Best Equestrian Camping near Elk Mills, MD

Equestrian Camping Reviews near Elk Mills, MD

178 Reviews of 7 Elk Mills Campgrounds

• 

  Wendy W.

  Guide

  Jul. 4, 2020

  Tuckahoe State Park Campground

  Perfect First Family Camping Trip

  Tuckahoe is a hidden gem on Maryland’s mid-Eastern Shore region. With many of your standard amenities and a quiet atmosphere, it was a great spot for my first time camping with my kids.

  Our campsite was on the non-electric loop. We had a small creek and trail back up to our campsite. We only had a handful of neighbors and foot traffic at the time was almost nonexistent, so we practically had the park to ourselves.

  There is an electric loop with electric hookup, but no water or sewer. Those can be found at the campground entrance. Each loop has a wood shed and clean, well-appointed bathhouse. There are water pumps along the road for refills.

  There are 4 basic cabins on each loop and most sites are designed for RV and/or tent use. There are 3 sites that are tent-only on the non-electric loop.

  Multiple trails in the area are widespread. Wear comfortable hiking shoes and bring a map! They also have equestrian trails with an equestrian center nearby. The lakefront boasts a picnic area with individual tables and grills, recycled tire playground, and kayak rentals (for a fee). Fishing is allowed, but no swimming (which was a bummer for us, but exploring some of the local creeks helped provide some relief from the summer heat).

  Nearby is Atkins Arboretum. Their 5 mile trail system covers around 400 acres. There are woods, “grasslands,” and “wetlands” to explore the various ecosystems of the Eastern Shore. They also had a goat area and garden play area for children. There is a fee through the Visitor’s Center which supports the center, but some of the trails can be accessed via other Tuckahoe trails.

  Centrally located, you’re still within easy access to a local town center (Denton), supplies, and dining. I can’t recommend Tuckahoe enough if you just want a quiet spot or you’re new to camping!

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• 

  Amanda K.

  Ranger

  Aug. 14, 2022

  French Creek State Park Campground

  Reviews are misleading, they don’t offer what they use to

  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

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• V

  Vanessa S.

  Guide

  Sep. 16, 2024

  Tuckahoe State Park Campground

  A Gem of a State Park

  We were looking to explore Maryland's Eastern Shore and picked Tuckaho because they had electric sites available. We were so pleased with our stay. The campground is well maintained and the sites are great. We have a small travel trailer and our site was pretty level and nicely private. We backed up to a hiking trail which was nice. There's lots to do here. There's a disc golf course and the camp store has discs available to use. We've never played before but had a blast learning, now we're hooked. We also enjoyed kayaking on the lake. If you enjoy birding this park is great, we saw so many cool birds. There's an arboretum and horse riding trails. We will definitely be going back!

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• 

  Melissa C.

  Traveler

  Mar. 2, 2017

  Tuckahoe State Park Campground

  Really nice to kayak

  Tuckahoe State Park is tucked away onto the Eastern Shore of Maryland, close to the Chesapeake Bay. It features every kind of camping you can imagine. RVs, tents, youth group, etc. while I was only there for one chilly April night, my partner and I were looking forward to kayaking along the lake and creek. I was new to the sport and it was windy so the lake was a bit scary to kayak but the creek was perfect. With all the vegetation growing back, it felt like you were in Florida. There were interpretive signs all along the creek to teach about the birds, amphibians, and even beavers one might see. One of the downsides to the campground was that the bathrooms were small and far away from the campsites. That is, if we went to the right ones. Could have been user error.

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• 

  Ellen B.

  Guide

  May. 23, 2019

  Lums Pond State Park Campground

  Great place in the back yard

  We do Lums Pond at least twice a year if we can get reservations.

  Sites are big and all were redone in the last few years with concrete pads, 30 amp service and full sewer. There are some equestrian and tent sites as well.

  Lots of boating (electric motors only) and kayaking on the pond and a decent amount of hiking. There’s an off leash dog park, equestrian center and boat ramp. Book early because it fills up fast!

• 

  Laure D.

  Legend

  Apr. 24, 2021

  French Creek State Park Campground

  Feels crowded

  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.

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• 

  Christina S.

  Scout

  Aug. 13, 2017

  French Creek State Park Campground

  Great local getaway

  We were looking for someplace close to the city but away from the hustle and bustle of our city life, this was the perfect little steal-away; relatively close by, great car camping spots, nice easy hikes, there's a lake but unfortunately you can't swim in it, they have a public pool but we opted for hiking instead.

• M

  Mark

  Guide

  Apr. 4, 2022

  Lums Pond State Park Campground

  Will be back again [when we can get a reservation]

  I understand why it is so difficult to get a reservation at Lums Pond.  I don't know if it's the host campers or the management, but they're definitely doing something right.  

  I have to say, Jim, the host camper by us was fantastic.  As it was our first trip after a long winter, I managed to forget to put the anode back in our water heater.  I went over and sheepishly asked him if I could borrow a 1 1/2" socket.  He not only lent us a socket, but asked if I needed help, and if I had teflon tape (which I did) and was willing to lend a hand.

  The site was fairly level, side-to-side, so I really only needed to level front to back.  That was a bonus.

  Our daughter really enjoyed the playground (which was excellent, by my standards). The only complaint I have is that the kiddie swings seem to be modeled after the seasickness machine that they had on Mythbusters (https://archive.org/details/MythBusters..Season.3..480p576P..DVDripHDTV..X265HEVC..O69..FIXED/Mythbusters+-+S03E26+-+Seasickness+-+Kill+or+Cure.mkv).  I could only go on the swing with her for a little bit before I started to turn green.  Other than that?  She fought us about leaving the playground, and really would have been content if that was all we did.

  I took her older cousins to  the fishing pier, and we didn't even get a nibble, but I think it was too cold for panfish that close to shore.

  The trails were well marked, and the day we took a hike, we ended up on the equestrian trail that runs all the way around the pond.  It was a long, but easy hike.

  The bath house was absolutely immaculate, and the design made even my public-bathroom-phobic sister-in-law comfortable and at ease.

  All in all, it was a fantastic trip, and I hope to go back soon.

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• 

  Laure D.

  Legend

  Mar. 31, 2024

  Lums Pond State Park Campground

  Snall campground, big sites

  Nice smaller campground with large spacious sites. Very level and spaced apart from neighbor is you pick the right spots. We were in 17 which looked out to open space and woods. If it rains, some sites are flooded. Not much going on for activities in March. Near an Ape Adventure park, hike around lake, and any shopping or restaurants you might want are close by. It rained heavy so we didn’t get out much but walk around camp loop is nice and flat.