Horse camping is the perfect way to enjoy Maitland. If you're an equestrian lover who prefers nature-based adventure, yet still wants comfort, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Equestrian camping is the best way to experience nature. The Dyrt can help you find the perfect equestrian sites that are scenic and easy to access.
Indian Cave State Park offers campers Electric Plus, Electric, Basic and Equestrian Basic campsites. Hackberry Hollow campground has 32 Electric Plus and 15 Electric pad sites. Campers will enjoy an array of amenities including showers, modern restrooms, laundry facility and a dump and fill station, as well as picnic tables and grills.
$15 - $30 / night
As a site on the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail, Waubonsie State Park in southwest Iowa is known for its exceptional vistas of Iowa’s unique Loess Hills and the Nebraska plains. Its extensive trail system offers something for the avid mountain biker, equestrians looking for a relaxing ride, or anyone eager to hike amongst the tranquil surroundings of the park’s ridgetop prairies and shaded woodland valleys. With nearly 2,000 acres of recreational opportunity and quiet beauty, Waubonsie State Park is an Iowa gem waiting to be explored.
Stay overnight in one of eight cabins at Waubonsie, some featuring fireplaces and year-round accommodations. The park also contains a modern campground with non-electric and electric campsites, modern showers, restrooms, and a sanitary dump station. The more primitive equestrian campground contains non-electric sites with hitching rails, pens, and pit vault toilets. Cabin and campsite reservations can be made through the online reservation system for Waubonsie State Park.
Legend
Stayed one night on Sept 4. Camped at site 35 in the non-equestrian campground; non-electric fee $15. Parked van on the grass at this site. Like nearly all of the sites in this campground, this site was close to the campground road. Overall, I felt that the campsites were all bunched together - offering no privacy and spacing between sites. The shower house was closed during our visit. Water was also turned off at the wayer pumps in the campground. There was one single vault toilet available for all of the campers; it was reasonably clean. Wayne, the campground host, was nice & helpful. There is a self-serve firewood station in the campground; cost is either $5 or $10, depending on the amount of wood you purchase. The campsites have a picnic table & metal fire ring. I wasn't too pleased with this campground, but I was very happy with the nearby hiking trails within the park. It's a pretty state park with hills & lush forest. The day use areas looked great. I recommend those traveling along I-29 to stop at this park - not necessarily for the camping, but for the hiking. Had some T-Mobile 4G service.
TravelerThis park was a great place to head to and unplug for a weekend. We camped in the area without hookups, so we pretty much had that area to ourselves. The area with hookups was somewhat crowded. The bathrooms and shower were clean. Water is easily accessible. The park is small, and we didn't find much to do other than a few hikes.
There are signs in the bathrooms warning of the raccoons. These signs are not exaggerating. We had a raccoon at our campsite trying to steal our food while we were there, like the raccoon was less than 10 feet from humans during mid-day.
Guide
I saw that their hiking trails were challenging. I got two dogs and love a challenge. The views the scenory made you feel like you got away from civilization.
A place where their is things to see and do. A must go.
GuideThe campground is pretty well-kept. Multiple playgrounds and shower houses throughout. Firewood for sale. A giant raccoon tried to get into my cooler 10 minutes after we turned out our lights for the night. Lookout for ticks. The cave was a little smaller than anticipated and near the tables on bank, the river unfortunately had a couple large patches of garbage. Still a fun place to camp out and hike around a bit.
Traveler
Good place for free camping just not a lot of things to do other than explore the woods or fish in the river which doesn’t have great access. They say there’s bike trails but it’s more just access roads.
It’s a big area with several access points. Here are the coordinates for the camping area along the river 39.95182° N, 94.99083° W.
TravelerGoogle Maps will take you on some gnarly gravel roads in a big loop if you take directions straight from Dyrt. Save yourself the time and search “Honey Creek Conservation Area”.
The spot itself is decent. It’s free. The campsites were super clean, but the bathrooms leave much to be desired. There are only really three or four designated campsites es, but there was only one other group here on a Wednesday. You can hear some traffic noise from the freeway, but nothing outrageous.
