Looking for the best horse camping near Crater Lake National Park? It's easy to find Crater Lake National Park campgrounds for horse camping with The Dyrt. With our help, you'll find the best Oregon equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
Meandering along most of the east shore of the mile-high Diamond Lake, this large campground boasts spectacular views of both Mount Bailey and Mount Thielsen, and offers visitors abundant recreational opportunities.
At an elevation of 5,183 feet, Diamond Lake provides outdoor enthusiasts with a multitude of recreational opportunities year-round. The area offers a scenic backdrop for swimmers braving its cold, refreshing waters, and anglers casting a lines from boat or shoreline. Rainbow trout thrive in the lake, as it is stocked annually with 300,000 fingerlings. Bicyclists will enjoy riding on the 11-miles of paved trail around the lake, while hikers can head out for the day on one of many trails leaving from the area. Interpretive programs are offered on Saturday evenings at the campground amphitheater.
Explosive geologic events have shaped the distinctive landscape on the 984,602-acre Umpqua National Forest, and the area provides spectacular scenery as well as an abundance of natural and cultural resources. The translation of the word, "Umpqua," meaning "thundering waters," defines the area. High mountain lakes, heart-stopping rapids, peaceful ponds and thundering waterfalls, including the 272-foot Watson Falls on the North Umpqua Highway, are available to visitors. Several designated wilderness areas provide opportunities undisturbed solitude. Encompassing 19,100 acres, Boulder Creek Wilderness is an incredible landscape, with dense old growth forests and steep terrain that tower above Boulder Creek. The most popular area in Boulder Creek is Pine Bench. This flat area overlooking Boulder Creek is home to a grove of old growth Ponderosa pines. Diverse ecosystems support a wide range of habitat for wildlife common to the area. From eagles and owls, to salamanders and salmon, these species, along with many others, depend on surrounding undeveloped wilderness, clean streams, and diverse forests to live.
Access to Diamond Lake is within walking distance, and boat ramps and fish cleaning stations are accessible to visitors. A nearby resort offers bicycle, boat and horse rentals as well as lodging, restaurants, a grocery store, laundry facilities and fuel. Trails for hiking and mountain biking are within 10 miles of the campground. Visitors may want to take some time to visit nearby Crater Lake National Park, the only national park in Oregon! The amazing Crater Lake area offers a glimpse into the volcanic history of the area. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), one of the world's premier National Scenic Trails, showcases some of North America's most fantastic scenery, winding its way its way from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington, and is accessible near the campground.
$16 - $27 / night
Natural Bridge Campground stretches along the scenic Upper Rogue River, with majestic conifers creating pleasantly shaded sites and privacy between campsites. The Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway and the Rogue Gorge are popular sites nearby. Additionally, the entrance to Crater Lake National Park is 11 miles away, making this campground a popular place for those venturing into the Park for day trips.
$15 / night
Sites are located near Imnaha Creek. Activities and points of interest include structures constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the 1930s, hiking trails and Imnaha Springs. Facilities 5 campsites Drinking water Vault toilet No garbage disposal - Please pack it out
Fourmile Lake is located off Highway 140 near Lake of the Woods. The campground and day use area is at the southern end of Sky Lakes Wilderness area. This rustic campground with few amenities is the place to get away from the modern world. Horse corrals are available in the upper portion of the campground and the proximity to the wilderness and Pacific Crest Trail make it ideal for the backcountry enthusiast.
Visitors to the area will enjoy a variety of activities including hiking, backpacking, climbing, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, horse packing, bird watching, stargazing, fishing, and horse camping.
The 113,400-acre Sky Lakes Wilderness occupies the crest of the High Cascades, extending south from the boundary of Crater Lake National Park to Fourmile Lake. The wilderness has gentle, densely forested terrain with occasional steep areas. The name derives from the many small lakes, most of them clustered in several glacial basins near the crest of the Cascade Range. Several species of trees including Shasta red fir, western white pine, mountain hemlock, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce and whitebark pine are found throughout the area. The forest's understory is dominated by species of huckleberry, as well as manzanita, snowbrush, and heather.
Lake of the Woods is another nearby lake with USFS facilities and a full service family oriented resort just six miles down the road. Travel along the Volcanic Scenic Byway as you explore the surrounding area. Other stops of interest may include Kla-Mo-Ya Casino (57 miles), Fort Klamath Museum (35 miles), Collier Memorial State Logging Museum (60 miles), Pacific Crest Trail (within 2 miles) and Crater Lake (55 miles).
$26 - $50 / night
Many people enjoy the solitude of camping away from developed campgrounds. Many people prefer to drive out on a Forest Service road and pitch their tent near a stream or at a spot with a nice view. Call any of our ranger stations for recommendations about where to camp.
Be aware that some areas may be closed to dispersed camping and that campfires may be prohibited in the summer, so call a ranger station ahead of time to ask. Generally, you cannot camp within a mile of developed recreation areas such as trailheads or picnic areas. Also, you cannot camp on the Forest for longer than 14 days at a time or more than 28 days in a year.
