Best Equestrian Camping near Vandalia, MI

Equestrian Camping Reviews near Vandalia, MI

221 Reviews of 7 Vandalia Campgrounds

• 

  Whitley K.

  Guide

  Mar. 29, 2022

  Pokagon State Park Campground

  Visit in Winter for Tobagganing

  Equestrian trails and campgrounds are popular here. Horse rides sold on site. There is a nice hotel that sometimes hosts events actually located in the park. Come tobagginging and ice fishing in the winter and then pamper yourself in the hotel, or visit in the summer and have a beach day or easy hike with the family. Great spot for Pokémon Go because of the available cell service.

• J

  James K.

  Traveler

  Sep. 11, 2020

  Ely Lake Campground

  Beautiful rustic sites with loud parties at night

  Ely Lake Campground is a County campground in Allegan Michigan. All of the sites are rustic. Here are the bullet points:

  • There are no bathrooms, just pit toilets. 
  • There is no electricity. 
  • There is a hand pump for water, although I would recommend bringing your own drinking water because the water from the hand pump is very discolored.
  • Each site has a fire pit and a picnic table.
  • They don't sell firewood, but you can by some in town on your way in.
  • There is a beach.
  • You can make reservations online ahead of time, or show up and find an empty site (but bring cash or check to pay because its a drop box).
  • They have equestrian trails and sites.

  First the positives: It is a beautiful rustic campground. We stayed on the side with sites 49-73 (specifically site 50) which has larger more secluded sites than the other side of the Lake. The Lake is for non-motorized recreational use so it is mostly used for kayaking and canoeing and fishing. There is about a 1 mile trail that you can walk around the exterior of the Lake, however it is ill defined in some places so just keep your eyes peeled for yellow markers on the trees (which are everywhere so you wont get lost).

  This place also attracts a lot of equestrian campers and they have trails specifically for horseback riding. So if you have kids that love horses, you may see some on the weekends. 

  The negatives: It is a wonderful experience until about 10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday night. This place attracts a rowdy crowd and in the evenings (apparently there is no where else for the locals to have a rager). There is loud music , people yelling, fireworks going off and… not very much sleep. And I am not just talking about a few people with their music on -- it was someone blasting their sub-woofer with electronic dance music until 4:45 AM. It was really disappointing because otherwise the experience was positive. Luckily my kids are all deep sleepers so I was the only one who had to sit up all night.

  They clean the bathrooms daily from what I can tell, but otherwise the campground is not maintained. There was trash around our site, and when you walk the trail about the lake you will see cigarette packets and beer bottles occasionally. Also along the trail were two massive hornet nests that really should have been removed by park management - but it's clear they don't ever maintain the trail. 

  If you're willing to overlook some garbage, and if the party people stay away you could have a wonderful camping trip. Allegan County has a beautiful natural resource here, but sadly it seems like it is being squandered, and wont last.

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• 

  Suzi K.

  Scout

  Oct. 22, 2020

  Ely Lake Campground

  Words Can't Describe

  This is always my go to campground! All natural camping with plenty of nice people! One word of advise is to bring your own tp though lol they seem to always run out on Sunday mornings lol but are back up and running by mid afternoon. No showers and just outhouses but that's REAL camping right!!!? No power motor lake but there is another lake close by that is. We take the canoe with a trolling motor and hit that as well. Pet friendly. They have horse campsites and trails. Walking trails around the lake that offer nature at it's purest! I have been coming to this lake to camp for over 40 years and I hope I have 40 more years left!!!

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• D

  Daniel S.

  Traveler

  Jul. 5, 2016

  Pokagon State Park Campground

  Pokagon State Park

  Pokagon State Park has an excellent state park campground. Sites are in a well wooded area situated on 5 different loops (1 non-electric, 4 electric). Many sites are flat (good for tent camping) while others are slightly rolling hills (helps breakup the sites a bit). There is a lot to do in the park including many trails, horse riding (horse stable on site), and lake swimming on a nicely improved beach. Only cons are no full hook up and the fire rings/grills could be improved.

• 

  Diana M.

  Traveler

  Jun. 13, 2018

  Fort Custer Recreation Area

  Perfect for families

  The trails are great for hikers, bikers, & equestrians. We’ve had family camp outs there, as well my husband & I alone. It’s all dog friendly too! 🐕🐶

• 

  T S.

  Traveler

  Sep. 19, 2021

  Pokagon State Park Campground

  Extensive Campground

  This is an extremely large campground. About seventy-five percent of the sites are electric. We stayed in Site 255, which was not electric (booked last minute). This site was fairly level but very close to other sites…wouldn’t recommend it. However, Site 269 (next to Site 277) afforded great privacy and was large; among the non-electric sites this was the best I saw. I did not survey the electric sites, but I’m sure the site matters a lot. Non-electric sites are $20.00, plus a $9.00 park entrance fee.

  There are numerous walking trails, along with horse and bike trails. Additionally, there are boat rentals, horseback rides, pony rentals, swimming, nature center, and a restaurant at the inn.

  This is a family oriented park. Extended family groupings are very common. Nevertheless, people and their children are well behaved.

  I would recommend this campground for two days or more. A one day stay will mean you probably won’t see much of this wonderful park. The only reason I gave it a four was that even in mid-September it was packed.

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• 

  Janet N.

  Scout

  May. 20, 2019

  Fort Custer Recreation Area

  Something for everyone

  MMichigan State park with large sites and lots of privacy.  $25per night with electric.  Several no wake lakes for kayaking, canoeing and fishing. One lake with swimming beach. Lots of trails for hiking,  horses and mountain bikes. Roads quiet and could easily ride your road bike to nearby bike paths. I loved the lack of lights in the park at night making for a beautiful night sky.

• 

  Jessica L.

  Guide

  Jul. 28, 2016

  Potato Creek State Park Campground

  Activities for all seasons...

  ...although you probably wouldn't want to camp in the Indiana winter. I grew up coming here mostly to sled on the hills! But, there is a lot more to do. It surrounds Worster Lake and there are cabins, RV sites, and tent sites along with horse trails and bike trails. In the winter, there's sledding hills and ice fishing. The campgrounds are pretty standard, nothing special. If you live in the area, it's a fine little getaway.

• D

  Diana C.

  Scout

  Apr. 25, 2019

  Potato Creek State Park Campground

  A wonderful state campground

  I feel this is one of the best state parks in Indiana. Come with your own water as they don’t have water hookups at your campsite but there are some nearby. The sites are very spacious and clean. Bath houses are always clean! Playground areas for the kids throughout the park lots of bike and walking trails. No pools but a beautiful man made lake for swimming and fishing. Lots of wildlife throughout the park. A great nature center is a must to see for the little ones. My family has camped here for many years. There is also a separate campground for horse lovers.