Horse camping is the perfect way to enjoy Kentucky. If you're an equestrian lover who prefers nature-based adventure, yet still wants comfort, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Equestrian camping is the best way to experience nature. At The Dyrt, you can find top-rated spots for horse camping.
Mammoth Cave Campground puts campers in a prime spot to explore the depths and overland treasures of Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave is an underground passageway containing more than 400 miles of naturally sculpted limestone and sandstone. It is the longest recorded cave system in the world. The grand-scale chambers and long, winding passageways were the inspiration behind the park's name. The campground doubles as an entry point to 14 miles of hiking and biking trails. It's also a five minute walk to the visitor center, where cave tours begin.
A must-do activity in the park is exploring Mammoth Cave. Walking tours of the caverns leave from the visitor center daily. There are also miles of bike trails and hiking trails within the park.
The campground is tucked inside Mammoth Cave National Park, which boasts scenic valleys along the Green River. The river is within walking distance of the camp, and the hilly Kentucky countryside expands beyond the valley. Deer and turkeys commonly stroll around the campground, so visitors are likely to see them grazing in the early morning and at dusk.
Nearly 30 miles of the Green and Nolin rivers offer canoeing and boating through the park. Commercial outfitters outside the park rent canoes, kayaks and safety equipment.Most trails north of the Green River are open for horseback riding. Commercial liveries outside the park rent horses and some may provide organized excursions.
For local information, please call (270) 758-2424 or call (270) 758-2180 for general information.
For rules and reservation policies please follow the link below: https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies
$50 / night
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
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.
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
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
Near Red River Gorge and Natural bridge
Set back almost a mile from the main road on its own private drive, Lago Linda Hideaway provides security and privacy for its campers in a gorgeous setting. The 35 Piney Woods and Lazy Oaks campsites (which can be reserved in advance) lie on ridge tops among groves of oak trees, allowing campers to spread out and enjoy as much privacy as they wish. All of these campsites are graveled and have electrical hookups.
Each site has its own city water, picnic table, and fire ring. In addition, a large, grassy meadow provides ample overflow camping for tent and car campers, including a big, covered, cooking pavilion with electricity along with another covered area that provides additional shelter for a number of tents.
Lago Linda Hideaway has a bathhouse with hot showers and flush toilets, as well as Broadband Internet access. Well-behaved children and dogs are welcome to this accommodating environment.
$12 - $86 / night
Situated along a peninsula between the lush shorelines of Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, Canal Campground offers modern camping and provides the ideal setting to enjoy nature at its best with family and friends. Visitors can enjoy a stunning view of the Barkley Dam and boats traveling through the canal from the comfort of their campsite. The campground faces Barkley Lake, and the shore of Kentucky Lake is a brisk one-mile walk across the canal.
From water sports to wildlife viewing to hiking and biking, Canal Campground is the perfect setting for outdoor activities. Eagle nests can be spotted throughout the grounds, and its not unlikely for visitors to encounter deer and other wildlife. A short hiking trail allows campers to enjoy the outdoor scenery at their leisure. Fishing is also a popular pastime, and during warm months bass and catfish are plentiful in both lakes.
Lake Barkley, as part of a dam project at the Cumberland River, spans 134 miles along the Kentucky landscape, offering countless recreational activities to visitors. The canal connects Lake Barley with Kentucky Lake, forming one of the greatest freshwater recreational complexes in the country.
Grand Rivers, a short drive from the campground, has several restaurants and two public marinas.
$256 / night
The park is situated in the middle of 14,000 plus acres of forest. We have a 56 acre lake with pedal boats and row boats. There are miles of hiking trails that meander through the forest. It is a great place to get back to nature. We also have an 18 hole golf course, tennis and basketball court, and a lodge with a full service dinning room. Equine Camping: Pennyrile Forest offers 8 pull-through campsites specifically designed for horse owners. These sites feature electric, water and sewer hook-ups. Each site has its own corresponding hitching posts for up to four horses, picnic table, lantern hanger & fire ring/grill combo. Horse campers have access to all campground amenities, which include bathhouses, laundry area and playgrounds. A new 1.25 mile horse trail near the campground connects horseback riders to the 40+ miles of horse trails on the adjacent Pennyrile State Forest.
Scout
Until midnight there was a loud microphone with drunk people trying to sing karaoke where it was heard around campground. Slurring speech and cursing. No respect to others trying to sleep.
Was booked for the weekend but leaving after night 1.
Guide
The campsites are surrounded by trees and it’s beautiful. Campsite has good showers too which is a plus. Nearby mammoth caves!
TravelerBest State Park we have stayed at to date..everything was better than expected. Staff very helpful.
Guide
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GuideVery quiet, clean, and nice campground. Very close to Mammoth Cave. Shower facilities were very very clean. Nice well spaced sites.
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
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
Ranger
Start off by saying the staff were super great!!!! Stayed in space #1 and all the upper spots are open, wish they had more trees around the spaces. Overall it was still a great experience staying at this location.
