Best Equestrian Camping near Rockford, MN

During these COVID times everyone wants to get out and about more, which means that the main parking lot for the park that used to be mostly designated for horse trailer parking is now overrun with family vehicles. So as a result the Riverbend group equestrian campground is now the parking lot for day visitors through at least August. 

In normal times you can rent this group campsite for$70-$80 a night, which is ridiculously cheap considering that you can fit quite a bit of horse trailers on here. The information for this site states you can put 10 horse trailers on this lot, but I have definitely seen groups camp here with more. The barn stalls are available for use (unlike the Blue Stem horse site), otherwise there are overhead horse hitch lines. 

This campground is nicely maintained and has nice mature trees that a lot of people set up hammocks in. The vault toilet near the barn is nice, there are no showers. Be aware that the road into this group site only is wide enough for one vehicle at a time, so far I’ve been lucky to not encounter another vehicle as I’m entering or leaving.

This is my all-time favorite park to bring my horse to, and it's her favorite trail too. Seriously, when we head back to our trailer she will stop and refuse to proceed. Do a 180 on the trail and she is happy to trot away from the trailer. Horse camping is available in two locations in the park, even though once when I was there a family was camping in the parking with their horses. Apparently they got the cops called on them by some other park patrons who didn't believe that this was an option. At the time it was marked as a camping location on the map, but that may have changed.

The best place to be bug-free happens to be the sandy prairie trails, the wooded areas are nice but you may want to hustle out of there if you don't have enough bug protection. For non-horse riders some parts of the trail out in the open prairie might be a bit sandy. Also important to note- bikes are NOT allowed on the trails. Absolutely gorgeous in the fall. Pit toilets are available and there is water available at the entrance off of Park drive, not sure about the other locations.

I was very happy with the trails and accommodations available to me, during my stay. There are park pavilions and a water park connected to the campsite, a gold course nearby, and shops, too - - but the actual campsite, bike/walking/horse trails make you forget all of that. The temperature was COLD the first night, but perfect the rest of the week. Absolutely loved the experience, and I will go again.

This campground is on a first come, first serve basis. There are no reservations for the regular sites (although I do think they might take reservations for the equestrian and group sites).

I highly recommend the walk-in-sites for the most private tent camping experience. The walk from the car isn’t far, but the sites are off the road and in the pines. If you like to have your car at your site, you’ll find some sites with nice long driveways that can accommodate multiple cars, or even a truck with a boat/trailer. The beach is nice and private, but it’s a bit of a hike from the campsites. I’d recommend just hopping in the car and driving over if you’ve got young kids with you.

There is no store or firewood sold at the campground, so you’ll have to haul your own in from an approved vendor.

The park

Disclaimer: I did not actually camp here. There are two group campsites that are available, but considering that my friends aren’t big campers I wasn’t willing to pay $85 a night for a campsite (and I’m pretty sure these get booked up quickly on the weekends). I’ll talk more about the two group sites later. 

I really liked this park, it felt like there was something available for everyone. When I first pulled in I checked out the single track trail area first and the parking lot was full of mountain bikers. This newly developed trail is 13.25 miles long, so a nice option close to the city for those who are inclined to adventurous biking. Different loops are available for varying skill levels. 

There are two water access points- one for Lake Rebecca and one for the nearby Crow River. There are also boat rentals available, I’ll attach a pic of this season’s current rates.  There are also two fishing docks located not too far from the main beach area. I didn’t get in the water so I have no idea how clean it is, but there were many happy swimmers. Keep in mind that there are no lifeguards on duty.

In addition to the single track unpaved trail there is also a horse trail and a paved trail that looks in good condition- I’m hoping to bring my horse to check out the former and my roller blades to check out the latter. This park has always been relatively nearby to where I have lived, but I have never actually been before my visit this weekend since other horse riders have always had cautionary tales about how bad the bugs are here. I am not sure how they are on the horse trails, but I set up my hammock in a wooded area and I didn’t think that the amount of mosquitos that approached me was anything note-worthy. 

I haven’t been to the group campsites yet to scope them out, someday soon hopefully, but these are the descriptions that I was able to track down online. My one gripe about the Three Rivers park district is that finding information about the campgrounds isn't as straight forward as it should be.

Sarah Creek group campsite can accommodate 80 people and it has a barn and hitching posts. The amount of horses that it can support is unknown. There is a volleyball net, grill, fire ring, water pump and latrines (so I’m guessing rustic).

The South group campsite seems to be geared more towards mountain bikers since it has a garage-esque structure that I’m guessing you would store your bikes in. It can accommodate 50 people, has a grill, water pump latrines, fire ring, and horseshoe pit. 

Weeknights are $70 and weekends/holidays are $85. This seems like a huge steal considering how many people these sites can accommodate!!!

Product Review

As a Dyrt ranger, I received a gift card to REI for participating in a recent campground review contest. I recently became obsessed with hammocks, and thanks to a BOGO from Trek Light I now have two. One of the hammocks I received was part of a bundle and came with ropes already, but the other didn’t. Before I bought a second pair of the same ropes I decided I wanted to see how well they worked before I spent another $20 on just basic ropes that aren’t terribly long. 

