Are you planning a trip to Marion with your horse? We've got you covered. Whether you own a horse or are joining a tour group, equestrian camping is an adventurous and unique way to experience the city. With our help, you'll find the best Kansas equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
This recreation area is part of El Dorado Lake
Located just 2 miles northeast of Hutchinson, Sand Hills State Park campground entrance is 2 miles east of K61HWY and 56th Street. This 1,123 acre Park was first established in 1974. For the first 40 years, this Park was maintained as a natural sand hill park with a trail system of 15 miles. Hiking is allowed on all trails and horseback riding is allowed on about 2/3 of the trails. A campground has been established with 64 utility sites. 44 sites have water, sewer, and electricity. 20 sites have just water and sewer. All sites have 50 amp service. 14 sites have horsepens made up of two 12'X12' pens. These 14 sites are Prime Sites with an additional $2/day fee. Twenty of the sites have concrete camping pads and living areas. All site include a fire ring, lantern stand, and picnic table. Upright covered grills will be in place by the summer of 2015. There is a 4 unit family shower building/restroom. Cabins are also on the list for Sand Hills. The campground surrounds a five acre pond stocked with mainly channel catfish.
$22 / night
Traveler
Nice pull through & back in site just 4 miles from Kansas fairgrounds
TravelerFinally we found a campsite in Old Oak. Beautiful setting. Showers/toilets were were better than the archaic ones in Bluestem that have no roofs, but barely. Broken soap dispensers, cold water, no privacy in showers, etc.
ScoutGood wish could’ve been closer to the boats, but nearby the swimming area right now t-Mobile service works out here pretty well. 
GuideWe stayed a night and it was everything we needed. Showers were nice. They were over run with bugs but that was to be expected since it's early May. Park was a little unlevel so definitely need to bring extra wood to level correctly. We paid $12 for the night since we got in super late otherwise it's $25 a night. Also saw a dump station that was free.
Guide
This is a beautiful park. It has a river that runs through it and a man-made lake. The campsites are separated a little from each other. Lots of nice trees. There are lots of paved trails and paved roads in the campground that are nice for biking. There are some trails through the woods also. We had electric and water.
We visited this park in early April. It was very confusing to get a site because there was no camp host available and the park office was closed. (It was Saturday.) There were a lot of local campers in the park. There are maps on bulletin boards but no printed maps were available. This is a BIG park with multiple camping areas so it was difficult to figure out on our own.
Scout
We are traveling from AZ to SC in our 33 foot bumper pull. This park was just what we needed after 6 days of traveling and only stopping at casinos that had overnight RV parking. The lake was beautiful, the trees were still pretty full with fall foliage, and it was very quiet.
ScoutVery quiet and spread out. Small RV loop with approximately 35 gravel sites all with water and 30/50 amp electric. The sites are fairly level with picnic tables at each site. All have lake views. It’s about 3 miles to the main state park area, which is very busy.
ScoutThis is a Great place for families to enjoy spending time with one another! Love the cleanliness of bathrooms and outdoors! Lots of fish!
ScoutFirst time at this lake can't read any signs no park rangers around we broke down took 5 hours to get any help from the park ranger my friend from Derby had already drove all the way with his boat to get us out of trouble overcharged his $40 for a stinking tent and an electrical outlet... Then they take reservations so you will never find a place at this lake should be first come first serve... I broke my hand and cut my head open because there's no signs there's no help there's no phone number you can call and get any help it sends you to the county office very dangerous to go to this lake you're going to destroy your equipment too there's so many rocks in this lake your prop will be destroyed I promise you that!!!
TravelerStopped here early in February 2021 for one night, on the way home to Missouri from Arizona. Needed a quiet place to get a nights sleep and drain the tanks before putting the RV back in storage for the rest of the winter. This campground met all our needs. Telephone reservations were a little confusing, otherwise a 5-Star.
LegendGreat campground really enjoy the large and shady sites. I also like how they put boat docks behind all of the lake side sites. The swim area is nice but often crowded on the weekends. This campground has both 50 and 30 amp sites. All of the 50 amp sites are on the inner loop and all of the lake side sites are 30 amp. The biggest con for this campground is that you have to share a water source with the campsites next to you.
GuideMy husband, our 2 dogs, and I stayed at the Equestrian Loop. We pulled in our PUP for a night sleep. The spot we chose to pop up was right near the water, and you could hear the waves hitting the shore all night long. A beautiful and peaceful sound.
TravelerWe stayed in the equestrian loop. All but a couple primitive sites are back-in. The layout of the fire rings, grills and picnic tables are all weird... Not consistent and usually on the wrong side of your trailer. The parking pad was nowhere near level, so you'll want to plan for that. The trees are lovely. You're very near the water and the breeze was beautiful. The toilet at the loop are pit. The bath house was not clean and many of the showers didn't work.. Water is lukewarm but water pressure was great. No stall doors on toilets or showers. We used the city of El Dorado dump station. The park is massive. Lots of amenities in El Dorado. And a quick jump to Wichita. We will be back.
ScoutBeen here many times
TravelerRelaxing and clean swimming area. Bathroom was clean.
GuideSandy beaches at most of the tent campsites are our favorite things about this lake! Also, super affordable camping.
ScoutMy family travels to alot of lakes every year. This lake has everything we look for. Grills d firepits at EVERY site. Good fishing, 2 swim large swim beaches, plenty of out buildings and play areas. Each year we travel to a new lake or two on vacation and just havent found one like ours closr to home.