GuideWe really enjoyed the four days we spent at the Mammoth Caves Campground, right in the national park. I have to correct some information on this listing, though. There are no electric hookups. There is water available at spots throughout the campground, but not at the sites. There is one difficult to use dump station. Also, internet connections are terrible. You need to rely on the WiFi at the visitor center and lodge.
Setting that aside, it’s a beautiful, wooded campground with large and generally level sites. You’re right in the middle of the park, with all it has to offer. Its about a ten-twelve minute walk to the Visitor Center, which is where all the cave tours and many of the hiking trails start. The Visitor Center also has a great exhibit explaining the geology and history of the park and area. It is connected by a pedestrian bridge to the park lodge, which has several restaurants. Both buildings are wonderfully air conditioned, which helped a lot in the August heat.
Also helping with the heat are the caves themselves, which are spectacular and not to be missed. Other activities right in the park are lots of hiking opportunities and canoe and kayak rental.
There are modern and very clean bathrooms throughout the campground. It’s a mystery why they didn’t include showers when they built those bathrooms. Instead there are paid showers in the building housing the camp store. You insert six quarters and get a decent amount of time. For me, this was the only real downside of the campground, one I could put up with given all the other advantages.
Site 35B was a great site and was next to a small field, giving us extra space and privacy.
Scout
One key feature of The Dyrt is its extensive campground database, which includes over 44,000 campgrounds nationwide. This allows users to easily search for and discover new camping destinations based on location, amenities, and user ratings. The app also offers offline maps and filters for specific preferences such as pet-friendly sites, RV accessibility, and more.
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.
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.
TravelerWe loved our visit here! We stayed two nights with our dog and felt very safe. Campsites appear close at first but actually felt comfortably private. People walk and bike along the roads and it felt very friendly. Bathrooms are clean and cool. There’s a camp store, Caver’s, with food, souvenirs, showers, and bathroom. Super close to the visiting center for tours.
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!
Legend
Easy to find, well marked. It’s has many (12) trails and many falls. Would definitely recommend shopping before camping, it’s several miles, and mountains, to get to stores. There are several lodging options…cottages, The Lodge, (which is beautiful) tent and RV camping. There are 2 small campgrounds ~ 1) Ridgeline which accommodates RVs up to 26”, water and 10/30/50 amp hook ups. Sites have a fire ring and picnic table. WiFi is available, and there is a dump station. A small playground, office/campstore, and a bathhouse and laundry next to it. 3 sites are walk-in. Big rigs would have to stay elsewhere. 2) Clifty Campground is tent camping only 7 sites offer electric and water. WiFi is also offered. There is a bathhouse and a playground, and these CG’s are pet friendly. (Falls Creek is a few miles up the road…they have pull through and back ins. For bigger Rvs. They also have tents, wagons, cabin rentals, and primitive sites) We had no T-Mobile service, or satellite service in our vehicle. The trails and Cumberland falls were awesome. The horse rides looked amazing, and the Pool was big, with a diving board, and a small fee for campers to use it.
Scout
Roads in campground are rough in places. Electrical boxes are in rough shape at some sites. 30 amp kept tripping the breaker. WiFi does not work. Several sites have full hookup but sewer hookups need to be repaired and water hookups are far away.
ScoutLevel site. Staff cleans the bathhouse every hour.
Traveler
Only 2 of the 6 sites are usable if it has rained within a week of your stay. Would not recommend for large groups unless you enjoy sleeping in mud. Would not recommend unless the weather is pristine.
Scout
I stayed here and camped for a bike rally. I think you can only camp during an event. And cost is different from each event. Nice place
Guide
Stayed here for a week and it was great. Plenty to do to keep you busy. Nice pool with retractable roof. Playset for kids. Full service marina with boat rentals. Golf cart rentals as well.
Traveler
Spent 4 nights, nice quiet camp grounds. Was in spot number 61, closest spot to the bathhouse. Not sure it would be the best spot in midsummer as it was also closest to the dumpster. That said it was recently graded and leveled. The primary issue I had was having a smaller camper with a lower sewer connection and the sewer connection was higher than the bottom of my unit.
Scout
Bathrooms were clean. Campsite was clean. Campground very well maintained. So peaceful!! I have cell service with Verizon. I was able to make & receive calls. Internet signal was not the best, but I wasn't there for that anyway!
RangerReally enjoyed our 3 night stay in Mammoth Cave campground. Level sites, tables, fire rings, running water bathrooms, spigots. Great location walkable to the camp store, lodge, visitor center, and cave tours.
GuideGot in on a Sunday evening for tent camping. Nice woman working the entrance let us switch campsites without any hassle.
The site was well maintained and had a nice fire pit. Concrete picnic table in the space.
ScoutPros: very well maintained facilities, toddlers enjoyed playground, able to walk along lake shore, could hear small waterfall behind our campsite, within 20 minutes of Mammoth Cave NP via Green River Ferry Con: sites nothing special for tent camping (probably great if in RV). Very sunny, out in open so windy. But nice to have electric and water when camping with toddlers so worth it. Would agree with previous review that the 1 tent site among all the electric sites looked beautiful- right on the water. If you don’t need electric, go with that one!