Verizon signal fluctuates, but averages two bars.
LegendEnjoyed our night here. One of the only ones at the park as it was freezing out. We pulled up as you literally drive through a bunch of open farmlands to get here and it was almost a little spooky because we did not see anyone. They have miles of trails to see an old town, old cemetery, the great Missouri and of course Indian Cave. I recommend a stop!
LegendIt appears not many people camp in Iowa in February. We had the campground to ourselves. We missed the crazy cold and snow by a day but it was 20 degree with the wind when I hiked the prairie. Lovely little state park, clean and the trail system was pretty neat. Wasn't perfectly flat and had some overlooks. Very much enjoyed!
ScoutEverything super clean, the park is beautiful, easy check in, lots of camping sites.
LegendThis is a great weekend spot not much to do around the park. The campsites are nice but close with not much space in between. There are 2 campgrounds, the one north of the highway is a horse campground but required. There are nice trails in this area. The campground on the south is more of a tent site. There are vault toliets, no showers. A lot of great trails o this side. All campsites include a picnic table and fire ring.
GuideThe campsite was very nice. Not too expensive. The showers and bathrooms were nice and had decent room. If you are wanting a site here it would be best to reserve one there were not a lot to choose from when we got there just about every spot was reserved. But overall was a great place to camp for a family.
Scout
Lake Mozingo is near the College Town of Maryville, Missouri. My experience is limited, but I’d say it’s pretty nice here. And inexpensive. Concrete Pads with Power and Water at the Site but no Sewer dump, that’s Centralized in the Camp. There’s Lake access if you want. I like it here.
GuideNice sites close to the lake with electricity water and wifi.
GuideHad a great time hiking and playing disc golf. Beautiful area with a ton of trees!
GuideNice quiet park with lots of family activities. The camping spots were mostly wide with 30/50 power hookups. Paved parking pads made leveling the camper easy. All the park staff we interacted with were very friendly. We hiked, biked, played disc golf, and practiced our archery. Great park that was quiet and offered lots to visitors.
TravelerLoved the hiking trails and all the green space. A little tight trying to back into our space, but very nice overall.
ScoutWaas underwhelmed by the information provided online.
ScoutBeautiful park. The hiking was great. I was there during the week and it was almost empty. I hiked for about 4 hours and didn't see another person the whole time.
The hiking trails were a bit confusing, at least the ones I was on, the maps and trail could be improved and expanded.
The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that the campground was almost empty but they put all the campers in one area. Would have been nice to be a bit spread out.
Guide
As tent campers we found a lot to love at Lake of Three Fires, but also found ourselves wanting more. It’s got a gorgeous lake, and some camping sites are out of this world, but it can be inconsistent and there’s not a lot to do.
Pros:
-While the electric hookup sites were full, primitive campers had their pick of the campground even during the middle of the summer. Plenty of open non-electric sites to choose from.
-Site 55 is an absolute GEM. Spacious and right on the water! We didn’t have any neighbors so it was like we had the whole place to ourselves.
-Good fishing at the lake, and plenty of quiet spots to fish from
-The lake is quiet and relatively calm
-Excellent (and clean!) modern bathrooms, by far the best we’ve encountered
Cons: -There’s not a lot to do other than fishing and hanging out by the campsite -The trails are quite poorly marked and seem to only have entry and exit points at each end of the point, so unless you want to commit to the full 8 miles, you’ll have to turn back at some point -The sites can be inconsistently sized. We found some tent sites that were less than half the size of our site, and they were packed like sardines. -A lot of the sites are sloped, so even ground can be hard to find. -The park is pretty rural, so if you need to make an emergency grocery or supplies run you might be out of luck. -No firewood on site, so you’ll have to come prepared or hope you can find some in town.