TravelerState park. Reservations accepted. Horse friendly. Over 600 acres of equestrian trails
tent and rv sites. Good, clean restroom/showers.
GuideYou'd think the Big Oak Campground in El Dorado State Park would be amazing. It's shaded with huge trees, nice sized sites some of which are very spread out, a quick walk to the swim beach and a quick drive to put your boat in the water. Unfortunately these pluses are far outweighed by the negatives. First the bathrooms were horrible. I realize they are older restrooms but they smelled awful, they were never obviously cleaned, the showers were not even a tiny bit private, the door to the restroom was broken and had to be propped open with a tree branch. Just over the bridge at the swim beach they were worse and some of the doors in the women’s room were missing. Yuck! Secondly basic campground rules were not enforced at all. The site across from us easily had 30 people camping and were up until 4am with loud music and a bright light on. I’m not kidding, my daughter was up around 3 to use the restroom and we walked by twice. The family in the site next to us had at least 4 cars and 2 tents set up outside the site on the walking path in addition to their two tents in their own site. The dog free swim beach had dogs on it. We camp with our dogs, one of which loves to swim and even I don’t want dogs on a public beach. Our camping weekend was negatively affected by poor camping etiquette and a sever lack of basic rule enforcement. We won’t be back to El Dorado State Park Big Oak campsite any time soon, at least not during the busy summer camping season. Cross Timbers and Fall River are much better!
GuideYou'd think the Big Oak Campground in El Dorado State Park would be amazing. It's shaded with huge trees, nice sized sites some of which are very spread out, a quick walk to the swim beach and a quick drive to put your boat in the water. Unfortunately these pluses are far outweighed by the negatives. First the bathrooms were horrible. I realize they are older restrooms but they smelled awful, they were never obviously cleaned, the showers were not even a tiny bit private, the door to the restroom was broken and had to be propped open with a tree branch. Just over the bridge at the swim beach they were worse and some of the doors in the women’s room were missing. Yuck! Secondly basic campground rules were not enforced at all. The site across from us easily had 30 people camping and were up until 4am with loud music and a bright light on. I’m not kidding, my daughter was up around 3 to use the restroom and we walked by twice. The family in the site next to us had at least 4 cars and 2 tents set up outside the site on the walking path in addition to their two tents in their own site. The dog free swim beach had dogs on it. We camp with our dogs, one of which loves to swim and even I don’t want dogs on a public beach. Our camping weekend was negatively affected by poor camping etiquette and a sever lack of basic rule enforcement. We won’t be back to El Dorado State Park Big Oak campsite any time soon. Cross Timbers and Fall River are much better!
GuideBeautifIl campgrynd but too crowded and no enforcement of rules. Bathrooms were terrible. all shower stalls face each other with no curtains. smelled awful, stall doors barely closed. we have stayed in many state parks and this was the worst.
swimming area was ok but no rule enforcement. dumpsters overflowing.
TravelerMost campsites have easy access to the lake. Facilities are dated but, for the most part, clean. Fairly quiet but can get rowdy during holidays.
ScoutThis is a popular weekend get-away. It's less than an hour from Wichita, clean, taken care of. There's plenty of options (primitive, water/electric/sewer, picnic use, boat ramps). My experience over the holiday weekends has usually been that's when the rowdy crowd shows up but this campground was comfortable and family-oriented.
ScoutRestrooms with showers and dumpsters (for you campsite garbage) are widely available during camping season. The designated swim areas are great for the whole family because there is a wide and far out area that doesn't get too deep while being roped off. NO STICKERS IN THE GRASS AT THE DESIGNATED CAMP SITES!!!!! At some sites, you can fish just feet from your tent. Beware at the box turtle camp site though, a channel runs 3-4 feet out from the shore and drops about 12 feet QUICK so don't swim there! The general store and bait shop at Bluestem is wonderful. If you visit Kansas State Parks frequently, it pays to purchase an annual vehicle permit early in the year when they are discounted rather than pay per day every time you visit.
TravelerWe will stay here for overnight trips since it's only about 40 minutes from home. We usually stay on the Walnut River side as there is a large playground with tent sites close enough to keep an eye on the kiddos. They also have a swim area on this side. Bathroom and shower are next to the playground which is also convenient for us. There are some cool little hiking spots to explore. We just kicked off camping season last weekend here.
TravelerThree nice campgrounds, large playground, fishing and a swim beach. Worth the stop with the kids.
TravelerThis Park is closer to home so just took my son on a quick fishing/camping overnigh for his birthday. Stayed at the Walnut River Area, the Blue stem area was still closed down for winter in April. Lots of good places to fish on this reservoir, fish weren't biting so we spent quite a bit of time riding our bikes around the area. There is a large playground for kids, a nice swim beach away from the main lake, an archery range, and they are building a pistol/ rifle range next to the ranger station for public use.
Horse camping in Kansas offers a unique blend of outdoor adventure and equestrian-friendly amenities, making it an ideal choice for horse enthusiasts looking to explore the state's beautiful landscapes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Marion, KS?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Marion, KS is Harvey County East Park with a 3.9-star rating from 7 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Marion, KS?
TheDyrt.com has all 5 equestrian camping locations near Marion, KS, with real photos and reviews from campers.
Keep Exploring
