Best Equestrian Camping near Ironsides, MD

Saw a snake, alligator snapping turtle, and rabbits, before we even reached the gates. Moderate privacy and space, especially considering how close it is to DC. There are some abandon camp loops around the open campground which makes for some cool walks with your dog. Very pretty area with lots of trails and overgrown roads to walk. Equestrian trails go deep into the woods if you want a longer trail. Bathrooms don’t look like much from the outside, but the inside is very nice. Clean, hot water, and good water pressure. The have a new dump station, but the hose has an anti-freeze up in the air with a pull cord valve. This means every time you pull to turn the water on, you get a shower. It was hot, so it was OK. Hahaha. They sell firewood, but they were huge pieces and getting them to start burning was tough. LOTS and LOTS of ticks. I got one, but my wife and dog got about a dozen each. Just bring tweezers. Each site had picnic table, fire ring, and pretty level parking spot.

We picked up the camping registration outside the office at the entrance, no need to speak with anyone. Then we just drove down to our campsite in the family camping loop. We could hear and smell horses when we got to our campsite, but it didn't last forever. 

The site was mostly clean, had a few pieces of small trash scattered around when we arrived. The sites were decently spaced out from one another, it didn't feel like we were right on top of the people across and next to us. Our site was close to the restroom, it had a little path leading to the restroom, and it looked like there was little trail paths all around leading to the restrooms from the different parts of the loop. The path leading to the restroom from our site was gravel and easy to walk on. The restrooms were clean, but the floor was wet almost the entire time we were there (likely due to the showers).

If you need to buy wood it is $5 for 8 pieces and you call a number given to you in your registration packet. The ranger will then drive by and drop off the wood at your campsite. The inner ring of this loop has electricity, and the electric box was just on the far side of the picnic table in the corner.

Such a great campsite. So many things to do. There was a waterpark, mini golf, marina, lots of trails and playground. Our stay was awesome. The staff were so nice and helpful. Pretty Quiet at night.

Some bugs but not too bad. Didn’t have to use too much bug spray. Our site was spacious. Peaceful, water spigot across the road. Close to comfort station.

Great for families, groups, single, anyone. Noticed different size sites. Great stay definitely planning to stay again.

We had spot 84 which was great for privacy and location to the laundry! The staff was nice. It was a bummer to have no water hook-up (we did know this before booking) but that would have made it perfect. WATCH OUT for poison oak - our electrical cord must have come in contact with it as we did not hike through the woods yet we both got poison oak on the inside of our arms (from holding the cord) and it has spread down both our arms. The laundry facility was clean and it’s $2 to wash and $2 to dry. Easy 45 minute drive to DC. Overall, would stay again if passing through.

We have been camping here for nearly 20 years. Each military tour brought us back to this area so Pohick became our second home. Our kids kayak now older but used to walk the trails as little kids. The waterpark is new and loud so we avoid but nice if you have young kids. Careful low bridge on Route 1 exit ramp little warning when taking ramp off I95. Go around to next exit. The check in at the cap store is crowded and narrow even with renovations but our 34 ft makes it okay. Bring bikes. Long bike trail along road. Farmers markets in Lorton and things to do in DC. Park at Huntington or Springfield metro. Short boat ride straight across from Ft Belvoir new family campground. Ice cream shop in season by water docks. Bathrooms clean always hot water three stalls each. Sink outside for dishes. Playground buts up against inner circle which are the only sewer sites. Others are electric water. Careful some near steep drop off. Stick to main road or inner circle or first circle if in big unit. Must go round circle to get to those spots which can be annoying. Two speed bumps. Camp store sells smores ingredients, limited candy, no eggs or bacon get those off Rte 1. Past entrance on Rte 1 is a Food Lion, McDonalds. Gas stations along Rte one are tight so fill up before exiting to campground. If you are desperate there is gas 7/11 at corner of Pohick and Rte 1 but its sketchy. Up the road off Rte 1 is Fort Belvoir Access w a drivers license however cant shop without military sponsored ID. Great bbq at Telegraph Rd and greek at Olympians family restaurant. Movie theater on Telegraph is nice. Springfield Mall close. Take Onville Rd which is a backroad by Pohick Church to shortcut to Rte 1. Pohick Rd past camping turn deadends into private neighborhood. Do not pass camp entrance. Hard to turn around if you do. Near End of Pohick is a small walk with overlook. See birds at point. Drive a car not RV. Park at lot on right before road split deadend. Gunston Hall on left can see from campground and water. Tours are nice.

