Best Equestrian Camping near Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

Bandy Creek Campground is located in The Big South Fork National River and Recreation area on The Cumberland Plateau. Big South Fork is a great place for outdoor adventure. Some activities include hiking, horseback riding, rick climbing, tubing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, mountain biking, and just about anything else! The area is never overcrowded, even in the middle of summer. There are many scenic views throughout the area, so bring a camera!

Campground review: Bandy Creek Campground is a great place! The sites are all spacious, and wooded for the most part, so you have plenty of space and some privacy. The campground seemed quite large, and was fairly empty for a Weekend in August. Some sites have food storage lockers (not sure if all do) as the area is a bear habitat. We saw some deer and turkeys, so there’s wildlife around for sure!

There is tent loop, and a group camp area, and I believe the campground hosts several retreats.

There’s riding stables at the camp store too. The campground also has a large swimming pool, with lifeguards.

The restrooms were immaculate! Seriously the cleanest campground restrooms I believe I’ve seen. Ours had a filtered water bottle fill up fountain too.

This campground is really nice, and quiet, but also has so much to do, I highly recommend it!

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to try out products sometimes, and today I’m trying out the GCI Freestyle Rocket Pro! https://www.gcioutdoor.com/camping-chairs/freestyle-rocker-pro/

The Freestyle Rocker Pro is one of the best chairs I’ve used! It is actually much lighter than I expected, and is still extremely sturdy. Lightweight gear is a must when camping, or attending events!
It has a carry handle so you don’t need to try to fit it in a case to have a strap like other chairs I’ve used. The Rocker was smooth on natural surface, pea gravel, and concrete. It is very comfortable, quiet, and relaxing. It folds up super easy with just a pull of the handle. One feature that I especially love is the cup holder and side pocket. It will actually hold a drink without spilling, and you can fit a phone, keys or other small items in the pocket. This chair is awesome! Two thumbs up!!

The sites are inconsistent between their sizes on the Clifty campground.  We had two small tents and one car.  If we had any more gear or people it would have been uncomfortable.  

I had to be careful when parking as I had to avoid the water supply, 2 trees, a safety pole for the water supply (painted brown), electricity box, and then the drop off on the other side of the road.  It did take a few turns to get in and out of the campsite.  We did have cell phone service (Verizon) at the campground.  My friend that was T-Mobile did not have cell service. There are areas in the park where I did not have a signal such as when we went hiking or exploring.  I would pre-download maps for the area on All Trails as that was extremely helpful. 

Some of the campsites at Clifty were much larger and were 2 of my site.  Each site had a water hook up, standard lantern/trash pole, fire ring, electric box, and was a short walk from the Clifty campground bathroom. If you can hand pick your site or scout it out before hand it is well worth doing that if you have a larger sized family or tent. 

I actually preferred Clifty over the main campground (Ridgeline). Ridgeline was down a long winding road.  It had way more folks.  Ridgeline is better suited for the RV and large tent crowds. Look closely as each site is rated for a different RV length and they had one pull in site. At Ridgeline they even have one campsite (tent) that was rated for 16 campers.  Generally, each site was rated for 8 campers.  Ridgeline also had some horse campers as I was able to see their horse trailers when going through the campsite. I saw 3 riders on horseback when I was driving to the camp store.  The stables are in two spots on the road down to Ridgeline. 

Taken from Cumberland Falls State Park webpage "Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is the perfect destination to introduce the family to the thrill of horseback riding. The park offers guided trail rides that are easy enough for the first timer and still adventurous for the more experienced. Riders, age 6 and up will enjoy a 45-minute ride through an eastern Kentucky forest, beautiful in any season. The stables open weekends in May and are daily after Memorial Weekend until Labor Day. Also open on weekends during Sept. and Oct. Rides start on the hour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost is$20.00 per person. Personal horses are not permitted on the trails at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, but there are several opportunities to do so in the surrounding area. There are many miles of trails and several horse camps in the nearby Daniel Boone National Forest and The Big South Fork National River and Recreation area."

Clifty was smaller and quieter.  It felt like it had more trees and only tents on this row of campsites.  The campsites are close to each other as we talked with our camp site neighbors on the both sides.  When I first booked my site I knew of the difference in locations between Ridgeline and Clifty but I couldn't figure out what the difference in settings/vibe would be like and I am so happy that I had picked Clifty. 

