Looking for a rustic and comfortable horse camping experience near Mount Washington? Camping with horses is a beautiful way to experience nature. These scenic and easy-to-reach Kentucky campsites are perfect for your horse camping excursion.
Camp out in Taylorsville Lakes RV campground, which has a central service building with laundry. Ten sites of the campground are set aside for horse camping. These sites have water and electricity and share the RV camp's laundry room.
$21 - $32 / night
$12 - $22 / night
$20 - $50 / night
Camping is available by reservation prior to arrival only, see "RESERVATIONS".
Day parking is available to those who call in advance of arrival to obtain a site assignment.
Assigned camp sites are subject to change for maintenance or to improve camper accommodations.
Upon arrival, pull your rig into the driveway toward camp on the left, leaving room for other rigs behind you, to verify your assigned camp site.
Check in at the office.
Or if no one is available, find your assigned camp site on the board by the office door to determine how you want to approach and park in your site. Norman or Melissa will soon welcome you and check you in at your site.
Know that this is the only privately owned camp with a trail lease to access the 24,000 acre Harrison-Crawford State Forest using the horse trail system. Over 30 miles of well marked trails located north of the Blue River may be accessed from here, When the Blue River is at normal pool, approximately 50 more miles of trails may be explored by crossing the river.
20 camp sites with electric hook up & 10 non-electric camp sites, graveled among mature trees, with picket & hitching posts are available with reservations (no stalls). Water faucets (cisterned city water) are dispersed thru-out. A picnic pavilion is open to campers or can be reserved for group events. Clean portapots are provided, however no showers or dump station yet.
$20 / night
$36 - $45 / night
Guide
Obannon Overall, this is a nice state park to camp in. Staff was very friendly. They have ice and wood. My kids enjoyed the nature center, pioneer village, and one of the easy trails.
We stayed in 220. It was nice to be right by the playground and bathrooms (which is what we wanted). Some spots near the back would be nice and secluded like the 180s and 190s and they’re still not too far from the bathrooms and playground. The better playground is in loop A.
I will say, I didn’t see any staff members cleaning up trash, getting campsites ready, or anything the 2 days we were there. Even though we went in November, it was a nice weekend and wasn’t dead, so I was surprised I didn’t see anyone cleaning. Wasn’t the cleanest state campground we’ve been at in Indiana. Certainly wasn’t awful though either.
My biggest gripe was they were hosting a huge cycling group. Like the whole loop A. We were all the way back in C. They held a concert that went on from like 8-11 pm. Being in a pop up, it was so loud and never ending. Made it difficult for my kids to sleep. If they’re going to hold (or allow) events like these, it should be posted on their website. Even with our sound machine, we still couldn’t block it out. I realize quiet hours aren’t until 11, but to me there’s a difference.
There is also hardly any signage and spots are difficult to find. No arrows about which way to go, signs saying which loop you’re in, and spots are only marked on the electrical boxes.
Overall, may stay again and try out the pool since we’re not too far from home, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to stay here.
Guide
Excellent campground. Clean and quiet. Can get busy but sites are not tight but spread out and plenty of space. Fine gravel sites with well kept grounds, shower house, and attentive host. We want to return and visit more Bourbon Trail Distilleries.
TravelerHad the typical state park experience. Bathrooms are decent, a little dated but oh well. The weekends in the middle middle of the season are typically busy. Plan your site well, many lack a level spot for tents and have a lot of slope near the pull off.
ScoutThe campground is easy to navigate. The ranger met us on the way in and was super-friendly. Our site was small bit not cramped, and there was a picnic table and fire pit. Plenty of space between each site. Neighbors were quiet and friendly. Will camp here again!
TravelerThe park is well kept and organized. There are a ton of sites to visit and see. If you like hiking or mountain biking this is for you! Horse people love it also. The campground is near the trail to the old abandoned bridge which is well worth the hike. The fire tower has a commanding view. If you are not enjoying this park, not much else in Indiana will make you happy. Extra points: experienced cavers will enjoy the number of caves. These are by permit only however and novice non cavers should take a proper class and go with experts. There are multiple show caves in the area you can get a basic tour of also.
