Best Equestrian Camping near Cincinnati, OH

Excellent location from Cincinnati, around 30 minutes. Hike along the hills, Fish for crappie and bluegill. Enjoy lunch at any of the 4 clean large areas. Stay at an electric only or full hookup spot and hang out by the campfire. This campground is spacious, clean and well kept and not to far from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Autumn is the best time to camp in Ohio. Lots of small bathrooms. Lake access. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was due to the fact there was no quick reentry. Had to wait for rvs in front of me to register.

General: Huge state park with over 400 sites. All are pet-friendly and electric. About 20 are FHU. While tent camping is permitted, certain sites are not recommended for it as there would be no place to pitch a tent. One loop is for equestrian camping but when we were there, I only saw one horse trailer, and the rest were occupied by RV campers. 

Site Quality: All camper pads are paved and most appeared level or just very slightly sloped. A picnic table and fire ring complete the site. Some sites have more trees to provide privacy while others are closer together with little separation.

Bath/Shower House: Not all loops have their own bath house and the I loop where we stayed was one of them. We used the one in the H Loop. The bathhouses were clean, and the shower had nice hot water, however, it doesn’t seem like there were sufficient facilities for how large the campground was (H Loop had two showers, two toilets, and three sinks). Hooks or shelves would have been appreciated.

Activities/Amenities: Many activities can be enjoyed here including mini golf (small nine-hole course), soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, corn hole, boating, and bicycling. Playgrounds are in several loops (I saw them in C and G). Rentals are available but most are only in season (ended September 30). There is a nature center and several hiking or paved biking/walking trails. There is also a camper beach for boating and swimming.

When we reserved months earlier, we knew that our first night (a Saturday) was 100% full as we got the very last site. What we did not know is that there was a HUGE Halloween celebration complete with 30-40 decorated golf carts parading through the campground. The road was closed until 6:45 pm (we arrived around 7 pm) and cars lined both sides of the approximately two-mile road! If that's your thing, great but it wasn't necessarily ours!

I appreciate that this park encourages so much outdoor activity, but it is not very pedestrian-friendly. I walked the road from one end to the other and there was no shoulder and, in many spots, no place to safely step off into the grass. I’m guessing it is assumed you will either have a car or golf cart to get around. 

One final note: for a park so close to a large city (Cincinnati), I was surprised the cell service was so lacking (on Verizon). We eked out one and occasionally two bars of 4G.

I came here and stayed in my tent (family had their horse trailer with camper) for a night during the chilly nights of October. I wish all campsites were like these - very, very spread out! 

Totally makes sense given that you have large horse trailers/campers and also horses at each site, but even then, they were very spread out and had lots of great space to actually enjoy nature. 

In terms of trails, there was a starting access point at the horse campground for horseback riding trails that also led to the horse barn, but if you are wanting to hike, you have to drive, unfortunately. Another flaw is that the bathrooms in the horse campground aren't modern and they're pit toilets. Even with the cooler weather, they still wreaked and were not pleasant to use.

This is part of the Dayton Metro Parks (Five Rivers Metro Parks) and it is at the Twin Creek metro park.  This is an old boy scout camp (Camp Hook) back in the day. 

During these COVID-19 times we wanted a place to park that wasn't the traditional Ohio State Parks camp site. We didn't want to share a common bathroom/bath house or playground area.  We picked this as the Twin Creek camp site only has 3 camp sites within the park.  Even then they are out of side from each other. You can somewhat hear the other two camp sites (rarely).  This meant with two little ones we wouldn't have to constantly remind them to socially distance or put on masks.  We were alone but had plenty of park supports. We had two great park volunteers/security stop by to make sure we had everything we need. 

The nice thing about the Dayton metro parks is that each night in the front county camp sites they include a bundle of fire wood. This is not the small sad bundle that you often buy at gas stations or other markets.  This is a huge bundle. It is dry and cut in an easy to use manner. It is also kept in a little box so it is dry even if you do have weather while camping. If you wish to add an additional bundle of firewood the price is very reasonable at $10.00. I do this every time I camp there to support their campsites/metro parks. I have yet to use up their firewood in the box when I camp for a whole weekend. It is also nice that we don't have to put it in our cars so less clean up after camping. It also helps with the whole burn local fire wood so you are not transporting bugs. Or you don't have to cross your fingers and hope someone close by sells firewood. 

The nice thing about their site is the additional tables made it easy for us to socially distance.  When I camp at local state parks and we only have one table it can be tricky to keep coolers, food, and people separated. We also were able to have kids do craft at one of the tables while we were preparing meals. This camp site is listed as a 10 person camp site. There is no water on site so make sure you bring all the water that you will need. 

We also were able to hike the easy trails around the camp site. No need to put the kids in the car unless we wanted to.  Which we still did:) 

We drove into town and discovered a covered bridge that I had missed on an earlier camping trip. (Germantown).  This town also has the Florentine which is one of the oldest inns in Ohio. It was closed while we were in town but it is well worth a stop. The town also has a community pool as well that you can buy a day pool pass. 

The campsite does have two spots that would be neat for a wedding. You can reserve an amphitheater. 

The campsites during peak season are $20 during week days and $28 for weekends. I still find this to be one of the best values for camping in Ohio. Especially, when you consider the level of privacy that you have on these sites.  The vault toilets are one of the best as they are always clean. We have hand sanitizer and toilet paper. We didn't have to share our vault toilet with any other family units. 

