Are you an equestrian lover who prefers a more rustic experience when you visit Byron? Equestrian camping is an adventurous and unique way to experience the city. At The Dyrt, you can find top-rated spots for horse camping, as reviewed by campers.
$35 / night
$35 / night
West Assembly Area is the largest of the three campgrounds at Zumbro Bottoms; it is a primitive campground designed to furnish only the camper's basic needs, vault toilets, and hand-pumped water. Other than two accessible sites, there are no designated campsites in this campground.
There are fire rings, picnic tables, picket lines, and manure bunkers in the campground. There is a lot of open space, and campers can set up as they wish, keeping in line with these rules:
Portable pens must be 75 feet from the road to minimize damage to the grass and not be around trees.
Horses cannot be tied to trees.
Keep the size of your campsite reasonable. To allow for other campers to use only the amount of space you need.
All camping is first-come, first-serve. Do not block off space for friends who will be arriving later.
Clean up your campsite when you leave. Put all garbage in the dumpster and all hay and manure in the bunkers provided.
This is a popular camping area and on busy weekends can accommodate 100 + camping units.
Quiet hours are between 10:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m. (this includes no generator use). Please be considerate of others around you.Highlights: Zumbro Bottoms offers access to 44 miles of horseback riding trails. The trails have been marked with brown signs showing appropriate uses.
$22 / night
Scout
WiFi intermittent At far end of campgrounds. Very clean showers and bathroom near office
Scout
Camp Dels Review
Worth the read!
Charges:
They charged us half of what my cousin next to us got charged and we got the same thing but mine should have been more because I had 3 more adults. And it was 500$ for 3 nights. We should have just went and rented out a house.
On the last day we went up to get our bills fixed and it took 40 min for them to figure out the issue, wrote down the totals and said we'll charge the cards at 11 am when the other guy comes in. At 11am we went back up for our receipts and it took them another 20 min to figure it out. He wanted to send us away saying. I'll figure it out and email it to you. I said no that doesn't work for me I'll take it now. He said what would you like me to do. So I had to spell it out for him and said "I want you to take the full amount your charging me, subtract the deposit, then subtract the payment I made when I came on Friday, and now tell me what I owe today, run that amount on my card right now and give me the receipt and do the same for the other site we had too. It's not hard. However you have to do it in your computer you figure it out, I just want to go home. I'll wait" he said your right it's not hard. I said start over completely if you want I don't care. I just want my receipts. (They couldn't even figure out math and how simple it was. What are they going to do if there computers ever fail totally) it was painfully funny to endure both times I sat through Watching with my bill!
Night time:
So at night get ready to be harassed every 30 minutes to a hour by workers trying to bully you to bed every night if you choose to stay up past 11pm. And they pick out the 1 drunk guy in your group to try and cope with when the sober one is saying "hey I'm sober. I don't drink. Can you please answer and talk to me" but they are rude to you and refuse. They pick at the drunk guy. But that was every night. All 3 nights. 1st time they come it is 1guy. 2nd time 2guys. 3rd time 3guys come. 4th time 4guys. 5th time 4guys come. They start at 11pm telling people to turn off all music (even on the phone turned way down. Even watching a video outside. Even if your humming/singing together, lol he said no/off, now). Of course we complied though.
At 12am they say time for bed and then start tying to reason with you about coming back for a time when it's going to be all over at. At 12:30/1am they will come back a 3rd time and start bullying again. And say put it out now and throw a fit when you don't completely comply. So they say "I'll be back in 15 min and we are done, fire goes out and you are all going to bed". So at 1:15 perfectly on time their gang comes to harass you adults to go to bed. He screams I'm not leaving until your fires out and your all in bed. I tell him to shhhhhh! And now the drunk guy who paid 500$ to be here gets his wood doused with water and is livid. And some of us drop off every time they come because they are so rude and don't want to deal with it but I'm sober and an adult and No one is going to put me to bed. All the adults there are waisted all day and not watching their kids. And now I know why. We talk to all our neighbors plus we are there with about 10 other scattered around sites and every neighbor couldn't believe what they were doing saying we weren't even loud. We had no music and a small fire with a few people. I kept walking 5 away to go pee and I couldn't hear our group any of the nights. And we weren't even all at 1 fire either.
* And throughout every interaction the non-drinker asks respectively (me) where in your rules or on the website does it say adults have a bed time by 1am and you guys go around harassing repeatedly trying to cause problems starting at 11pm and bully them them to bed???? Maybe you should be more transparent or be more humble and kind with your discretion. No one is being loud and belligerent. But I was ignored. Because if it had sad that on line or had I been warned about the worker's behavior after 11pm we wouldn't have came. We ourselves had 2 spots. The guy we knew who invited us had like 8 spots with him and needless to say none of us and anyone we know will ever come to
Camp Hels.
