Best Equestrian Camping near Street, MD

This park is a perfect location if you want to explore Gettysburg National Historical Site as you can literally walk across the street and be in the park or venture½ mile up the road and you come to the park’s main visitor center. The campground has a bunch of different sites whether you want to spend more money for a premium full hook-up or save a few bucks and just get water and electric. There are lots of tent sites, cabins, and horse stalls with a corral for those traveling with horses. The park is also very close to the historic downtown so you don’t have to drive too far for the attractions. 

We were able to do contactless check-in by making the reservation and paying over the phone. When we arrived, they had a packet out on a picnic table for us with directions to our site and information about the park and the surrounding area. But, the best part of the check-in was that we got a free bundle of wood and the cutest little s’mores packet which had just enough fixings for the two of us. Such a great touch that we really appreciated. We had a gravel pull thru site which was easy to navigate in and out of with our tow car attached and was plenty long enough. The roads are gravel but were not dusty. The site and patio were gravel and a mix of grass. The campground was very clean and well-cared for. 

Some of the sites are in the open without much shade but some other areas have some nice shade.  Most of the tent section is pretty open with a few trees scattered about.  Some of the sites (i.e., 82) is very close to the playground and the fishing pond which get quite a bit of action so be aware of the nearby amenities when you choose a site.  

This park is well-suited for people traveling with horses. There are multiple pens and a fenced riding arena and ample RV sites and cabins in the near the horse stalls and there is a hose wash rack. 

Some of the things we liked about this park:

• There is a big section of the park dedicated to horses as the National Riding Stables are located on the grounds. You can get guided tours of the battlefield on their rescue horses.

• A 24/7 firewood dispensing machine– which we had never seen before• Catch and release fishing pond• Free putt putt golf.

• Heated swimming pool

• Clean, well-kept campground• Lots of activities for kids with playgrounds, volleyball basketball, game room, camp store, movies, pool, etc.

We paid $44/night for our full hook-up site (#45) which we didn’t think was too expensive or unreasonable. Luckily for us, nobody was next to us during our stay (in May) as the neighboring sites were pretty close and this campground probably feels very tight when it’s full. The close proximity to Gettysburg NHS was the biggest plus of this park for us.

Spent a weekend at Gettysburg. We camped at Artillery Ridge Campground, which served as an artillery storage/staging area for the Union during the battle. Behind the campsite we stayed at, we learned connected to Stangler Farm, which served as a hospital for the wounded. Literally right outside the entrance of the campgrounds is where the battlefield starts. So close to history. We have been to Gettysburg before, but going with the kids again being older, we all had a greater appreciation of the sacrifice of this 3-day battle. We did Park Ranger tours to learn about the 1st shot and how the war started to stand in the footsteps of General Buford at Senitary Ridge in the cupola overseeing the battlefield. Later in the day we took a horse carriage ride through the battlefields, Picketts Charge and the peach orchard with a private guide to learn every ounce of the battlefield and the major players to learn about the 3 days of fighting that took place to how the civilians of Gettysburg were impacted. The three day battle claimed over 50,000 lives and we toured the town of Gettysburg to learn how the community had to deal with the aftermath of the masses who perished, the smell which went on for over 30 miles and limited resources such as clean water. It's amazing to see how history was so preserved but right across the street from battlefields where so many died stands fast food restaurants, and hotels. A little surreal. Would definitely recommend a ride out to Gettysburg and this campground, which is right next to the battlefields. Clean facilities. If you are into horses, this is the place for you! Though sites are not very private, everyone is very respectful, and you are not on top of each other. Quiet hours are observed, which is nice too. Store has a great variety of souviners, treats, and emergency camping items. You can't get any closer to history than here. Would definitely recommend if you are looking to visit Gettysburg.

I’m sure one point in time this use to be a 4-5 star campground. It is a far stretch from that today.

PROS:

AT&T / Cricket cell service Paved loops good for bicycles

CONS:

The large pool you see in pictures, is not operating.

The kayak/canoe rentals is not operating.

It is prohibited to take a swim in the lake.

A majority of the campsites are small and stacked right on top of each-other. Ours, C15, was a rocky terrain making it difficult for our children to walk around.

Loop A has many parking pads that are on a significant sloop making it very difficult to level your camper/rv

The bathrooms don’t seem to be well maintained or cleaned.

No camp store

No place to buy firewood

THE WORST PART - The park rangers are on the boarder-line of harassment. They constantly patrol the area and seek out reasons to write tickets. We have witnessed them rummaging around peoples campsites when they were away from their sites. It doesn’t take much to do something wrong. Your vehicle tires must be on the pavement pad, they cannot be touching the grass. If your vehicle cannot fit it must go in “over flow parking” which isn’t close by. Any evidence of alcohol is surly a fine.