TravelerThis is a great place to camp and a wonderful spot for a stress-free getaway! There is a trailhead conveniently located within the campground, perfect for anyone who wants to hike without needing to travel to a secondary location. Our stay was peaceful and the nights were quiet and serene. Everyone was courteous and our neighbors were super friendly making our camping experience a great one!
GuideWhat a gorgeous campground! The grounds are full of grass and well manicured. Campsites are gravel and level. We were on a very quiet loop with just 4 electric/water RV sites. We were just doing a travel overnight but definitely will go back to stay a few days! Bathrooms were very clean and the staff was super friendly!
Guide
My husband and I camped here in the May to escape Derby in Louisville. It's close enough to the city that it makes for an easy get-away. Even if you're not camping the hiking is pretty incredible and none of the trails are really to strenuous for an experienced hiker compared to other trails in the region.
This isn't the most quite campground you're going to find. There is an RV area and a loop for tent camping, the sites are fairly close together with some only having as little as a few saplings or briars between sites. The loop itself is a bulky gravel road that is VERY NOISY when campers drive on it, or in our case... a child drives their Barbie Power Wheels up and down the road until 10pm in the dark.
That being said.... it's close to the city. It's inexpensive and the firewood bundles are sizable. Our site didn't have a picnic bench, just a fire ring but the ground was mostly grassy and very level. It was a comfortable site and the majority of them looked pretty similar so it's hard to say there's a "best site" for privacy on the loop. Our site was on the road leading up to the loop and those sites seem best since a few don't have campers across from them and they are spaced out slightly more than the sites on the actual loop... although you're further from water.
*This campground does allow you to make reservations
GuideThe shower/bath house is on a European level of well-equipped. Reasonably clean(a little bit of boot muck on the floors but you should be wearing shower shoes anyway in a public facility) Self flushing toilets, air dryers for your hands.
Well thought out for handicap accessibility as far as the toilet and shower stalls. Hand sinks could be a bit lower for folks using a chair but they do have a low hand dryer and no threshold in the doorway to get over.
There are windows that look into the bathroom and although they are up high, pervs and curious kids will find a way. Campground should def. frost them but if you have the stall door shut to the space you're using you can hide your shame. A+ on the restroom space. Seriously impressed.
Very well heated on a cold morning and although I didn't use the shower there were plenty of places in the shower stall to keep your things up off of anything wet. Single use stall and there were several. Door shuts and there is also a shower curtain to keep moisture off of your things.
Outlets by the sinks for hair dryer if you bring one.
Campground has hit or miss tent spots depending on how much space you need. We had a 3 person tent, 2 hammocks and a dog and we reserved spot 8 on the primitive loop and had more than enough room. There was a fire ring(one at every site) and two picnic tables. This spot, as most of them appeared to have enough room for at least 2 very large tents and a dining fly if that's your thing.
With the brush cover during May site P10, although small, seemed to be the most private. We were at P8 and couldn't see anything at P10 though the brush.
If you are looking for privacy, although you are still going to see headlights of cars on the loop road and hear pretty much everyone else on the Primitive loop P10 probably has the most privacy as far as brush shielding you. I would say that everything on the outer part of the Primitive loop towards the back is going to be the furthest away from other people but you are still going to hear everyone else. P6, P7, P8, P10 look the best to me as far as just being chill sites with a bit more space away from others.
All of the sites on the interior of the loop back into each other and those seemed to be more of the "party sites" the night that we stayed. A lot of competing blue tooth speaker music at very loud volumes well after the quite time of 11pm. Loud music started again at 7:58AM. It was Bollywood music, which was different and honestly kind of fun... we were already awake though.
Our site itself was fairly even although there were a lot of tree roots. No problem finding a grassy place to set up our tent however. We picked up all the trash, aside from a weird sock, left by previous campers so that aspect was a little sad... campers leaving cigarette butts and plastic water bottle caps laying around. Tree cover would be more than adequate at this site during a hot summer day. Water spigot is next to the dumpster by the shower house btw.