The workers/people:
Some shouldn't work with the public. But they are all family! All related just about! And they let you know it! Some of them also let you know that they aren't saposed to be working but that they are there working anyways! So I put money in for the batting cages. Nothing happened so i swiped the playing card again. A guy and lady walk out. I said excuse me. Im not sure im doing it right but i think it took my money. She yelled at me that "we are having problems, dont I see that, give us some time". So i waited. It looked like they were going to leave so i told the guy what happened to my card and he said sure we'll refund it. The last ones not working. (But they didnt put a sign on it) and he told the lady to deal with my refund. And she came and yelled at me again. I tried to explain myself but there's no talking to her. Pretty sure she was drunk. She said stay right here. Ill be back. I waited for 30 min for a refund at the batting cages. Come to find out no one works up there. She went to the office to get a refund. But I had to call the front desk to see if someone was even coming back. And he asked her while holding the phone "do you got people waiting on you up there? We'll get going there still waiting." When she got back she yelled "so who's waiting on me!" Like she didn't ask me to stay put like a dog. And was rude again. But I got a new card and 20 new mosquito bites.
There was other little things that were observed and overhead from other guests like at the pool, concert, petting zoo and other places too. We couldn't mention them all. We are very social and people loved all the stuff to do but hated the way they were all treated. We talked to a few seasonal owners and they say they get treated the same and hate it.
The sites/cleanliness/activities:
Lifeguards were nice. Business and all activities inside the campground ran smoothly and weren't awful at all. The kids enjoyed themselves using the amenities and activities. The bathrooms were ok and pretty clean. Some trash cans had overflowing garbage and a lot all over after events. I never saw anyone picking it up. But you could always see someone riding a golf cart being bossy. It was nice to see they gave their zoo animals long breaks from feeding and petting. Some of the birds looked like they had Veterinarian feather/skin illnesses. They call it a petting zoo but there's really no petting.
Recommendations:
Don't ever go. Or camp next door or close or get a house then just pay for a day pass if you can.
If CAMP DELS is reading this you should be more transparent on your site and train your family/workers to be more kind and just walk by reminding people to stay quit at night. Insted of being on a power trip demanding adults have a bed time, pretending you don't have discretion and choices yourselves on who and where you are actually creating the problem, bullying and then playing victim. Because the only thing your accomplishing every night is pissing people off. There is a better way. Weather your there or not trying to throw your authority around, people will go to bed. Example PD dont go into bars after 12am harassing people saying "times a coming guys! I'm going to close you down". You should only be keeping people from getting out of hand. Not causing it. Another fantastic idea is have an adult camping section where quiet time is 11pm and adults can go to bed when they choose! Instead of trying to take away people's freedom, especially on Memorial weekend! God bless and hope I never see any of you at Camp Dels ever again.
Guide
Good campground location for the bike trail and for going to places like Mankato, and Faribault. No swimming beach, but that's good because the lake is nasty in late summer.
GuideReally nice campground. Well maintained and level sites. Had a river to walk along and playground and animals for kids to enjoy. Staff were really nice and helpful. They had (free) loaner electric cords and water hoses for the sites that had a longer distance to go to the box/spigot. The state park was just down the road with great hiking.
GuideThis is a great campground within an hour's drive of the Twin Cities. Nice hiking and sites well spaced out. Beautiful in the fall! Only negative to our site was a fairly steep incline to back our trailer up. Made for more difficult but not impossible leveling, perfect site otherwise.
LegendGreat place to camp and get away from the cities without a long drive. Firewood is available at the office and a fire ring is at each site as well as picnic table.
Guide
Nice campground outside of Red Wing, MN with a bar/restaurant and other features. Access to trials for bikes and horses. I stayed in the horse camp without a horse but it was a nice area.
TravelerWe had a great trip there. The pool and food was outstanding. Only ding was for the actual campsite. Very small and tight and all over the campgrounds had a sewage smell that seemed to come and go.
Overall we would go again but would chose a different spot within the campground probably closer to the pool and activities.
Site 464 was super easy to back into.
My kids loved the fishing pond and the rollerball was super fun!
GuideBeautiful, small state park less than an hour south of Twin Cities. Sites are wooded and shady but some are close to neighboring sites. Not too many mosquitos or flies for August in Minnesota! Sakatah Singing Hills paved trail runs through the park. It was pouring on Saturday so most of the other campers checked out and we had the campground mostly to ourselves. Super friendly and helpful staff, clean restrooms. Faribault is 15 minutes away so we went antique shopping at Keeper's Antiques downtown and had cocktails at 10,000 Drops Distillery for rainy day activities.
TravelerGreat park if you’re not looking to drive too far to enjoy a bit of nature. Wonderful hiking paths and biking paths.
Our site was nice a secluded and right next to the trail heads.
Only downside, if you’re looking for complete quiet, this isn’t the park. It’s next to the highway and there are residents that live on the lake that can be noisy.
Otherwise, wonderful park especially for families.