This place is so noisy with these helicopters that fly 24/7. Another absolutely insane noisy campground run by nova. Absolutely a rip off because of the noise just like all nova parks seem to be.   Insane

We loved staying at Pohick. We were here to visit DC and it was an excellent spot to stay. It was extremely hot as it was July but the sites had a lot of shade. Site 46 where we stayed was close to the bathrooms and nice and flat. The bathrooms were cleaner than any other campground we have stayed in and they have laundry and a nice stainless sink and counter for washing dishes if needed. About a 40 minute drive into DC and definitely worth it. Also, campers get a discount at the water park which was a very reasonable 5 dollars per person. The weekend tends to be a bit louder but during the week was very quiet.

We had a great time here over a long weekend in August. The check in is a breeze and the staff is super nice and helpful. They gave us a great intro to the park as we were first timers. They informed us that they had a scavenger hunt for the kids going all weekend, they had an outdoor movie scheduled for Friday night, a campfire story time scheduled for Saturday night and crafts scheduled for Sunday morning. This was music to our ears as we camp with our 3 and 1 year old. There is also a pool/water park in the park as well as a nice network of trails. There is plenty of things to do here to keep a family occupied.

We got a site on thr inner loop and it backed to the playground and the bathhouse. The site was spacious. We are tent campers but almost all our neighbors were in an RV or trailer. The site had water and electric which was nice. The bathhouse is standard but also has laundry and an outdoor dish washing station. The campground was quiet which is nice.

This was an amazing weekend for us and we will definitely be back. There is boat rental a short walk down the trsil from the campgrounds and the pool and disc golf course are another short trail walk away.

My friends were first time campers, so I brought them here. It was perfect. Easily accessible bathrooms and showers, fire ring with a rack, and nice greenery. The plethora of activities made it simple to keep my friends entertained. You can rent kayaks, go mini golf, and there are a couple very easy hiking trails.

Really enjoyed this park especially since it is so close to Washington DC. The sites were fairly level and shaded with a fire ring and picnic table. Verizon cell coverage was good. The comfort house with showers and flush toilets was clean. My only minor complaint would be during the weekend there are a lot of children making noise at the water park. It wasn’t bad but if you want peace and quiet, keep that in mind.

This campground has 5-star service, which is good to know before you pay the premium price for the sites which really are standard 4-star campsites. Our mode of camping: a campervan. Reason for staying: to be stationary for a few days.

[Internet. Verizon via iPhone 12: 9 mbps down and 1.4 mbps up with 49 ms ping.]

We had a few interactions with the rangers and staff that really impressed us.

(1) The first night there we went to take a shower at Comfort Station 1 and there was a snake in a shower that had snuck in. We showered at Comfort Station 2 on the other side of the campground. The next morning we reported to the camp store about the snake and that we hadn't gone back to check if it was still there. Not even 5 minutes later, two park rangers pull up to the bathroom to check out the bathroom. The snake had left. I was impressed with their response time.

(2) I had a package mailed to the campground and asked about it at the camp store. They said the ranger receives packages and that she'd call to check if any packages had arrived. I kid you not, maybe ten minutes later a ranger drives up to our campsite and delivers the package. 

