The Dyrt can help you find the perfect horse camping site near Carlisle. Equestrian camping is an adventurous and unique way to experience the city. At The Dyrt, you can find top-rated spots for horse camping, as reviewed by campers.
Come out, relax and enjoy the complete resort atmosphere of the Kentucky Horse Park Campground!
A full service facility, our campground has many extras for your comfort including a grocery store/gift shop and two bathhouses with modern conveniences. During your stay, be sure to take advantage of our tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, cool off in our junior Olympic-size swimming pool and participate in our planned activities.
For those seeking to stretch their legs a little more, venture out on the Legacy Trail, a 12-mile-long (8.5 miles is currently finished) paved walking and biking trail leading from the Kentucky Horse Park Campground to downtown Lexington.
Campers may also visit the world famous Kentucky Horse Park at a discounted rate and receive free parking with the purchase of their admission tickets when purchased at the Campground Store.
$24 - $45 / night
Nestled on the shores of Cave Run Lake, this camp is part of the larger Twin Knobs Recreation Area. There are more than 200 sites spread out over 10 loops under a dense forest of mixed conifer and deciduous trees. The recreation area includes two reservable group picnic areas. Group camping is also available.
Summer amphitheater programs and scheduled campground activities provide family fun and entertainment. The campground also has volleyball courts, basketball hoops and horseshoe pits. There is a boat ramp and beach. Popular lake activities include fishing, swimming, motor boating, windsurfing, sailing and water skiing. Scenic foot trails include the 2.5-mile Twin Knobs Shoreline Trail and the 1.5-mile Knob Overlook Trail.
The Daniel Boone National Forest embraces some of the most rugged terrain west of the Appalachian Mountains. The forest lies within the Cumberland Plateau, where steep forested slopes, sandstone cliffs and narrow ravines characterize the land in this region. Cave Run Lake is in the Cumberland District in the northernmost part of the forest. The lake is surrounded by the rolling hills of northeastern Kentucky.
The Morehead Office Visitor Center offers information about the Daniel Boone National Forest in addition to interpretive exhibits. A popular attraction within the Daniel Boone National Forest is the Red River Gorge Geological Area, which features more than 100 natural sandstone arches.
$40 - $43 / night
East Fork State Park Campground is large with 400+ year-round sites mostly wooded, and located on the north side of the lake. (follow link for reservation details) It offers Electric and Full Hookup sites, including an equestrian camping in Loop A; all with 20, 30, and 50 amp service. Designated hammock camping sites are available.
Each site has a paved pad, picnic table, and fire ring. Bring your own equipment and play cornhole, soccer, basketball; plus enjoy beach and boat ramp access and pay-to-play putt-putt. Visitor’s Passes ($3) are collected from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend and special holidays (ie-Halloween campouts). Leashed pets are permitted in all areas.
$29 - $30 / night
Hidden deep under the northeast forests of Kentucky, strange formations with names like Giant Turkey, Headache Rock, and The Cathedral mingle with cave corals, underground waterfalls and thousands of endangered bats. This is what awaits visitors to Carter Caves State Resort Park, approximately 90 miles east of Lexington. The park was only established, and the cave environments protected, in 1946. Prior to this, the land—and caves—have a long and storied history. It begins millions of years ago, when North America was in its development stage, with the land rising and falling, cracking and washing away. This began forming the caves as seen today. Fast-forward to the 1800s, and the caves served as a resource during the War of 1812. Today however, this 2000-acre park—both above and below ground—serves as a recreation destination for campers and adventurers. The resort at Carter Caves offers a variety of overnight options, including camping, cottages and a lodge. Campers will find a large campground with 89 RV sites with utilities, 30 primitive tent sites, eight equestrian sites, and two bunkhouses. Most RV sites are back-in, and can accommodate vehicles/trailers up to 60 feet; bunkhouses can accommodate up to six people. The campground features bathhouses with showers, water faucets, picnic shelters, horse stables, and a playground. The park’s cottages are fully equipped with linens, cookware, and most have wood-burning fireplaces; these can accommodate up to eight people. The Lewis Caveland Lodge offers 28 rooms with full amenities, balconies and patios. Dogs are permitted in designated areas, and must remain leashed. Campsite rates are $18–$55/night; cottages and lodge rooms are $75–$240/night. The main attraction at Carter Caves State Resort Park is … the caves! There are six named caves in the park for exploring. Some are open year-round, some are only open during the summer. The park offers guided walking tours in four of the caves. Tours range from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours, and require some stair-climbing and stooping. There are also two caves open for self-exploration. These are undeveloped, and require visitors to provide their own light source. For the adventurous, there are also two cave crawling expeditions. These tours are three hours long, and explore tight, undeveloped passages that require lots of crawling, stooping and duck-walking in muddy conditions. For visitors who would rather stay and play above ground, the park features 26 miles of hiking trails, guided horseback rides, putt-putt golf, rock climbing, and fishing and paddling on Smoky Valley Lake.