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS: Hopewell Furnace Historical Site Birdsboro Preserve St. Peters Classic Auto Mall Museum Ryerss Farm for aged equestrians

This PA state park felt, upon first impression, very tightly spaced and had an overall crowded feel in loop C, the only dog friendly electric loop. The sites that aren’t ADA have more space between them than we did.  Our site C41 was full hookup as are several others (1-7, 39-47). This is an ADA site, there are several of them. Perhaps this is why it’s crowded so they could fit extra ADA sites? They are very level and have paved pads, but also a paved picnic pad, and paved fire ring pad. Non ADA full hookup sites appeared to be the nicest though they were narrow and some weren’t level side to side. There were a lot of rocks embedded in the ground around and on many sites. Non ADA sites have only a paved pad for the RV. The picnic table and fire ring were behind our RV and when sitting at them, we were within view of sites 37, 39, and 40. I felt like I was in a townhouse setting. Non ADA sites varied as to where picnic and fire rings were set. Also many sites looked like there was quite a drop off at the edge of the already narrow pad so that you had a big step down off your last RV step. Site C42 is ADA and is a nice, semi private, spacious site. Though I’d choose from sites  #1-7 next time. ALL parking pads are 45’ long.

Loop B has a mix of electric and non electric but doesn’t allow pets. That loop was more spacious and had trees between some  sites so it felt  more private. The sites appeared level. There are Yurts and mini cabins outside Loop C that had lots of space around them. Loop A is a pet loop but no electric. However, it’s closed now for what appears to be renovations. Loop D is non electric, no pets.

The campground had no vacancy on this particular weekend. One car allowed per site and most had to park perpendicular. Sites were short (45’ long). 2nd cars are $5 a night but wouldn’t fit in most sites.

The day use areas have frisbee golf, boat rentals, fishing, hunting, hiking, and a pool that overlooks the lake. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site is adjacent to the park but was not fully open due to covid. It’s a large state park. The pool was nice looking but not open until Memorial Day. Boat rentals are available weekends in May and Sept. and daily all summer. These amenities were far from the campground and would require driving your car. Hiking trails were plentiful but most were labeled as “more difficult.”  Horse back riding is allowed on some trails. I didn’t see any trails that started at the campground loops. 

Overall, it’s an adequate campground but not my favorite.

What a clean, quiet, well cared for campground!!  I saw some negative comments on another site and was very surprised.  The sites are sufficiently large.  Certainly one can see other campers but check the site map and you can certainly find sites more private than others.

   VERY dog friendly.  They have an off leash dog area and swimming  area.  The trails are nice, wooded, uncrowded.   Cross the street and you can access the canal trail surrounded by protected land.  Great for walking/biking combined with canal traffic watching.  We walked the dogs along trail and saw 1 other person. Another day we drove along the dirt roads along the canal and saw 2 other vehicles the whole time.

Easy to ride into Wilmington as well as very close to the Brandywine area.

Do yourself a favor and visit Hagley Museum!

I  definitely recommend this campground!

Our GPS wanted to take us to the main park entrance on Howell School Rd versus Red Lion Rd to the campground entrance on the other side of the pond. The gate and store were not open so we went directly to back-in site 26 with FHUs. Our reservation sheet and vehicle pass were on the post when we arrived. Back-in was okay with having to swing our F-450 and 39’ 5th wheel into the grass between sites across the street. Utilities were smartly placed at the middle of the pad. We had 2 to 3 bars on Verizon and 2 bars on AT&T. However, we had trouble with AT&T maintaining internet on our Weingard Connect. The CG is in two loops. Sites 1-30 make up the first loop and that is where most of the larger rigs camped. A rough estimate(double check site size online) is that sites 12- 18 will take larger rigs up to around 45’ but you’ll need to park your tow vehicle or toad angled in front of your rig. Our site was long enough for our 39’ fifth wheel but we had to park our truck at an angle as well. The second loop does have larger sites but is mainly suited for small rigs to include a tent area. Both loops have a large grass field in the middle that the sites back up to, which is great for playing outside games and without many trees so you could use satellite from almost all the sites. From a spaciousness point of view, the best site in the CG is 17, but it is near the walking trail. The shower house also contains a small laundry with 3 washers and 4 dryers that are reasonably priced, although one washer was out of service at the time. However, there was not a change machine. You could purchase firewood from one of the on duty camp hosts. A short drive from the campground to another Lum’s Pond State Park area there’s a really cool dog park where you can walk the dogs off leash down trails and with open play areas along the pond. One of the best features of this off-leash area is how secluded it is away from the main road. Supposedly this is known as a haunted campground, although we didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. If in the area, we would stay here again.