The perk about the Clifty campsites is that they are close to the pool.  You can easily walk to the pool with your family when it opens.  The pool is free for campers.  I didn't get to check out their bathrooms but my fellow camper did and she said it was good.  I also discovered a trail and more down behind the Clifty campground.  I only found it as I noticed yellow blazes by the bathroom and followed it back to the trailhead.  Close to the bathroom is the dumpster with a home made jamming device to keep the bears out of the dumpster.  The Clifty bathroom was not ADA accessible as no wheelchair bathroom stall.  Shower wasn't accessible either if you have any mobility challenges. 

Moonbow at Cumberland Falls - We arrived early and had a picnic dinner.  The moon bow is best when the moon is high over the falls.  We were hoping to see it around sun set at 9:30 - 10:00 but we actually had to stay later.  Make sure you take advantage of the picnic tables that are near by and the bathrooms.  The best site to see the Moonbow is at the Upper Falls which is close to the gift shop/snack bar.  You can see the falls from further down at the other observation decks. We hung out there for some time to avoid the crowds at the Upper Falls.  

The parking lot will fill up as it gets closer to the time of the Moonbow. I avoided that by doing the picnic dinner and coming before sun set. The Cumberland Falls remain open till midnight as they know folks will want to see the Moonbow this is only seen at certain times of the year due to the moon.  It was nice to notice the ranger at the entrance of the park as we were leaving.  He was keeping tabs on the crowds at a distance as he wasn't needed at that time. 

Hiking - Ask for a map at the lodge as I didn't see them at the campgrounds or even signs explaining what trail 12 vs 2 was in the area.  Also, be aware that the Sheltowee trail is in the area this is a 333 mile long trail and you will see the white blaze or turtle blazes. 

Even some of the signs such as where the waterfall was for the near by Dog Slaughter Falls Trail said the falls were 1 mile away but it was actually several more miles.  I used the All Trails App and kept track of the miles on my Fitbit.  We found the Extended trail on All Trails and that matched up to the GPS tracking we did while on the trail.  We found 3 different signs for this hike in 3 different locations and each time the mileage was off.

East Fork Stables is a HUGE equestrian campground that , guess what....you don’t have to have a horse to stay at! They have a whole loop complete with a pavilion cookhouse and annoying triangle bell that’s perfect for campers, tents and hammocks.

The showerhouse is nice and clean. The sites plenty big and mostly shaded. 

Of course you can use any of the loops but the rest will have some really big animals hanging out. 

There are miles and miles of trails. Waterfalls , overlooks and scenery. A nice gift shop/camp office and cabins.

I stayed here for the Cumberland Plateau Stage Race. The race director actually reserved the whole campground for his event.

Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park is right on the Kentucky/ Tennessee boarder and not a short drive from anywhere. It is out in the farmlands, but worth the drive.

I drove to it from Cumberland Parkway, a very picturesque drive. The GPS took me right to the entrance no issues like there are with some other parks.

Once there the main areas are very well marked. The camp store has a somewhat useful map that will get you there by road.

My disappointment and frustration was the trails marked on the map. I'm not sure if some spurs are new, not used often or being reclaimed but we would start down a trail that had a trailhead sign and then the trail would just disappear into the weeds or a field with no signage.

The trail to Eagle Point was well used and a good walk to an awesome view.

The Campground is set up in what I call wagon train circles (lol) if your going with a large group it's perfect. People parked their toys and cars in the middle and set up in the sites around the hub.

if your not with a group you will probably have an opportunity to met your neighbor. There is not a lot of shade. There is a pool on site and cute little blue cabins to rent. Newer restrooms and a dumpstation. Tge horse ampground was adjacent to the regular campground.

The Marina and Lodge are at the end of the road and there was a golf course on the way in. Pretty much covers all the bases of outdoor entertainment.

You will drive and drive and drive...and drive on the gravel road. However the road is good and the signage will get you there! Follow the little tent signs to Little Lick Horse Camp in the woods of Daniel Boone NF. The Nathan McClure trailhead is in the campground so there will be other traffic coming in. There are a few good size sites, with picnic table, fire ring and not much else. This is primitive, to include no toilet so bring your bucket or whatever you use.....remember Leave No Trace ;) Dark and starry skies, quiet and woodsy....try not to think about any scary wood based movies. Horses, llamas, trail bikes and dogs would be perfect for this campground. The sites are big enough for more then one tent or hammock. There are several other nice/challenging trails nearby and the Rattlesnake Motorcycle route in the area.