Bundles of wood were fairly small compared to some other campsites and unfortunately wrapped in plastic but the wood was good quality, dry, and didn't burn overly smoky. There is a nylon strap handle that will be stapled through the plastic wrap into one piece of the wood so if you want to burn that piece you'll need to pry the staples out/cut the strap off.
The woman working the registration check point, we didn't catch her name, was amazing, pleasant, helpful and gave great directions. She drove by a few times in a golf cart checking on things and didn't hassle anyone. If you ask at the check point for a map you will get a packet of papers with rules and a few different slightly blurry print outs, it's a lot of info and we found it helpful exploring a few of the points of interest in the park that you can drive to. Overall it was a fun experience and although it was louder than I expected when people did quiet down it was VERY quiet and we heard owls all night and what sounded like coyote howling in the distance.
Super good place for families!
LegendWe really enjoyed this park. Plenty of room for camper and car, big grass area and nice bathhouse.
We stayed for 5 days and will definitely be coming back.
The guard house is only manned for a short period of time. We wanted to get ice and wood when we arrived, but it was closed.
Plenty of places to visit while here. We did parts of the bourbon trail and just enjoyed our time at the campsite.
LegendSpent 2 nights in spot 12. Is 45 spots. Smaller area but cheaper than others. Quiet in Oct. leaves were turning. Lake about 1 mile away from it. Only drawback was there trash run/pick up dumpster was 3 am on Friday morning ( only time they said anyone would do it). Other than that overall good with senior discount.
TravelerPark is located a good bit away from Corydon but not too bad of a drive for supplies. Campground roads and campsite were well labeled, clean and electric was in working order. Bath houses were 2.5/5 and could use some maintenance. Some shower facilities were substantially better than others so we chose to walk. Hiking was pretty non existent for middle aged kids and playground was pretty basic but well maintained. Cell service was OK. (T-Mobile 1-2 bars LTE and AT&T 1-3 bars). Pool was very nice with a splash pad and two water slides (42” height requirement) and a small concession stand. Have to pay entry to the pool wether you’re swimming or not. Nature Center was basic but well prepared with critters and educational items. Everything except the nature center was reachable via bikes. Fire tower was a cool one time thing. There is also an Ohio river overlook but we did not make it there.
Tick were REALLY bad. Maybe the season, maybe the area, not sure.
TLDR: 2/5 bath houses 4/5 park
Guide
Beautiful country farm setting old dairy farm located near Cecilia. There are several mowed areas one is near a fishing pond. Firewood purchasable from the host! I’ve caught largemouth bass over 5 lb from the pond and all kinds of panfish.
GuideLaid back organic hay farm w fishing pond! ‘Cecilia Camp Site’ officially!
ScoutI really liked this campsite. We arrived around 7 pm because I forgot to figure in the time zone changes, lol. When we arrived I looked at my printout and could actually not read which loop or campsite we were in. It appeared it was loop 3 campsite 1-10, which I read backwards. Might be helpful to make this more clear.
The campsite was very nice, clean, but a little hard to get into because it had a narrow area where the RV went. Outside of that it was great.
There was no one at the entrance Sunday or Monday during our stay so we could not get ice or firewood unless we went down the main highway a ways to the Dollar General which had ice.
We had T-Mobile and there was very spotty service. And I must say the showers were very nice, though there was no shower curtain the pressure and heat were great after driving.
So this is probably a campsite I would go back to.
GuideLovely campsite at #42. #41 and #43 have more all day shade but fear not - a young tree is growing away at the edge of #42.
Used the showers and laundry. Swam in the lake - no beach.
TMobile phones - no calls, able to text, slow website access. Couldn't work remotely from here.
GuideOverall this is a nice campground for primitive camping. The majority of the sites are spaced out and private but unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures online of the sites so the one we got was not private. We stayed at site #4 and it is best suited for a group of friends because your neighbors are 10-15 yards away with no trees or anything in between. The biggest issue with site #4 is there is no picnic table. Luckily we were only staying one night so not a big deal but there was no mention of it on the booking website (Reserve America).
