Best Equestrian Camping near Glasgow, KY

Tucked away on the backside of Mammoth Cave NF, Ky, you want to find this Horse Camp.

Not huge and not to small, you can easily bring a small group of friends here for a private horsing around retreat ( pun intended) Direct access to several horse trails in Mammoth Cave. Spend your day riding and then kick back at your site and relax. There is an area in the “back” to park your rig and set up your glamping area. Stalls if your horse likes it fancy. A nice camp store and friendly staff to assist you. We visited while in the area, my favorite thing is the out of the way location! (Check out their page for events too.)

I went to Mammoth Cave National Park the first time as a child with my family in the 70’s. I took my children to Mammoth in the 90’s. And I have lived within 45 minutes of Mammoth for the last 10 years. The only time during the last 10 years I was not at the Park at least monthly was during my deployment and when the government shutdown in 2013.

In all that time I have visited the cave maybe 10 times. Spelunking was the most exhilarating visit. Make sure you check out the tour offerings online https://www.nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/gocavetours.htm well before your visit and reserve a place. If you wait until your visit you will probably have a hard time getting past the cathedral.

All the other visits were spent enjoying all the other things there are to do at Mammoth.

First and foremost is the camping. Mammoth has a campground adjacent to the Visitors Center which is basic except for two sites. There are reservable as well as walk up sites. A store, showerhouse, laundry and post office are co-located at the front of the campground and there are toilet facilities in the campground. I used the access points in the campground to hike some of the trails and walk to the visitors center.

An aspect that I have just recently started exploring are the several dispersed camp sites throughout the park. These are free but you must check in at the Lodge before hiking to them. A good , waterproof map is key.

In addition at Maple Springs on the far side of the Green River Ferry ( yes, there is a cool little two car ferry) is the Maple Springs horse and group site camping area. Nice basic, shaded area with trailheads in the area.

Now that you have found your home for your stay what to do?

Kayaking/watercraft, fishing: several companies work the Green River. If you brought your own craft they will usually meet you at the Green River Ferry parking area and transport you up river for a nominal fee. Check ahead at least a day so they are tracking you and can coordinate.

Hiking, Trail Running, dirtbiking, , horse, Geocaching: My favorite trail run is from the main picnic area to the ferry, with several connectors. Just technical enough to keep you on your toes, definitely not a mountain but the hills and valleys give you good work out.

The Maple Springs Trailhead is the major access point for all things backpacking and horse back riding. It even has a handicap accessible horse “loading” area which is wheelchairs friendly.

If your going to geocache pre-save your coordinates and instructions cause there is no signal in the park. If you visit the restaurant at the lodge they have WiFi but it’s slloooowwwww. When we stay over I always try to do my site surfing first thing in the morning.

If you are dirt biking check your trails, some are limited access.

On our most recent visit we explored the new construction on the ferry trailhead. Pictures included.

Not Mammoth related or affiliated but a few things you may want to try while in the area:

http://www.kentuckywine.com/cave-valley-winery-at-park-mammoth-resort/

Guns and wine, can’t get much more Kentucky then that!

https://dinosaurworld.com/kentucky/

Dogs allowed ;)

http://kentuckydownunder.com/

Educational and fun, who knew!

http://mammothcave-adventures.com/

You will drop some green here but it is a lot of fun!

And there’s more ;) Happy Camping

Ranger Review: Renogy Water Filtration at Maple Springs Campground Mammoth Cave NP.

Campground Review: Maple Springs Campground is a horse and group campground in Mammoth Cave NP. From the main park you take the Green River Ferry across you guessed it Green River to the far side.

Pro: this area is definitely less traveled than the main park.

Con: you are sharing the trails with horse and bike ( not really a con but..)

Pro: there are some good technical single track trails that take you into the “woods” AND there are free dispersed camping sites! Just check in with the main camp office first. Many, many interesting things to see.

Con: got nothing

Pro: the campground is well spaced out, horse trailer and horse friendly, pretty good shade. I am not a horse person so I can’t speak from that expertise. Plenty of room for groups, there was a Boy Scout invasion when we visited.

Con: pit toilets…..

Pro: direct trail access

Con: pit toilets, though they are clean and well maintained

Product Review: I packed the Renogy Water Filtration

****https://www.renogy.com/

in my hydration bag no problem. . I would suggest pre-assembly due to a few small parts. There are three “main parts” after initial assembly. Intake hose with initial filter and float, the Renogy hand pump and the out put hose. (These are not the official terms, they are my laymen terms) I left the “flusher” at the campsite while hiking. You use it when you are complete with filtration to back flush the “core”.

The only problem I had with the Renogy was handling all the components and three dogs and my cell phone for video capture;) Otherwise it was total ease of use!

1: Place initial filter with float in your source water.

2: place out put tube in your capture vessel

3: pump handle until capture vessel is full and make sure your initial filter is not sitting in the bottom silt.

I sampled my filtered water (yesterday) and have had no ill effects.

A few things to note, I used a run off stream and filtered water from above the trail crossing (I didn’t want any extra trail apple or other flavoring). I have used other filters and water sources before and even with filtration sometimes the water doesn’t taste “pristine” but it’s still palatable. The stream I used was fresh rainwater from the night before and day of. Avoid stagnant water and water with obvious metal contamination. I’m no expert, so there are more tips, read up before extensive use.