Are you looking for a place to stay in Bernice with your horse? Finding a place to camp in Louisiana with your horse is easier than ever. With our help, you'll find the best Louisiana equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
Situated on the western shore of Lake Bistineau, this park offers a satisfying blend of beautiful vistas and outstanding recreational facilities. Memorable for its upland mixed hardwood forest, its open waters, and its enchanting stands of cypress and tupelo trees, the park offers two boat launches, hiking and biking trails, playgrounds, camping, cabins and excellent fishing!
Beginning in January with the "yo- yo" season and lasting through the spring, summer, and early fall, the dedicated fisherman can draw such freshwater catches as black crappie, largemouth bass, yellow bass, catfish, bluegill, and red-ear sunfish from the lake's clear waters.
Lake Bistineau dates back over 200 years. It began in 1800 when several thousand acres of land were flooded due to a gigantic log jam in the Red River. Gradually, however, as the area was dredged, the lake began to drain. Then in 1935, a permanent dam was built across Loggy Bayou, creating the present-day Lake Bistineau. The dam has since been enlarged, giving the reservoir a surface area of 26.9 square miles, with an average depth of seven feet and a maximum depth of 25 feet.
Area 1 is located in the main section of the park, with cabins, and a group camp. Picnicking along the lake is tremendously popular at numerous sites equipped with tables, grills, and nearby restrooms. Several picnic pavilions are also available for larger groups. The park's trail system encompasses nearly 10 miles of woodland trails and an 11-mile canoe trail, for visitors who want to see the park's beauty from the water.
Guide
Bathrooms are hands down the best I’ve ever seen. Campsites aren’t on top of each other but are pretty close. My tent wouldn’t fit on the tent pad but was able to find a level spot to set up anyways. The lake was pretty busy with people fishing or paddling. Two room cabins looked pretty great and are on the water. Had two playgrounds and kids trail. Went to go to kayak out to Castle Tree and found out the water was too high to really see the base of it and it’s a two hr paddle upstream on the way there. So plan on calling ahead if you’re going to do that since the water can also be too low.
ScoutQuiet shady campsite. Not very full at all so it was peaceful. Showers and bathrooms were clean. Decent WIFI. Booster is close to site 14 and 15. If you like to be level in every direction, there are only about half of the sites that are easy to get that way. 4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,14. All the rest slope a great deal. The ones on the inner loop slope from back to front. The ones on the outer loop slope front to back pretty dramatically. Inner loop sites are short. There were many campers unlevel it looked to me and jacks all the way out. I had the right side on 3 blocks to get it up to level.
If it rains its muddy in the site. They look to be clearing some trees as the area close to #12 where we camped had some leaning dead trees that were a bit concerning. Especially considering we had severe storms one night. Tree hit the bathroom building and also fell across the access road.
2nd picture hope you can tell how downhill the outside sites are after 14.
Ranger
I tent camped here in April 2023. The staff was friendly and the office was still open at 6pm, when I arrived on a Saturday. I don’t know their normal hours. The weather was nice but it had just rained so my campsite was wet with a little mud. Plus it was a little uneven without much clear space for a tent but my tent fit because it is a 2-person tent. Other sites had wooden platforms but mine didn’t. I took an evening walk on the Discovery Trail and saw two deer. There are several other, longer trails. I didn’t explore the lake. The bathroom/shower house was clean. It was a little ways from I-20 but overall decent park.
GuideWe stayed here for a one night stopover. I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to stay there again but I was happy enough with my stop. It’s an older park. The lake is pretty swampy. No sewer at the sites, but water and electric. Cell service with AT&T was pretty weak but manageable to get some work done. Bathhouse was a typical older state park set up. Definitely needs some TLC. It would take a little work to get level in most of the sites from what I can see. They do have a wooden platform (almost like a deck) at most sites that is pretty cool. Our table was old and kinda warped. There is a fire pit. Table and fire are down a level but sites where we stayed were large and spacious. The park was almost empty during our stay but when we booked there were very few open sites available less than a week earlier. That seemed odd once we saw there was literally no one staying there. Sunset was beautiful.
TravelerBeautiful site off the beaten path. Quiet and serene. between the Spanish moss and the cypress trees truly get a sense of the Deep South.
RangerLake Bistineau is a great state park park near Shreveport, LA. We stayed 2 nights. The sites are very shady. The park streets and sites are asphalt. Some roads need repaving. The park was clean and quiet, and the staff was friendly. Unfortunately, the lake was drawn down to eradicate an invasive water plant. But, this presented a unique opportunity. We could walk on the dry lake bottom and see the parts of cypress trees that are normally under water.