All of these small touches really made COVID-19 camping with kids much easier. We look forward to being back at this camp site in the fall. 

Here is the website to make a reservation https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/reserve-a-campsite/?id=786190&api=facilities&type=camp

My wife and I had a great time visiting Hueston Woods and visiting the Raptor Center. Located north of Cincinnati along Ohio’s border with Indiana.

We stayed here with our pop up camper and felt right at home. The bathrooms and shower houses could use some updates and there were no full hook up sites when we went but our site was nice and quiet.

Our dog, loved the miniature golf and visiting Acton Lake.

East Fork State Park is a popular spot for horse enthusiasts. This was discovered upon choosing a spot in the "horse loop" and receiving a suggestion to take a different site. With a successful discovery of a site without road apples we set up in the woods. If you looked at our site from the road you wouldn't even see us. It was nice to be set back from the other campers in our own private space. It is an enjoyable camping location

Friendly staff, level sites, surrounded by woods and water.

Twenty mins fro downtown Cincinnati.

Perfect for base camp to explore the area.

Our favorite campsite for the outskirts of Cincinnati. Lots of great spots available! You can get to the lake in about a 15 minute drive.

Friendly, clean, family oriented. We have stayed in both the general camping spot as well as the horse campground. Love them both.

Short hike to the lake. Great beach area and shower facilities. Pet friendly, horse trails, camp store. Liberty is a short drive and has all essentials plus J’s Dairy Inn 🤤

Versailles State Park is the second largest state park in Indiana. Within the last year with the coordination of the Indiana Trail Riders Association, DNR and volunteers, primitive, overnight, horse camping was added to the park. Several more miles of horse trails were opened and a mountain bike trail section was also added to the park. Plans are in place for more mountain biking trails and a fourty-five site electric and water Horsemans camp, to be completed in phases. This is a very clean park, large pool, hiking and lake activities available. Bald eagles have been spotted in the park along with local wildlife. The local restaurants are family owned and offer large portions if casual dinning is in store, with homemade desserts.

Great Park, several access points to the unlimited HP lake.  Recently lucky enough to watch scull Rowing races .   It is a big Park, and lots of campsites and very busy.  Total of 34 miles trails.  this is combined with horse, hiking and biking trails around the lake.

Check your address, this park is in two locations. Very nice and well maintained. Look online before you reserve each area has its own unique set up. Site A: set up for horses w/trail(no stalls). There is a horsemanship camp too. B: The "outer" sides have good size tent areas C: is bigger more open/ sites close but still plenty of room Pavilion/playground D: open and more sites E: has some more secluded areas in the back F: not as open , more privacy, shade G: playground and basketball court Same set up as F just bigger and cottages H: more open in front area, big, spread out area. Some very secluded spots in the back. Sort of like the suburbs. (I /J/K/L did not look at) Paved bike route and boat ramp

About a 20 minute drive between the day use and campground. Horse, bike and hike trail, beach and several other activities on the far side

This is a great southern Indiana State Park with easy access from US 50. Plenty of sites to accommodate larger rigs with paved pads, picnic tables, fire rings, 30 amp, dump station and very clean restroom & shower facilities. The park offers great hiking trails, mountain bike trails, seasonal nature center, seasonal swimming pool, horse trails and 230 acre lake. Mapping Address: 1387 US 50 East, Versailles, IN 47042 | Phone: 812-689-6424 | Reservations: https://indianastateparks.reserveamerica.com/welcome.do

There's a great backpacking trail that's challenging and an easy middle meeting place for friends/family from Columbus and Cincinnati that can meet in Dayton Metroparks/Five Rivers - Germantown and take on the TVT challenge, beautiful hike through hilly terrain, and great spots of overlooks. Bring your pack and hiking poles and take advantage of trekking into the forest. Vault toliet, away from busy/crowded campsites and surrounded by nature. Access to a river for water source (bring your filter system) camp in a tent or hammock.

This campsite is HUGE. Has over 400 campsites and the first 17 have places you can keep your horses! Something I have never seen before. Some sites are not okay for tent camping and when we got there we had to go back to the office to see if we could change our site. Lucky for us you get one free site switch a stay, so that was nice. The beach is big but unfortunately no dogs allowed. It would be nice for them to include a section where dogs were allowed so we could enjoy. We spent our day on the trails instead. A lot of RV camping but overall it was a great trip!

Hueston Wood, a real gem. The park is about 3000 acres with a beautiful sailing / fishing lake. There is a beautiful lodge and golf course, archery range, and plenty of hiking paths and equestrian paths.

The biggest issue for us was the description of the site at C36 was nothing like the description. We approached the staff in the office and they expressed no concern in helping us. One camping family left due to the office staff's attitude.

Ok, now for the positive! We met one of the volunteers, Gary, who was able to find us a site to hold our 34 foot motorhome. He made our July 4th weekend, couldn't have been more accomodating. 

Sites have 30A electric and there is plenty of potable water available around the campground, just not at the site. Each site has a fire ring and a picnic table. At the A and B loop there was plenty of space around the site to spread out. 

The dump station is fairly new and can accommodate 2 RV's. Though most site are grass, some have gravel, but the A loop sites are full hookup and concrete or paved (but not all flat). When setting reservation and with an RV over 20ft, shoot for A or B loop.

The grounds are just beautiful, hiking trails great but not all marked well. A place we will return.