11 campgrounds · Check availability for any dates.
Horse campers visiting the Catskills region have access to several facilities near Parksville, New York. Bear Spring Mountain DEC campground offers dedicated horse accommodations within a forested setting. The campground features equestrian trails and camping areas with a distinct horse barn scent noted by campers. Bear Spring Mountain maintains paddock areas, trail access, and amenities including drinking water, picnic tables, and fire rings. Endless hiking opportunities surround the campground with riders able to access multiple trail systems directly from their sites. The campground has restrooms, showers, and drinking water from natural springs, creating a convenient base for extended trail riding adventures.
Multiple trail networks connect equestrian campers to the broader Catskill trail system. Riders can access various difficulty levels of terrain suitable for both novice and experienced equestrians. Horse owners must follow proper manure management protocols and maintain their animals within designated areas. Bear Spring Mountain requires horses to remain in the equestrian camping section, keeping them separate from the standard camping loops. The campground operates seasonally from mid-May through late August, with peak usage occurring on summer weekends. Equestrians should reserve sites well in advance during popular riding seasons. While primitive in some aspects, the facilities provide essential needs for horse campers with standard amenities like fire pits, picnic tables, and nearby water sources available for both horses and humans.
"Went here with some friends who had never been outside NYC before. They were absolutely blown away. For me, it was a nice site but not exceptional. Bring or rent a kayak!"
"I drove to NYC for a business trip and ended up driving 1 and a half hour to reach this place. I always carry a tent in the back of my trunk and decided to go camping."
from $18 - $40 / night
Check Availability"I stayed on a lakeside electric/water site for 5 nights in August 2020. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. We had SUPs and kayaks to take on the lake and our sites were right next to the boat launch. "
"We didn’t have a view of the lake, instead we were in someone’s back yard lol. It wasn’t a big deal. The site was well maintained and flat which were the most important."
"Our first campground was in New York Aug 8th. Unfortunately, Debbie was socking New York hard. North South Lake Campground in the Catskills was our camping home."
"This is a truly beautiful and scenic campground, easily one of the best places we have visited in New York State."
from $22 - $44 / night
Check Availability"We stayed at the campsite at Lake Ocquittunk Area. Campsite was very spacious and had a platform where we were able to fit two tents. There was plenty of space on the site for more tents."
"* Water and dumpsters are within walking distance, or if you are not up to walking you can just take a short drive to fill up and dispose of your trash
- There are outhouses scattered around, or if"
from $7 - $55 / night
Check Availability"We stayed at site #T007 is was a short walk from the car to the site, but so worth it for many reasons."
"The caping set up was nice and I enjoyed the proximity to available hikes in the area. The ‘lake’ however, was kind of a disappointment."
"3 hour drive from NYC, and a wonderful campsite with good weather in the summer - not too hot during the day and nice and cool overnight."
"We stayed in lower lake beechwood site 323. Was decent site only downside was fire pit area was very un-level for camping chairs, otherwise it’s a nice wooded site with privacy."
from $27 - $29 / night
Check Availabilityfrom $25 / night
Check Availability"I live near this campground. I'm about a mile away and I pass it every day. It is rather remote, but it is right along West kill road."
from $20 - $40 / night
Check Availability
TravelerWe’re here for the Rock, Ribs, and Ridges festival and what a great experience! Make sure to bring a 50’ power cord as the hook ups are grouped together on telephone poles rather than at each individual site. As far as I know camping is only available during select events.
GuideThis is a truly beautiful and scenic campground, easily one of the best places we have visited in New York State. The campsites are well laid out, the surroundings are stunning, and the entire campground is very clean and well maintained. We visited in October, and it was pleasantly uncrowded, which made the experience even more enjoyable. The peaceful atmosphere and beautiful fall scenery made for a perfect camping trip. I'm not sure how busy it gets during the peak summer season, but our autumn visit was fantastic. We had a wonderful time and will definitely be coming back.
GuideWe stayed at a tent platform site in Shotwell camping area. The platforms could use a little maintenance as there were a few tie down hooks that were missing or corroded. The campsites are close around this loop that includes lean-tos, but not so close that you are bothered by your neighbors normal sounds. The bathroom is close and clean. There is a bear box at each campsite which gave peace of mind. Firewood is available for sale at the park office. The staff there is very welcoming. Great Jersey getaway with gorgeous hiking trails.