Stayed in back-in campsite#14 which was level side to side, but the front was higher. The site has a nice view of the lake and a large wooden deck. There was just enough parking for my 34 ft TT and truck. Neighbors are nearby, but not too close. The site included: picnic table on concrete, BBQ pit, trash pole, and fire ring. Utilities: 20/30/50A electric in back. Water in back, good pressure. No sewer, but a dump station is available.
AT&T had 2 bars of LTE and Verizon 2 bars of LTE service. AT&T Speedtest: 5.1 Mbps down, 0.7 Mbps up. Verizon Speedtest: 7.4 Mbps down, 0.1 Mbps up. No WiFi.
Would stay here again. We camped at Lake Bistineau State Park in a Travel Trailer.
TravelerVery clean! Clean bathrooms, beautiful scenery, but the sites are angled so it’s difficult to back in. There are trees right at the road edges that you have to worry about while backing
GuideNice RV spots with full hookups. Cellular service isn’t great but they do have Wi-Fi. The RV camping area has a nice, new, and clean restroom and shower facility with coin-operated laundry.
GuideGreat park , lots to do and see the sites for Campers have decks!! No sewer though!
TravelerGreat place, good rates. So very quiet and peaceful. Winter deals were great on my budget. Park personnel were awesome. Helped me with a dead truck battery and were just all around wonderful. Showers/bathrooms were spotless. One minor drawback—no sewer sites. I stayed two weeks and had to hook up to dump once (small tanks). Drive to Shreveport for shopping was easy and pleasant.
TravelerOur Site #6 was large and it was a good value for full hookups, but the town of Bastrop was nothing to write home about. Winter is probably not the best time to visit — rather spooky with no leaves on the trees and most sites vacant.
TravelerI stopped at this campsite on my way back to atlanta. The views of the "swamp" are great. It's dry, and apparently has been for some years, so there's a lush grass growing down to the water's edge. Lots of wildlife to watch.
ScoutOnly 1 loop open now (October). Not very attractive sites. Trees are nice but pads are narrow and a bit chewed up. Full hook-up though.
ScoutStayed in a cabin and it was great! Very clean and useable. Didn’t realize they lowered the lake. My fault for not investigating more. Facilities are nice and has about 10 miles of trails to walk/bike.
Legendgreat little park really beautiful, tight spots but nice stay will go back ,and the pool is a plus
ScoutIt was a last minute booking, for a holiday weekend, after a major hurricane. Campground was nice, nice & clean bathhouses, nice pool[closed due to pandemic]. Cabins looked nice, too. Just have to be careful what sight you book, because I almost never got my camper level in sight #21. All in all, I would make a return trip
RangerA taste of the swamps in north Louisiana. Spanish moss clad Bald Cypress trees in a stereotypical Louisiana lake. Two great boat ramps, cabins and picnic tables. Keep your small dogs on a leash or you may feed the gators. Mosquitoes big enough to land at Barksdale AFB.
ScoutUpgrades have recently been made to a good campground. Nice small fishing lake and swimming pool modern bath houses really nice cabins.
ScoutLarge lakeside park that very seldom has water Parkside lol. That being said very quiet peaceful and back to nature.
GuidePretty state park, swimming pool during summer, gorgeous trails on an enchanting bayou, wooded back in slots with a camp host, not much to do in Bastrop but this park is a great attraction. No sewage but there is a dump station. There is also tent camping, cabins, and equestrian camping and trails but there have been budget cuts that prevent horse trail maintenance and road repairs, so you don’t know what you’ll get sometimes. The park has playgrounds and pavilions.
GuideThe park is on the smaller side with plenty of cabins and good places to kayak, canoe, and fish. The bayou is very nice. The pool is a little run down looking as of late summer 2019. We went trial hiking but this was a little difficult as the walking trails aren’t really maintained (the horse trails are maintained and clearly marked).
ScoutJust what I needed today. Quiet and clean
GuideThis is a hidden gem north of Bastrop, Louisiana. Have camped here on multiple occasions. Every time there have been very few campers so it's almost like having the entire campgrounds to yourself. Raccoons are very curious and obviously human fed because they will walk right up to you. Best feature in the park is the Chemin-A-Haut Creek were 1000 year old Cypress trees are scattered throughout. Rent a kayak or canoe to paddle to them.
GuideOvernight camping with small trailer. Nice facilities. Water has been high for a few months so its ugly and not so useable. There’s supposed to be a route by canoe to old growth trees but water is too high
RangerState park by a lake. Pretty nice all in all. Fairly close to Shreveport, LA. Park was clean, and grass kept cut. Has a nice boat ramp and parking area by the lake. Raccoons are pro's at this park, so you may want to safely store your food and trash if staying in the campground area. They didn't get any of my stuff, but did get into another campers bag of trash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Bernice, LA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Bernice, LA is Chemin-A-Haut State Park with a 3.8-star rating from 13 reviews.