A.J. Jolly Park & Campground is an award-winning, 1000 acre park that offers 83 Camping Spots (47 of which have been improved with water and electric) and many outdoor activities. A.J. Jolly offers approximately 20 miles of trails to enjoy a day out on the horse. We are proud of our new stable and campground, which includes a new 28 stall barn, 12 site campground with water and electric, comfort station, dump station, pavilion with grills, and a playground.
$36 - $45 / night
Legend
General: Huge state park with over 400 sites. All are pet-friendly and electric. About 20 are FHU. While tent camping is permitted, certain sites are not recommended for it as there would be no place to pitch a tent. One loop is for equestrian camping but when we were there, I only saw one horse trailer, and the rest were occupied by RV campers.
Site Quality: All camper pads are paved and most appeared level or just very slightly sloped. A picnic table and fire ring complete the site. Some sites have more trees to provide privacy while others are closer together with little separation.
Bath/Shower House: Not all loops have their own bath house and the I loop where we stayed was one of them. We used the one in the H Loop. The bathhouses were clean, and the shower had nice hot water, however, it doesn’t seem like there were sufficient facilities for how large the campground was (H Loop had two showers, two toilets, and three sinks). Hooks or shelves would have been appreciated.
Activities/Amenities: Many activities can be enjoyed here including mini golf (small nine-hole course), soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, corn hole, boating, and bicycling. Playgrounds are in several loops (I saw them in C and G). Rentals are available but most are only in season (ended September 30). There is a nature center and several hiking or paved biking/walking trails. There is also a camper beach for boating and swimming.
When we reserved months earlier, we knew that our first night (a Saturday) was 100% full as we got the very last site. What we did not know is that there was a HUGE Halloween celebration complete with 30-40 decorated golf carts parading through the campground. The road was closed until 6:45 pm (we arrived around 7 pm) and cars lined both sides of the approximately two-mile road! If that's your thing, great but it wasn't necessarily ours!
I appreciate that this park encourages so much outdoor activity, but it is not very pedestrian-friendly. I walked the road from one end to the other and there was no shoulder and, in many spots, no place to safely step off into the grass. I’m guessing it is assumed you will either have a car or golf cart to get around.
One final note: for a park so close to a large city (Cincinnati), I was surprised the cell service was so lacking (on Verizon). We eked out one and occasionally two bars of 4G.
TravelerWhen you check out, Eastfork, you should look at it personally instead of just online. My mistake was I did it online and I ended up with My Family being in the middle of the rich snob class of loop I lol.? We did have a very nice neighbor across from us the last couple days. The bathrooms were clean . Our lot was full of acorns very very dry and very very small lot. They say you’re supposed to camp or park your tent from the electric box over.
Guide
Expensive for what it has to offer. At 48.00 bucks a night yes they do have WIFI in the RV section. They do have concrete pads. It’s a shame they are worthless they are to small to park the average RV on an are on the wrong side of most rigs unless you pull in 1/2 the sites the electric is on the wrong side. The sites are gravel and not level the rest rooms are new and nice. The horse stalks are very nice. If you have a large horse trailer type camper your screwed the sites are small so that only leaves you with the RV sites that are a few 100 feet away from the stables If you want to walk threw the drainage ditch add about 300 ft if you don’t want to walk threw the muck. It’s a shame when they paved the entry road they didn’t spend a little more. “Grant money “ or tax money an do it properly. The main play ground is extremely nice. About 1/3 Mile walk. They do have a small playground in the rv section. For horses again they have a nice setup for big RVs it Sux they have a dump station. Situated in between the entry road to the Fkatwood rv section and equestrian area The main lake is nice you can rent kayaks canoes. Or use your own boat. The boat ramp is nice the other end of the lake at the flat wood rv section. Is t really a lake it’s a back water shallow mud hole depending on the time of the year. Mosquitoes the size of jet fighters. Will rather eat you alive or carry you off. “Lol sorry could t resist “ it gets bad the park is clean and well maintained Except for the camp sites
TravelerLot372 sits in a little into the woods. Makes it cool for camping. Real camping without a camper. lol shade some sun but watch out for the yellow jackets!
Scout
Just stopped for one night late in the afternoon and was easy to get off the interstate. Very nice grounds, clean restrooms, and quiet
LegendWe enjoyed this site a lot. Neighbors weren’t sitting on top of one another. There was a tree for shade and plenty of space and grass to walk our dogs. Shower house was great!
Traveler
A very nice state park with an abundance of natural resources surrounding the campground. There are many hiking options, some that explore the various caves around the grounds. The caves themselves are quite the treat.
The staff are all very friendly and there are camping sites for tents or rigs. However, like many state parks that have not been updated, navigating into some of the spots with a large rig can be challenging. On the one hand, this is nice as there are mature trees throughout. On the other hand, they could increase the size / length of the existing campsites. There is a nice playground and a camp store for any items you have forgotten.