ScoutI don’t normally write reviews especially a negative one. We had a very upsetting experience at North-South Lake. We drove over two hours to visit my husband’s childhood campground for the first time with our three kids(ages 5, 7, and 9). When we arrived at the entrance, we were asked if it was a day visit, and we said yes, we were only staying for the day. We paid the fee, received a map, and drove in. My husband was so excited to finally share this place and create memories with our children. Looking for a place to park, we thought we were lucky to find an empty campsite in one of the loops where he used to camp as a child.
We parked the car hoping to enjoy the view of the lake, take a walk, and maybe make the kids a couple of s’mores before heading home.
At around 2:15–2:30 p.m., the “SUPERVISOR” in the white Kia approached us in an extremely rude and nasty manner, speaking as if we were committing a serious crime and comparing our situation to“sleeping in someone else’s hotel room.” She asked us if we had a reservation; we said no. She said,“Someone else reserved this spot.” We were very apologetic, embarrassed, and immediately put our stuff in the car. I said they could have told us; we would have moved right away. I’m sorry.
She said,“They aren’t supposed to talk to you; that’s why they send me here.” She told us we had ten minutes to leave, waited there while we put our chair, blanket, and s’more cookies in the car, and refused our 9-year-old daughter access to the bathroom while we packed up our three things, and even followed us out of the loop to make sure we didn’t park elsewhere. My daughter came to us crying because the lady told her she couldn’t use the bathroom and had to get in the car. Well, she had an accident in the car right as we were pulling out.
We were mortified and apologetic. My husband even offered to leave the firewood we had just purchased for the next campers, but she was dismissive and harsh about that as well.
The following day, I called and asked to speak with a manager to explain how we were treated. The manager was just as unfriendly and miserable sounding as the supervisor. I was told they had been looking for us“for hours” and that it’s“common sense” not to park in a campsite. She actually said it’s considered trespassing. So, a friendly warning for first-time visitors: Apparently, if you don’t know that“day use” doesn’t mean“park in any empty campsite,” just for the day, you’re officially a trespassing criminal, at least according to the manager.
Reading the website now, I see that check-in for people with reservations is at 2 p.m., which was the time we were trying to make a small fire, so unless someone left their site and returned, it’s unclear how they could have been looking for us“for hours.” We were right there at 2pm.
The website also states: Day Use• Anyone who is not camping is a day-user. Day-use hours are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Day-users are not allowed between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
We were not camping but didn’t realize we couldn’t park in an empty campsite. I think“common sense” would be to inform DAY USE visitors at the ENTRANCE to use public parking, especially for families or first-time visitors who may not be camping experts. Bottom line: this was my husband’s childhood family spot. We just wanted to take a beautiful fall drive and have a special day with our kids.
We understand now that we needed to reserve the parking spot ahead of time, and it was an honest misunderstanding. I would have even offered to pay for the campers’ stay for their trouble. What we wish for is that the staff had approached us respectfully and explained the situation instead of treating us like criminals. Imagine being such a miserable person and working in such a BEAUTIFUL and peaceful place for families.
This was meant to be a special family day, honoring memories of my father-in-law and creating new ones with our children. Instead, it became stressful and humiliating. Sadly, this is what our children will remember about the day and about North South Lake
GuideThere are four campgrounds that are all pretty different, we stayed at Shotwell across from the pond. For the most part, each campsite has its own porta potty or it shared with a couple other sites. At the entrance of the campground, there is a bathhouse with running water, bathrooms, and potable water. We stayed in one of the RV areas across the pond. It was peaceful to hear the frogs chirping at night, but definitely didn’t think about how many more bugs the pond would bring, probably wouldn’t stay at that specific spot again even though it’s really pretty. Most of the campsites were very rocky, but you can find some that have a little bit of grass. We came on a Friday night. Everyone was up pretty late, but was not crazy loud. The rest of the weekend it seemed like everyone’s simmered down. The campground was full of mostly families. If you wanted to shower, you would have to head to the group campsite not too far but you need to drive. We don’t typically expect to have a campgrounds with a ton of amenities. Potable water and a toilet is really all we need. Overall, it was a great time gorgeous park. Also took a few pictures of the cabins in Shotwell. I wouldn’t personally rent one, but I guess if your winter camping it has a little fireplace and will keep you dry and somewhat warm.