Guide
Nice place but it is a campground not an rv park, 30 & 50 amp service but no water hookup (fill when you come in) and dump tanks when leaving,
Guide
Stayed here one night in early may and hiked the big spring trail. Site #42 was private with partial shade and a very nice and level gravel tent pad. The site was plenty big with plenty of room for activities. The shower facilities were very clean, same story for the latrines.
GuideStayed here in April which was a little chilly but kept the bugs away (it’s a little swampy here). The trails seemed less travelers than other places but that may have been due to the early time of year. It’s serene and peaceful here with plenty of space between sites and clean latrines.
GuideThe sight was slightly uneven but pretty private. We were here in mid April so the leaves were just starting to bud and the morning temps hovered in the upper 20s (F). This seemed like a lesser used park to me as the trails were not as worn out but this could be due to the early time of year we visited. I can see where the bugs would be bad later on as this is a very swampy area with lots of algae, ponds etc. A calm, serene place.
GuideSurprisingly extensive trails both inside and adjacent to the state park.
GuideWe had stayed here with our 37' 5th wheel. We reserved a spot right next to the pool area. It was a tight fit to back the camper it, but I was able to do it. They have cement pads for a patio area and a fire ring. The sites are close to each other, but far enough apart to be able to get slide outs and awnings out. There is SOOO much to do here. There is a petting zoo, mini golf, basketball hoops, lots of playgrounds and even a tram to help you get around the campground. The campground itself is huge! There is a store on site to buy supplies and/or food you might need. You are able to rent paddle boats, pontoons and other water based things. The lake was very green and gross when we rented a pontoon. The pontoons are very homemade!! They are old and have folding chairs to sit on. Overall, we had a GREAT time here. The kids absolutely LOVED all there is to do at the pool area. There is a splash pad, climbing tower and slides to go down. Would definitely recommend this place and we would definitely stay here again!
ScoutWe stayed here for the month of august, and this place is awesome! Beautiful spaces of various size, a river runs next to it and they have duck races. Dog park, small general store, backs up to a national park, close to town, immaculately maintained, volley ball court, lots of shade trees, easy access, and Andy(owner/operator) is the nicest person you’ll ever want to meet. For those so inclined there’s church service on Sunday in an old (cool looking!) barn! Fire pits at every spot. There is WiFi there, but little to no phone service unless you have a cell booster. 5/5 will definitely be back!
TravelerWe had a fabulous experience at BJ's this weekend. Mark, Sheri and the staff are good people who work hard to make sure you have a great time. The food is excellent and comes out SO FAST; bravo to the kitchen staff! Bartenders are very attentive; Tasha took excellent care of us! The campsites are well kept and spacious. There are no picnic tables in the sites, but we got along just fine without. We can't wait to go back!
ScoutWell maintained trails, lovely hosts & amenities. Not like any other campground.
ScoutSimple camping, picnic table, fire ring & grate. It is well maintained.
GuideVisited Sakatah Lake State Park to get some fall camping in. The drive from Minneapolis was an easy hour. The sites are generously sized, with the sites farther off the road being a bit larger. The sites are separated by a thickish bit of woods which provides more privacy. The sites are mostly gravel, and I bent a flimsy tent stake trying to pound it in the ground. The trails are not very long, but a nice walk. The Wapekute offers a semi-blocked view of Lake Sakatah, but also had a lot of stinging nettle and poison ivy very near the trail. The toilets were clean. Overall a really relaxing visit.
GuideNice park for everyone’s type from tents, cabins and all size RV’s. Electric only at the camp sites but have water and dump station on site. Clean bathrooms and showers. Best value I’ve seen for fire wood. Has many walking trails that you can take your dog on and just a couple that you can’t.
TravelerOverall a nice place. It was very wet, standing water in the grass from lots of rain. Spot 105. Not much room between sites there and had to back turn around and back down the road to park. Memorial wknd, they had a very nice pot luck lunch and pork chops on a stick, all free and great food. Shower house is a quaint old farm house, it was very nice. General store and firewood. Dump station was in odd spot, if it were busy it wouldn't be good. Overall a nice time.
Guide
For free the area is awesome right by the river. We found a site tucked away from people which is what we like. We set up hammocks right next to the river. The hike from parking is not bad at all about a 10 minute walk from parking to the farthest site.
GuideFor a campground that’s not too far out of the way, you feel so secluded and hidden away in the woods. Its quiet and really easy to get some solitude.
LegendThis is a pretty great campground with mostly large, private sites. Not all sites are level and there’s little to no cell coverage. The tours of the cave and historic Forestville are extra costs and are only available Thursday - Saturday
ScoutSuper nice people, cool pool setup, trolly to get you around. Quiet at night too!
Out site was super tight for a 27foot hitch, but worked out great
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Byron, MN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Byron, MN is Forestville Mystery Cave State Park Campground with a 4.3-star rating from 17 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Byron, MN?
TheDyrt.com has all 11 equestrian camping locations near Byron, MN, with real photos and reviews from campers.