The lodge is available down the road (within the state park) for dinner if you are looking to mix up the trip. Not fine dining, but decent food. There is also a pool available at a discounted rate for campers - which our kids enjoyed. Note: there are no full hookup sites, which is not uncommon for KY State Parks.
ScoutLevel site. Staff cleans the bathhouse every hour.
RangerBeautiful campground surrounded by horse country. Slightly rolling hills in campground but mostly level sites. We chose site 13 because it looked level in pics and had some open green space behind for our dog (neighboring site did as well). Able to set up with no boards or leveling blocks.
Lots of trees in campground (leaves hadn’t started back yet) and medium size lots with water and electric only. Two dump stations available. 2 laundromats, a pool (closed when we were here), and large camp store.
TravelerCame for just one night. It was decorated beautifully for Christmas. Site wasn’t the easiest to back in. Obviously no sewer hookup which isn’t a huge problem. Hooked up to water and nothing came out. We got here at 9pm and left at 7:15am. Just an inconvenience but other than that it’s a beautiful park
TravelerVery clean. Really pretty. Felt a little out of place only bc I had an older camper.
Scout
Stayed on the F Loop next to the lake, fire pit, picnic table, level tent site and bathroom showers a short walk. Camp hosts very friendly and helpful. campsite are close together.
ScoutWe went with three small kids. Great facilities, hiking, caving etc. We plan to return because two nights was not nearly enough to do all the things we wanted to. The tent sites are close together so we may not have enjoyed it as much if it were busier but we were lucky enough to get a site with no immediate neighbors. Pictures online made it appear that tree cover was not as good as it actually was.
TravelerThis camp grounds beautiful, spacious, clean, and close to the lake.
GuideLove this campground. It is definitely one of our top spots. Reasonable price, lots of trees for shade, amenities are great - pool, playground, you can rent a golf cart if you want, you can visit the horse park and explore on the golf cart
ScoutWe always make sure this is our #1 spot to go it's our home base campground , love the mature trees in the campground and the trail around the lake . It's beautiful ❤️ down here must visit.
ScoutThere’s a quiet time reserved for after 11pm. Apparently no one cares because people were LOUD the first night we were there. The second night was less crowded and much more enjoyable. There’s so much to do at Carter caves that I didn’t mind it too much. Lots to do within walking distance of the campground too.
ScoutThis campground was a great place to stay. We stayed the weekend while we were in Lexington for the RailBird festival.
ScoutClean bathrooms and plenty of room between sites.
ScoutThis place was amazing. My only complaint was the water stayed cold when I attempted to shower and the dryer didn't have any sort of timer and had to use it twice to get laundry dry
GuideWe stayed on an inner loop and was happy with our site but after scouting other sites, we would definitely go for an outer loop lakeside site next time. Gravel pads. Bathroom and showers were good. Quiet, peaceful campground with friendly staff. Enjoy all the lake activities!
GuideThe area is very pretty, lots of hiking and plenty of things to do. The campground itself is nice, sites aren’t very level side to side or front to back and the hookups are very far from the site. Be prepared to bring extra electric cord and hose. The spacing is good though on some spots. The ones that back up to the woods are pretty.
ScoutAll sites are small and on top of each other. Low water pressure (20) weird placements for water and electricity. However the things to do at this park are great from hiking to cave tours and more.
GuideRecently looked at staying at the RV Flat Woods section. They haven’t done any camping upgrades. To the RV section the electrical. Is on the wrong side if a few sites. So you will need 25 ft 50 amp extension cord. The sites are Not Paved. They are Nit full hook up most of the pads they poured are in the Wrong position for a 5th wheel. For 45.00 a night. Your better off going to anyone of the Kentucky or Ohio State parks. They do have canoe rentals. and a huge frisbee golf course. “Rolling eyes “ really. They spent money on upgrades. Mainly on planting grass and walking loops. The few RV sites. Are gravel. Un even un kevel. And Over priced hasn’t changed for the past 4 years other than the price going up. The park area fir day use is nice. Ball field upgraded. Boat ramp. Same location just upgraded. With better automatic gate. Again the park is nice. But the rv section SUX. Especially fir 45.00 a night plus
TravelerWash houses where clean. Camping areas kept clean. Full hookup sites had plenty of room. Quiet at night. Enjoyed our stay.
TravelerGreat Park, several access points to the unlimited HP lake. Recently lucky enough to watch scull Rowing races . It is a big Park, and lots of campsites and very busy. Total of 34 miles trails. this is combined with horse, hiking and biking trails around the lake.
ScoutCampground full. But still quiet group of people. Sites are not as spacious as most state parks but access to the horse park is fantastic.
Horse camping in Kentucky offers a unique blend of scenic landscapes and well-equipped facilities, making it a favorite among equestrian enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Carlisle, KY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Carlisle, KY is Kentucky Horse Park Campground with a 4.1-star rating from 47 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Carlisle, KY?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 equestrian camping locations near Carlisle, KY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