GuideThe park is huge and takes you along an hour long historic trail that has old settlements, ruins of workshops and beautiful view-points of the Missouri river from the bluff edges. It ends at the Indian cave (boardwalk/stairs to the cave are currently closed to all the visitors). You have neat family picnic shelters in between too. The campgrounds are a little cozy if not cramped and give you a good vibe of you love the campground aura. The sites on the bend of the loops (25 and 24) are more spacious and for people who want bigger areas. Most of the sites are shaded under large cottonwoods. The nearest gas station (actually any store) is a 15/20 minutes drive away and the park office/store was closed due to covid restrictions. So bring in everything except ice and firewood, yeah coffee too (we forgot). No water sport rentals nearby. Didn't see anyone kayaking either. I would stay here again if I wanted another relaxed/hike-only trip.
GuideGrew up camping and hiking here. Not many amenities but the bathrooms are clean and the trails are fantastic. The view is great from the side bluff train. Close to Nebraska city. Tent sites are not too close together. Can get pretty busy on weekends in the summer.
ScoutAlthough there were RVers and a nice group of Boy Scoutspaet of the time, there was no one else in our tent camping side. We had chilly weather, but marvelous views of the water with a rare flock of pelicans! Some of the trails were muddy, but there plenty of others to choose from. Red buds and flowers were starting to bring the forest to life.
All fire pits have an incredible grate system for cooking. There's an over abundance of limbs and twigs for firewood, although a saw would come in handy. Clean, quiet, and as beautiful as ever- that's our lake!
LegendThis is my second review, because second time is a charm. Even though the campsites are closer together than I am use to. We actually took 2 sites, one for us and one for my oldest sons site. This worked out and gave a little more space needed. This also gave us time to really explore those trails I was drooling over. We took one of the more scenic trails and took us over the top of some of those beautiful Loess Hills. I still believe it us a great hiking park, and is only a hour away from Omaha for us.
LegendFirst off let me make it clear, I like this park. But for me this is not the greatest camping area. The sites just are to close for me as a tent camper. The could almost use some of the day use picnic area as primitive sites. The rest of this park is great. For one it is clean, and maintained. The hiking trails are not for bikes, and they have several different levels or skills levels. The look out was pretty cool as well. We will return, and do some more hiking. I am not sure the campsites were fall, but it could be because the applejacks festival going on across the river in Nebraska City.
TravelerNicely maintained. Nice clean no-wake lake. Gets very quiet at 10:30 curfew. Clean showers/bathroom once the night bugs were cleared out.
LegendIt has been many years since I went to this park. We use to take my oldest here when he was little. We finally came back, and right off the bat, while entering the park we see 2 eagles soaring above. We drove through the park and wow what a ecological beauty. You get down in the valley by the river you almost forget your in Nebraska. There are also several things to do in this park. First the obvious is all the miles, and miles of trails available, and the fishing. There is also horseback riding, discgolf, a archery range, shooting range. There is also a history museum of the area (which was closed due to covid), a living history area with a blacksmith, broom shop, and soap (which was also closed). There is also a old school house, the old town St Derion cementary, and half breed cementary. Also the stairs to the cave was closed (due to the floods of 2019). Even due to the park not fully open the place is a most see for any camper.
ScoutJust car tent camped here with my fiancé and dog over the weekend. We had many camp sites to choose from because it’s back to school time in NE (timing, timing, timing)! Basic tent sights are first come, $15 a night. The park offered firewood ($6) and ice for sale. Lots of hiking trails with different levels of difficulty and elevation. Most drive up camp sites have outhouses nearby. We sometimes drove up to the group tent sites where they have clean bathrooms, running water and showers (need quarters for shower). We had a great time and enjoyed being surrounded by all the lovely trees. Staff were friendly and the park was clean. Only bummer is the steps to the “cave” is still closed.
Horse camping in Missouri offers a unique blend of outdoor adventure and equestrian-friendly amenities, making it an ideal choice for riders and their horses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Maitland, MO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Maitland, MO is Hackberry Hollow Campground — Indian Cave State Park with a 4.6-star rating from 24 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Maitland, MO?
TheDyrt.com has all 6 equestrian camping locations near Maitland, MO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
