday weekend due to the spots being too close. If a few people make a fire you better shut down all your windows. No sleeping in the cool, night air here.
But this is an issue at other places too. Just never experienced anything on this level before. Esp considering no one in our section even had a fire going.
I wish campgrounds would start banning these fires. But that’s a topic for a later date.
Other than that it was a great spot.
ScoutI loved this campground. There are a variety of sites to choose from, nice trees, and a beautiful wildflower field to walk through. Bathrooms are stationed without so it’s never a far walk and the shower house was really nice. You can hear the highway, but overall the campground was very quiet.
ScoutI stayed at the main site that google maps took me to. Three spots but the park is big there might be more sites around it. It is near skunk river I only stayed there for a night but where I was to get to the river you have to hike or bike to it. I’ve heard you can ride horses here. They have fire rings, picnic tables, and a bathroom that’s deep and composting. No sinks or showers. Bugs were wild at night but it is summer. No one disturbed us and it was free the best park of it all. Hoping to make it back there to go through the trails. I believe you can hike and camp too in the area.
Scout$12 a night for primitive camping and you get nice warm showers by the main entrance and nice bathrooms by the main entrance. Stand-alone bathrooms throughout the park have the deep composting toilets that smell bad but whatever the ones up front are nice. Would recommend 10/10
ScoutThis is a newer campground so is a mixture of mature and young trees. It is very clean and well cared for. Lots of opportunity to ride the numerous bike trails nearby and hike in wanatee park and nearby pinicon. The Cedar river and the wapsicon for fishing. This area has something for everyone.
Legend
Main CG has gravel lanes, showers, fire rings, tables, electric, nearby lodge and shelter with Cedar River access.
GuideThe good: The area around the lake and near by pond, is not overly developed. There are wild raspberries and mulberries, lots of wildlife. We had a blue jay that visited us regularly at our campsite, along with deer walking through. The bad: very few sites have a view of the lake. To walk to the lake or near by pond you must go down hill, which could be a problem for any one with mobility issues. Once down to the water trail are easy to walk. I would say if you can try and get sites, 67-70. They have beautiful views.
Legend
CG has nice corral with day use and camping sites: shelter available, elect pull in sites fire rings, wood available in park, tables, trails Lake George for fishing, paddling, boat rental.
GuideWe camped at this park for 9 nights with W/E on site with a dump upon exit/entrance. Our site was unlevel but was able to get the RV right with tri-levelers. The sites are very spacious with some shade, a fire ring, and picnic table provided. The nearest grocery store was within 5 miles. The bathhouse and showers were clean with lots of hot water.
Scout
Good campsite for a mellow weekend. When i visited we were the only campers there an it was awesome!
GuideThis place is huge. We pulled in very late on a Weds night / Thursday morning. Self registration at the front. Looked like a decent amount of folks here but we didn’t drive very far into the park. If you take a look at the PDF maps on their website you can see how vast the places is with 122 spots! Bummed we needed to keep driving the next day- was very tempted to stay another night.
Shower house and bathrooms were really nice! Wasn’t expecting to want to take a shower but couldn’t pass up the opportunity when we saw them. Very hot water.
There are picnic benches everywhere and fire pits. 10/10 - would stay again!
ScoutWent when it was 110 degrees with humidity. Campsites right next to the pond and good tree cover made the experience fun anyway. Good bass and panfish fishing with quiet campgrounds that aren’t right next to each other. I consider it a little hidden gem
ScoutThe best thing about this campground is it’s access to the squaw creek man bike single track. The sites are nice, and easy access to town if you forgot stuff.
ScoutGreat facilitity
ScoutNice, quiet and affordable. Saw lots of deer and rabbits right outside our door. Shower rooms are very nice.
TravelerMy family enjoyed this campground. Even though some of the campground was slightly flooded during our stay, we still had fun!
RangerCampground Review:
Saulsbury Bridge Recreation Area is 675 acres, nestled between rolling fields of corn, dairy farms, native prairie, and the Cedar River. Located in Muscatine County in southeast Iowa, this rec area offers well-maintained campgrounds, hiking trails, fishing, kayaking/canoeing and seasonal hunting.
There are three separate campgrounds. The main campground has electrical hookups, picnic benches, fire rings, modern restroom facilities including showers, a dump station, playground, and firewood for purchase. There are 24 sites, and they run $20 per night.