Aside from that, it is well kept and the bath house was pretty immaculate for such a full weekend. Several playgrounds nearby if you have kids to occupy.
The main overall issue is the lack of staffing. I'm not sure if it's the usual or if there is a lack of staff in general but we got in shortly after 7PM and there was no ranger or staff to be found to get firewood. No honor system or anything so we had to venture out to find some after we got our tent up because the main office was closed as well. As a heads up, the Dollar General does not sell wood nor does the new Lakecity Mart gas station. We found a large white house/business of some sort that had an honor system and it was $10 for a massive bundle of wood. Oh and when we left on Sunday, as of about noon, there still wasn't any staff anywhere in the park that we saw. Not sure what was up with that.
Some of the hiking trails were well marked and up kept but some others were not so if you aren't good with navigation, choose wisely. Biggest issue we had was with the Gazebo Loop Trail/Pioneer Trail. Several spots were overgrown and not marked so you had to guess a little bit until you ran back into a well worn trail.
Didn't do any lake activities but the water looked nice and there was a lot of activity on it. Nice boat ramps as well.
Overall a nice stay but choose your site wisely. I took several pictures of each site to help others in the future. I didn't get site 7 or 10 because they were occupied but they are pretty nice as well but 10 is slightly open and not as secluded.
TravelerWeekend camping with local friends. We kayaked the Blue River and truly enjoyed this. A lot of spots in the park
Scout
It’s not the best campground I’ve been to. It is a little bit on the expensive end but it does offer electric hookups which I haven’t experienced having a lot of at the campground I’ve visited. Other than the hookups everything else is average.
GuideOther states have stated parks and camping air cheaper. This is not worth $35
ScoutI’ve been camping at OBannon Woods for 25+ years. The campground is large, mostly shady and very well-kept. Bathhouses feel luxuriously clean and large compared to most campgrounds. There are multiple play areas for children and beautiful hiking trails within and around the campground itself.
ScoutWent here with a few of my buddies for one night. The experience was great, but we were all a bit disappointed with the fishing experience and how far access to the lake was from the primitive camping. Also we could not find firewood.
GuideFirst time here and it was only an overnight stay, BUT we will definitely be back! The campground was clean, well spaced sites, and easy to access.
ScoutWe are on a cross country road trip and just stopped for the night. Very nice campsite. The area we were in was nice and private. Campgrounds has showers with good hot water pressure. Definitely recommend this campsite.
ScoutTaylorsville Lake State Park campground is the newest in the KY state park system, and has gravel sites that have good spacing between sites. They are almost all very level which makes for easy set up. There are nice playgrounds for the kids and the roads are in excellent condition. Electrical hookups for 50 amp are available. The shower houses were amazingly clean when we visited. The park has 24 miles of trails for horseback riding, hiking, and mountain biking, although horses are the main users. The only negative that we had was nothing to do with the park, but the speed that people were driving through the campground. Some sites with sewer hook ups would have earned 5 stars. We have stayed here twice in sites 1 & 9 so our grandkids could easily access the playground.
ScoutThis campground has much to offer. Tent/RV spaces galore, horse sites, and primitive. Two playgrounds, heated and clean bathrooms. Access to lots of trails and activities. I will say that the two primitive sites closest to the bath house are a bit wonky but totally useable but not for large tents.
TravelerWe loved all of this place
Horse camping in Kentucky offers a unique blend of scenic trails and well-equipped facilities for equestrian enthusiasts. With a variety of campgrounds catering to horse lovers, you can enjoy the great outdoors while ensuring your equine companions are well taken care of.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Mount Washington, KY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Mount Washington, KY is Taylorsville Lake State Park Campground with a 4.3-star rating from 29 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Mount Washington, KY?
TheDyrt.com has all 6 equestrian camping locations near Mount Washington, KY, with real photos and reviews from campers.