Best Equestrian Camping near Assateague Island National Seashore

Whether you love camping in your RV or a tent, Assateague Island National Seashore is an incredible place to visit. From the docile wild ponies on the beach, to the gorgeous sunrise every morning, to being able to see the Milky Way with the naked eye, there is no shortage of sights to see here. The showers and bathrooms on campsite are clean and comfortable, and the rangers are amazing and helpful. At night, there are hundreds of ghost crabs to see scurrying about. You can also spend a day in Ocean City, Maryland or head down to Chincoteague for the best ice cream you'll ever have! Arguably the best camping trip I've ever been on.

I spent 5 days 4 nights on the shore of Assateague. As an equestrian this was a once in a lifetime adventure. Feral chincoteague ponies everywhere you look! Both towns of chincoteague and assatesgue lean into the horse craze, they have equestrian stores, riding barns, and horse museums just about everywhere you look. During the summer there is an annual “pony swim” where the wild ponies are rounded up and swam from one island to another so they can be sold. I cannot speak from experience but from what I learned from locals this event brings in over 50,000 people. You will need to plan around this if you wish to avoid crowds, although this location seems to be heavily populated all year round, don’t let that discourage you.

Side note- the crabbing is amazing among the local marshes!

Wild horses, wide, clean stretches of beach, safe surroundings, close to town. This is the best beach camping in all of Maryland. Pros:

• the beach is wide with plenty of room to stretch out and is much cleaner than that of OC and surrounding beach areas
• the wild horses walk right up to your site!
• almost glamping- water pumps, outhouses, showers on each loop- much appreciated after days of sand, sun, and sweat
• pet friendly
• fire rings at each site, bonfires on the beach

Cons:

• it's expensive! Sites average $30 per night AND each car is $20 to enter the park
• reservations are practically mandatory- they book fast with little vacancy
• this is a barrier island- mosquitos are legit. Bring bug spray with DEET. You should also expect little protection from the sun, so a canopy shelter may be helpful
• lack of privacy- each site is only several feet from the next. Take a look at the map and book large group sites or several in a loop together for friends

We camped in the walk-in sites toward the end (south side) of the ocean side sites. You park along side the road and walk on a boardwalk to your site. Depending on site, you will have to walk on sand to get there as well. Bring a beach wagon!

Toilets are vault and showers are cold water beach showers (not full closure- open on the bottom) which would be fine in the summer but were a bit chilly when we went on a cool few days in April.

No dish washing station- to be expected- but we witnessed a few pple washing dishes under the water source and dumping there - making for a large puddle of gross water- not cool.

Some sites are on the beach, and you can position your tent to be on the dune looking at the water- some are inland a bit more but still a very short walk to the beach. Some you camp on sand (obviously) some of the inland sites have intermittent grass. I’ve heard bugs are bad in warmer months (naturally)- no mosquitos when we were there in April.

We drove through the bay side camp sites and these looked great too- the calm-watered bay side looked nice for wading & playing for small kids. There is some shade here vs none in ocean side. It’s a short walk or drive to the ocean.

BRING STAKES FOR SAND AND GUY YOUR TENT. I witnessed many collapsed tents while I was there. One sun shade that flew away.

Wild horses = piles of horse poop everywhere. Wasn’t a problem, just walk around them. Keep snacks in a locked cooler. The horses came for my 3 yo who was eating snacks while loading up the car. They aren’t messing around!

We saw many horses on ocean side & bay side. Watch out for a brown pony named Chip. The rangers & volunteers were very friendly & great at keeping tabs on the horses.

The beach shack store across from the ranger station near the entrance offered a surprisingly large selection of items.

Many people do not realize there is a wide array of wildlife on Assateague because everyone is so obsessed with the horses. Specifically the birding on Assateague is phenomenal. Oceanside camping is very neat, but it fills up fast. The sites are close to bathrooms (I believe the national side has pit latrines). There are also showers, albeit cold. The sites are a decent size but be advised, they are completely sandy. You WILL get sand everywhere and it is unavoidable. Expect it so it does not put a dent in how wonderful the trip will be. The Oceanside sites are a dune away from the beach. Use the walkways to gain access to the beach as the dunes are protected and you will get fined for taking a shortcut. As many of the reviews advise, there are mosquitos. A lot of them. There are also biting horse flies. However catch the island on a breezy day and the breeze takes care of them. One of the best parts about Assateague is all of the activities you can do. There are bike paths, kayak rentals on the bayside, bay fishing, ocean fishing, crabbing, etc. The worst part about Assateague are all of the tourists who stop in the middle of the road to view the horses, blocking traffic and causing back ups.