(3) The Comfort Stations are so clean. They might have some of the cleanest bathrooms I've come across. Comfort Station 1 was within visual distance of our campsite. I swear that one person spent almost two hours cleaning that one building. This Comfort Station has an extra restroom that's handicap accessible too. The laundry room was so clean. As I do in all laundromats, I swipe the folding table with my finger to see if it needs dusting. This table did not need dusting. The women's restroom (and handicap bathroom) were so clean. The toilets, showers, sinks—everything. 

Other pros include: 

There's two laundry facilities. The washer and dryer each cost $2. (I highly recommend drying on medium since the dryer runs forever.) You can exchange for quarters at the camp store. The camp store sells firewood. Oh, the camp store itself is a perk. During our stay it was open 8am to 8pm. They sell ice cream! It was hot during our stay, so I bought some ice cream sandwiches.

My cons:

My first con is that the fresh water fill stations aren't marked on their campground map. They actually have two fill stations on either side of the camp store. Ask the camp store where they are.

My big con largely concerns "the nature" which I won't hold against the campground. Since it's summer, the spiders were out in full force.  Comfort Station 1 didn't show signs of any spiders who set up home (because they clean like crazy and they're amazing). However, outside is a whole different story. There was a fat, monstrous spider with a big web right above the dish washing station. It nearly gave me a heart attack (and I'm 36). I brought my bug spray over and doused the hell out of it and the underside of the roofing above the sink so I could wash dishes. That first night with the snake in the bathroom—there was also a sand dollar sized spider running across the floor. It clearly had ALSO snuck in. Our campsite had a fair amount of spiders running around on the ground. I highly recommend NOT wearing sandals during the warm season. At night during our first campfire while it was dark, a spider slunk down from a tree just above our picnic table. WHOLE LOTS OF NOPE ON THAT. We turned our outdoor side lights on to keep the spiders up in the damn trees. Thankfully this side was facing the woods so our lights weren't in anyone's eyes. I dread being one of "those" campers.

I stayed for three night, lost of open camp sites as it is late in the season. Nice trails, good facilities and friendly staff

Very secure, recomemded

Great camp sites each with a picnic table and fire pit. There are a ton of things to do at this park, boat ramps, water park, mini golf, disc golf, kayak rental, and hiking trails. The camp store is open from 8a-8p. My only complaint is that our site was a bit too close to the “main road” of the park. Also, comfort station 3 was out of service so we had to drive to the other stations when we needed to use the facilities. Other than that, very much recommended and we will be back.

Workers are nice, campground is decent. After hours ranger was really helpful and sweet helping spot me backing in. The trails to the bay are fun. Whoever designed the comfort station in the front needs to refund the park. You have to be on the toilet to close the door, there isn't an inch of extra space in the stalls. The laundry machines are positioned as inefficiently as possible. The second comfort station smells badly of sewage and the grate in the showers is painful on my feet, and I'm a barefoot gravel walker. Try to get a spot with full hookups to avoid the bathrooms.Other than the bathrooms, it's okay.

We stay here at least 6 trips a year. Nice layout, not all sites are level (half). Staff are always nice and go out of their way to help.

We loved our site B56 which is a deep, private spot with lots of tent sites. The trees are pretty and the laurel adds to the privacy. We were there in November, so the leaves were off the trees, but it still felt private. There were a few parties in the campground which is strange given we are in the midst of a Pandemic. The noise carries here perhaps because there are valleys. There are a lot of shallow campsites close together. Make sure you check the length of the site. We originally had B46 which was directly across from the bathroom, right beside the road, and across from the playground. The wonderful staff allowed us to move. The camp store firewood was very dry and burned nicely. The staff patrol the park quite a bit but maybe not at night. There are several beautiful trails and kayaking nearby. There is also a water park which likely adds to the noise in the summer.

Great regional park with lots to do - trails, biking, boating.

Sites are spacious and decently level (depends on the site I’m sure).

Plenty of playgrounds and trails nearby to keep the family busy.

Amenities and such are what you’d expect - clean but not new.

We would definitely stay again.