TravelerStokes is my go-to state park for unplugging and enjoying time with my family. We brought our son (23 months at time of visit) on his first camping trip this past September. He loved every minute of it.
Site T07 in Lake Ocquittunk is gorgeous and one of the few relatively secluded sites in the campground. You need to carry your gear down a narrow, rocky path that's a little steep near the road, but it's manageable. There's also a graded path into the site adjacent to a neighboring site, but you should check with those campers if they are ok with you cutting through to use it. (We opted not to disturb our neighbors and take the slope.)
I thought I would be able to launch my kayak from site 7 since it's waterfront, but there are a lot of huge rocks in the water that prevent you from getting out into the lake. We had to find a different launch spot. That was probably the biggest disappointment for us.
Still, I love site 7 and it's absolutely worth the privacy and the views every morning.
LegendWe were on a 5 state East Coast camping trip. Our first campground was in New York Aug 8th. Unfortunately, Debbie was socking New York hard. North South Lake Campground in the Catskills was our camping home. Thursday & Friday it was Neverending rain & wind. Saturday was the nice day.
North South Lake has no electricity. The sites are almost all beautiful, tucked in under shady trees. Not a good way to try out our solar panel! Some are by a stream. A few are by the lake. This is a tent campers paradise. New York tent campers are hard core camping during Tropical Storm Debbie!
There are 7 loops. We were in loop 2. Site 85. There are some sites with an incline down to the site. That might give some rvs trouble. It did for us & I had to be driven out of the campground to call 911. Thank you Mary!! It all ended well & we got a different site.
There are bears that visit the campground & one came one of the nights & visited our camping neighbor's site. They showed us a picture- it was a large black bear.
Generators are allowed for 5 hours & they tell you when you can use them.
The bathrooms/showers are state park clean- which means not very.
There is NO cell service & just forget about WiFi. You are unplugged.
This is a hiking park & for this middle aged overweight flatlander they are pretty strenuous. Kaaterskill Falls is an exception - short, easy trail, but the parking fills up quickly. Then they close it! You'll have to take a shuttle to get in.
The trail to the Mountain House Site is also pretty easy, with more of an incline.
There's 2 nice lakes with beaches.
The Catskills are very scenic& we enjoyed our time there!
GuideStokes State Forest is a beautiful park with a lot of different trails to check out, though some of them are difficult to access due to parking. The camping areas are split between two different entrances. If you’re in Lake Ocquitunk, like I was, you don’t enter at the main entrance, you have to go past the main entrance about another mile on rt. 15 N. and enter by the YMCA. All the other camping areas are near the main entrance by the forest office. The campsites themselves are a little too close together in some spots with little coverage or privacy. There is a day parking area which is only accessible going through the main entrance by the forest office— if you visit during the week park entrance is free, but on the weekend fees can be a bit steep. I wasn’t super happy with my campsite as I wasn’t able to physically have my car on the site like I thought. I had to park in a small lot above my campsite and carry my belongings down a short slope to the site. I like to car-camp so this was a bit of a let down having my car separate from my actual campsite.
The bathrooms were nice and had flush toilets, but the showers were out of service during my time. Bathrooms are extremely spaced out so you will have to walk a far distance unless you strategically choose a site next to one. I drove through the other campsite and only saw 1 set of bathrooms that had toilets and showers per campground, not including the outhouses I saw for those in the small cabins.
GuideI really love this campground each of the campsites in our loop which was in the lower 100s, has a lot of foliage around it, creating privacy between you and the site next to you. There is a lake with swimming, clean bathrooms, clean, clean showers. Picnic table and fire pit with grill top. There’s a lot of bear activity here, so constantly cleaning up your food is very important. Definitely love it here for woodsy feel.