I was really looking forward to this trip. We stayed on the Bayside of the campground. Our site was close to the bathhouse, which was modest with cold water and vault toilets. Fresh water pump was nearby, as well.

Based on the reviews, I was expecting a beach camp out with the ambience of wild horses running along the shore. Sand between our toes. Fire cooked meals. Idyllic... Sadly, that’s not at all what we got.

We arrived late to meet some friends before setting up camp. We were supposed to have dinner with the them. But dinner was delayed — VERY delayed — because of horses. A small herd of them (around 8) decided to hangout in our campsite waiting for their meal. This meant we couldn’t get ours. As soon as any food would come into ‘nose-shot,’ they would start advancing on us. We waited over an hour for them to lose interest and move on to the next site. We went through this for every meal. It became a real hassle.

It’s obvious other campers have not been so responsible with their food in this area. The standard is to hide all food as soon as you see the horses. This mean storing anything with a scent in your closed vehicle or in the “horse box” under the picnic table. With the way they would wait for us to pull food out, it was very apparent other campers allowed them to have a free-for-all previously. And no amount of noise shooed them off. If anything, it made them more aggressive and we had to watch them closely.

A little while later, we finally settled in and set up camp after having our “dinner” in the confines of our car. Dinner was snacks since we couldn’t cook anything. Placing anything on the fire or stove was like a beacon to the horses.

The next problem we encountered was the mosquitoes — they were everywhere and in hoards. No matter how hard you tried, there’s no keeping them out of the tent. We left a day later covered in bumps, most from throughout the night.

One good thing was the cooler temps meant no horseflies. On a previous beach trip, we were swarmed and covered in bites within minutes of exiting our car. Be prepared because bug spray does very little.

Let’s also not forget the “stickers” — little burr-like plant pods that are all on the ground and stuck to anything and everything, especially skin. These stung bad.

Once settled in for the night, we dealt with the wind flapping the tent pretty wildly at times, horses neighing almost constantly and coming awfully close, and two raccoons fighting on the edge of our tent. A restful night was not in the cards there.

The only good thing was the location. We were a short walk away from the beach. The kids and I at least enjoyed that part.

I was beyond disappointed and cancelled my upcoming trip for the following month as soon as I got home. I don’t know if the experience was different Oceanside, but i will never be staying Bayside again.

Assateague National Seashore on the Maryland side offers an incredible experience. 

Along with soft sand, balmy breezes and coastal views, wild horses wander the park at will.

We chose a campsite that did not require hiking onto the sand to reach. This made setting up camp much easier as no carrying was involved. We were early enough in the seasons that the mosquitoes hadn't kicked in yet, so it was an enjoyable stay. 

The restroom facilities are primitive. with a dump toilet, and exterior showers with warmish water. To turn on the shower water, one has to hold down a line to get it to run.

There was a good mix of tents and a variation of camper trailers on both the oceanside and bayside camp areas. The camper trailers are boondocking as no hookups are offered at this campground.

I find the restrooms on the bayside to be better, but in the warmer months, be prepared for lots of mosquitoes in that area.

The horses do their rounds in the morning for breakfast and in the evenings for dinner. DO NOT FEED THE HORSES  ! They are rather aggressive and persistent. KEEP ALL FOOD LOCKED UP IN YOUR CAR! They are Houdini's and have no trouble opening up any types of coolers with either their mouths or their hooves. There is a storage cubby below the picnic table - use it. 

The best way to shoo them away from your campsite is to bring a metal water bottle with small rocks in it. Shake it at them and they know to move along. It's what the rangers use to get them to move.

To reserve use recreation.gov

Could not get camping spot on assateague island so we decided to try this campsite a try. If you looking for rustic, quite camping this is not the spot. They have several trailer homes living there all year round. The camping spots are all very open with close neighbors. On the positive the campsite does have many amenities, showers, game room fishing piers. The best part of this camping spot is if you have canoe/kayak/SUPB it is a great point to launch off to explore the nature reserve next to camp Cove. Lots of wild horses to see. Remember to bring bug spray!!!