The primitive campground area sits along Chicken Creek and offers four, tent-only sites, and is just off the main campground. The sites are well spaced and surrounded by large trees. These are walk in sites with parking in the main campground. It’s a short hike in from the parking area, and within walking distance of the restrooms and firewood. Primitive sites are $10 per night.
Across the road from these two campgrounds is the main boat access and fishing dock for Chicken Creek. Only non-motorized boats are allowed here. If you don’t have your own, you can rent kayaks and canoes through the Muscatine County Conservation office. There is also a large shelter, which is reservable along with day use picnic areas, playgrounds, a sand volleyball court, and vault toilets. There’s large, open expanses of grassy fields and oak shade trees; perfect for relaxing on a hot summer day.
The river campground sits right along the Cedar River and allows easy access to fishing along with a boat ramp. This campground is a short hike to the old Saulsbury Bridge and Lodge. The bridge has a small gazebo-like structure and bench which provides a nice view of the river. There are vault toilets in this campground, but the modern restrooms are within walking distance as well. There are 10 sites in this campground and run $17 per night.
All campsites are self-registration and are on a first come, first served basis. There is a campground host on duty in the main campground and the park officer lives on site. Dogs are allowed, but must be on leash in the campgrounds and on trails. However, they are allowed to run in the designated hunting areas. These areas are marked with signs. If you plan to hike during hunting season, it’s a good idea to wear bright colors/blaze orange so you are visible to hunters and not mistaken for a deer or other wildlife.
This park also has prairie/natural habitat restoration areas that, in spring and summer, attract Monarch butterflies, and an abundance of birds including indigo bunting, red headed woodpecker, and goldfinch. In the colder months you can spot bald eagles flying along the river. There are also deer, wild turkey, and pheasants. While there, we walked around the campground areas that were open and over to the day use area along Chicken Creek to roast marshmallows. We hiked the short distance out to the Saulsbury Bridge to watch the Cedar River flow by and caught a beautiful sunset.
The one downfall to this park is the possibility for flooding. When the Cedar River is high, it pushes Chicken Creek out of its banks which can mean potential closure of campgrounds.
A call ahead to the conservation office to check on closures is a good idea. We had hoped to camp at a primitive site, but learned the trail leading into the campground was under water, which also meant the river campground was closed as well. Though there was some water over the road in the main campground, it was minimal and we were able to choose an electrical site. We opted to car camp as we were only staying one night. Only about a third of the campground was filled and we had no one on either side of us which meant for a more quiet camping experience.
This is one of my favorite local areas to hike and camp that’s close to home. It offers a full picture of Iowa’s varied landscapes and outdoor activity opportunities.
Product Review:
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time. On this camping trip, I tried out VivoBarefoot Primus Trail SG Womens sneakers. VivoBarefoot’s goal is to provide an environment that allows the feet to remain in their natural state while providing a protective shoe. https://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/womens/off-road/primus-trail-sg-womens?colour=Olive
ScoutNice quiet little primitive campground next to the Wapsipinicon River. Unfortunately, when I was there the last weekend of May, the gnats were bad, and the mosquitoes were just starting to gear up. HOWEVER, take bug spray and enjoy the rustic peacefulness of this "best kept secret" for primitive and inexpensive camping sites. Beautiful location, ranger close by, wood for sale just across the bridge, fire pits and picnic tables at every site. Good for RV, trailer or tent camping… level ground and lots of shade. Primitive bathrooms, no showers or running water.
ScoutA little pricy for tent camping. Ten dollars per tent per night and you’re restricted to the primitive area. It’s not bad if you’re just wanting to get away for a little bit but stay close to town. Otherwise if you’re looking for a better get away from it all I’d recommend some place else.
ScoutThe 4th of July weekend it was us, one other camper and the random one nighters. The first day my dog got off his leash and jumped into the river. An hour later he had gotten up the cliff and was in the woods and the DNR picked my up and took me back to camp. The DNR was very nice about everything. The dog came back to camp half an hour later. By the 3rd morning the river had risen to the point of flooding out our campsite. The DNR let us switch sites for our last night. Overall very good experience
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Iowa City, IA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Iowa City, IA is Wanatee Park (formerly Squaw Creek) with a 4.8-star rating from 5 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Iowa City, IA?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 equestrian camping locations near Iowa City, IA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