I purchased a set of ENO Atlas hammock straps for $29.95 and they are well worth the $10 price difference. The ENO straps are 9 feet long each and together can hold up to 400 pounds. Instead of fiddling with tying knots and retying them to get the perfect adjustment, I can just move the hook on my hammock between the pre-stitched rings as necessary.  The extra length and the quick adjustments are greatly appreciated by someone who is still new to hammocks and isn’t great at eyeballing things. ENO does have a set of longer straps that are each 13.5 feet long, but I figure that if I find myself in a situation where the trees are too far apart for these straps I can just attach my ropes to the Eno straps and take advantage of the double capacity feature of my hammock. So Far I’m really impressed with how easy these are to loop around the trees and adjust the tension of my hammock.

For a County Park, Lake Elmo has an impressive list of amenities. Before we even get to the campsite let's mention the filtered swimming pond. This man made pond is a sandy bottom and surrounded by a nice sand beach. Large built in umbrellas are available for sun coverage and there is a concession stand and bathrooms with showers. And yes, as I mentioned the water is filtered! No gross goose poop or green algae to deal with! Next to the swim pond is a giant playground with fun for the big and little kids. Other amenities include archery, horse trails, paved and grass trails, camper spots, rustic spots and hike in camping spots. In winter the xc ski trails are lit for evening skiing. Or let's be honest early afternoon. It is Minnesota and the suns down by 4 In the Winter! They also have a newer Nordic center that's open all year round and includes a locker room with showers. The hike in camp spot we chose was on a small lake so it had a nice breeze and made it easy to bring a kayak or paddleboard and hop right in. There is also a boat launch for your larger toys! The trails in the park are quite impressive for its size. We enjoyed a 5 mile loop off the Nordic center and right past the camp spot. A picnic table and fire pit as well as nice flat tent pad were provided. If you're coming in from out of town then you're just a 5 minute drive from Woodbury and all the amenities you'd ever need but the park feels miles away from it all.

I went to this park for the first time last weekend, and I spent the entire time just saying“wow”. I had never been here before, despite it only being 20 minutes away, because I always prioritize going to state parks. It would never even occur to me to camp somewhere if it was less than an hour away. That is no longer true, as I immediately made reservations for this park when I got home. You might want to as well.

If you simply look at the list of amenities this park has, nature lovers would be quick to turn their nose up at it as an overly-commercialized playground. It has a golf course, a restaurant is on the grounds, there is a stable with horses/ponies that you can take guided trail rides on, a water park(it is called The Beach, which was very confusing for us when we thought we were taking the trail to an actual beach), several playgrounds, archery, an event center, frisbee golf, and yes a campground. I’m probably forgetting something, check out their website for more. Basically, check this place out if you want to get out of the house for some outdoor pandemic family fun.

Despite many of these things not being anything that I have a slight interest in, this somehow works for the park and it feels like a hidden paradise. I was immediately enthralled by the scenery as we drove into the park. There is an automated self-service station that accepts cards, or you can put cash in the drop box, a daily pass in 2021 is$6 and an annual pass is$30. It truly felt like a state park, and it’s definitely bigger than some of them(for instance it is 8x larger than Carley State Park).

The lower loops are definitely better for tent campers, even though quite a few spots could support an RV. The campground map does a good job of providing visual indicators of what a site provides. The upper loop(sits 45-64) is definitely more geared towards RVs, so not what I would consider an ideal tent site. See picture of site 47 to get a feel for what this one is like. The bathrooms were locked up, so no feedback on those at this time. They looked relatively modern though. Also there are two camper cabins, they look more utilitarian than atmospheric though. Sites that I loved: 3, 8, 10.

Overall I had a great time walking the trails, it was always kind of exciting to see what random feature was tucked seamlessly into the next bend. Based on the lack of Dyrt reviews and the overabundance of weekend availability for this campground, it might be a nice option for you to get camping even if you are a state-park-loving metro dweller like me. My reservation for a rustic site wound up being$30 for one night.

Lake Elmo County Park in Washington County Minnesota is a great park for families. There are a bunch of things to do including hiking, horseback riding, swimming in their filtered pond, boating and an insane playground. Our modern site 40 was in a great open location with a shaded edge. We had plenty of room to play, park the camper or set up tents. I can imagine in the heat of summer the lack of shade trees may be a hindrance to avoiding the noon day sun but there's always the amazing filtered swimming pond to go cool off in. Directly behind the site was a hiking trail that led us through woods, fields and prairie. The water source was just a couple campsites down but the bathrooms were a little farther so when coming with just tents you may want to search for a closer campsite. Overall clean and open.

Gulley that a large creek runs through surrounded by trees and large forested hills. The entire park is surrounded by farms, nearby are some really nice Minnesota small towns like Henderson and the somewhat larger St. Peter (but still small town). I hiked in about 1/2 a mile and camped in the trees but they also have some clearings closer to the entrance, with grills, where you could easily set up. $10 suggested donation. Trash bins located all over which is good , but the wind seems to blow debris around here and there, and irresponsible people leave their beer cans/water bottles strewn about, so pick them up if you find them like I did. Website and signage on location recommends to call the sheriff's office to let them know you're camping there which I did and they were nice enough, but it's probably not the end of the world if you don't. Overall this was a pleasant spot, especially being the only camper there, so hope you all enjoy! Places like this are what I love about The Dyrt, I don't think I would have found this otherwise.

Big park! Great for birding and walking trails! One of my favorite places to go near home😁

This has an amazing beach. Great Trails. Sweet single track for mountain biking. The best kids park at any campground I’ve been to.