Equestrian camping near Parksville, New York provides access to over 60 miles of multi-use trails through the western Catskill Mountains. The region sits at elevations ranging from 1,200-3,000 feet with cool summer nights even when daytime temperatures reach the 80s. Most horse-friendly campsites in the area operate from May through October with limited winter options.
Trail riding beyond campgrounds: At North-South Lake Campground, riders can access multiple trail systems with varying difficulty levels. "This place is absolutely stunning. The lake is crystal clear and the beach is spotless. You absolutely have to bring a kayak/inflatable boat, but if you don't own one, don't worry, you can rent one," notes Debbie W.
Fishing from horseback: Several streams and ponds near Bear Spring Mountain — DEC offer fishing opportunities accessible by horse trails. "Nothing but woods all around! Endless hiking and beautiful steams - you can drink straight from the pipes!" shares Kimberly S., highlighting the natural water sources.
Overnight pack trips: More experienced riders can connect multiple trail networks for multi-day journeys through state forest land. "The conservation Walk on the island is short, easy, and beautiful. Well-marked," says Alaina Z. from Promised Land State Park, describing one segment often incorporated into longer riding routes.
Secluded woodland sites: Horse campers appreciate the privacy of dedicated equestrian areas. At Stokes State Forest, Josh S. notes: "While making reservations it said almost all sites were full but upon arrival the vast majority of sites were empty which made for a quiet/relaxing night."
Natural water access: Betty Brook Camp offers primitive sites alongside flowing water. "You camp on the stream. There is a couple of spots," explains Robert B., who has been visiting for decades. This provides natural water access for horses after trail rides.
Cooler temperatures: The higher elevation of Pickerel Point Campground — Promised Land State Park means comfortable summer camping conditions. "~3 hour drive from NYC, and a wonderful campsite with good weather in the summer - not too hot during the day and nice and cool overnight," says Daniel G.
Equestrian facility limitations: While some campgrounds advertise horse-friendly camping, facilities vary widely. "There is an area for day use where you can rent a paddle boat or kayak to go out on the water. Highly recommended if you like hiking," says J G. about Bear Spring Mountain, but doesn't mention equestrian rentals.
Off-season considerations: Many equestrian campsites close during winter months. Mara S. notes that at Pickerel Point: "This was my second visit in the cold months. Sites have electric but no water. Spigot close by. Heated cozy bathhouse with clean showers."
Wildlife awareness: Horses can attract or be disturbed by local wildlife. "Obey bear rules!" warns Amber A. about Bear Spring Mountain. "There was a lot of horse activity but I don't know if you can hire them here. Lots of wildlife!"
Kid-friendly horse programs: Some campgrounds offer special programs for young riders. At Lower Lake Campground Hemlock Hill Equestrian Area — Promised Land State Park, David S. observed, "All of our experiences have been good. Clean bathrooms are essential and even when the large campground is full the bathrooms have been clean."
Balance riding with swimming: After trail rides, families appreciate water activities. "Cute and friendly campground by Launt pond :) We were there in May and there were plenty of empty sites so it was nice and quiet," shares Mayra D. about Bear Spring Mountain.
Playground access: Look for campgrounds with additional activities for children between rides. "Small playground was nice for the kids," notes Becky S. about facilities at Bear Spring Mountain, though she also mentioned steep roads made biking difficult.
Dedicated horse trailer parking: Keen Lake Resort Campground accommodates larger rigs needed for horse transport. "This is a great place to bring an RV," Emily Z. points out, adding "The site was well maintained and flat which were the most important."
Electric hookups for horse care: Many equestrians prefer sites with power for grooming equipment. "We had full hookups (20/30/50 amp, water & sewer)," says Debbie W. about camping facilities that support equestrian needs.
Site leveling challenges: Horse campers with trailers should research site terrain. "Only downside was fire pit area was very un-level for camping chairs, otherwise it's a nice wooded site with privacy," Dawn R. cautions about Lower Lake campground, relevant for those camping with horses and equipment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Parksville, NY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Parksville, NY is Bear Spring Mountain — DEC with a 4.4-star rating from 7 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Parksville, NY?
TheDyrt.com has all 11 equestrian camping locations near Parksville, NY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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