There are usually no facilities or services available to dispersed campers, such as trash removal or toilets. Please practice Leave No Trace by using existing sites when possible, packing out your trash, camping 100 feet from water, and digging a 6-8 inch hole for human waste.
Christmas Valley base Camp is 4 miles south of Christmas Valley. We are a private campground with a great cabin with a large picture window overlooking the Black Hills. We also have a tipi bunkhouse tents and RV hookups. A super firepit where the world problems are solved and memories are made.
$40 - $250 / night
Scout
camping was good. the lake is close to most of the camp sites so it is easy to go kayaking. Crater Lake National Park is only about a 20 minutes drive...the only thing bring bug spray
GuideBeautiful!
Fire pit, picnic table, showers, flush toilets and large campsites.
Really good balance of privacy and community.
Bikes and Boat Rentals nearby as well as a small general store and restaurant.
Short drive to Crater Lake National Park.
Note: I recommend getting a site near the water if you can. The Forest is very buddy but better by the water.
RangerThis campground is huge! We stayed at K035 which was an awesome site right off the lake. We had a great view of Mt. Bailey, and also access to the lake from our site. We were not super far from the restrooms so that was also great. The restrooms aren’t too bad. The women’s restroom was clean, but the men’s restroom wasn’t as clean. The boat launch which was a three minute drive from our site has showers and bathrooms also. These showers are warm, and don’t forget to donate to the shower box to help maintain it. The water felt really awesome and we kayaked from our campsite right in. There are a lot of black bugs that just land on you almost every other minute here. You get over it though. There’s a store down the road from the area we were at which was the marina and boat rental store. They sell a bunch of groceries but of course they’re pricier than normal it’s a camp store. The location makes it’s perfect to visit Crater Lake National Park being 30 minutes or so away. It is also about 40 minutes or less from Toketee falls which is an easy hike and pretty popular. Beautiful views the whole way, definitely worth staying at.
Guide
A fun little campground that is located right off Dead Indian memorial road. There are a few wooden stalls for horses and campgrounds are first come first served. Picture is from a nearby lookout we hiked to. Beautiful trails in the area.
Legend
We were headed to Thompson Creek reservoir, but opted for this lovely little FS campground. We had the place to ourselves the first night and another camper came in for the 2nd. Easy pull-through site, pretty level and fit both rigs. Otherwise plenty of room between sites.
It was a bit of a trek down gravel roads to get here. Took it easy, though, and no problems.
Lovely walks and hikes to be had. Beautiful stargazing. Clean pit toilets and clean overall campground. There were corrals at one end for horse camping. No cell service. (in 2020)
4 stars only because of the sometimes-washboard road to get here.
From here we visited Crack in the ground, Cowboy Dinner Tree, The Sand Dunes, Fort Rock and Christmas Valley.
Legend
Nice classic Oregon state park with all the requisite facilities of electric hook-ups, RV dump station, ranger programs. Amphitheater and showers. Camp sites a little on top of each other, especially in comparison to the nearby Williamson River Campground, but still a very nice and popular camp site near Crater Lake and Klamath Falls.
Across the highway there's the "Collier State Park Logging Museum" which we didn't get a chance to get to but looked like a lot of fun.
LegendCollier State Park is a typically nice Oregon State park, with the benefit that there's often spaces open only a few days out that you can book online and just 30 miles from Crater Lake. There's enough to keep kids busy for a day or so, including the free logging museum across the road. Clean bathrooms and showers and tons of rangers/employees getting sites ready, picking up litter etc. Prices were great, just $19 for tent sites and $29 for a full RV hook-up, including a few pull-through spots, plus flush toilets and showers. On our recent road trip in a 32-foot RV, this was probably the best deal of anywhere we went. For a state park, though, spots were right on top of each other, with very little in terms of privacy.
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GuideWe stayed one night on August 17 through August 18, 2019, in campsite A5, the overnight cost was$24, there was no electrical or water service). The site was level, only needed 2 inch lift to level left side. The campground is at an elevation of 5180 ft.
Access to the campground was right off hwy 138, which is a few miles from the north entrance to Crater Lake. Our 28 ft travel trailer easily fit with room to spare in our site. Once we enter the campground, the asphalt pavement surrounds the campsites as we drove directly to our campsite, each campsite pad also asphalt. Weather was sunny upper 80's, the nights low 40's.
This is a very quite campground, there was no noise from main road entering the campground. Activities we enjoyed at the campground to keep busy was hiking and moutain biking. The restroom was a couple spaced down from our campsite. The free showers were also easy to find and had great water pressure. The lake is very nice, smooth water and a few mosquitos, but not that bad.
My wife and I enjoyed the campground, we will stay again next time we travel to Crater Lake, Oregon.
GuideThis is a very large campground with over 200 sites. I stayed overnight, July 3, 2023. I was a walk in . The ranger office was closed when I arrived and they did not have a list of available sites posted. I found a site, K11, without any reserved tag and spent a wonderful night. There was a very strong onshore breeze from the lake that kept the mosquitoes grounded and I didn't really need repellant.
The campground is two halves. In the upper half, the campsites are higher, above the lake. To the south or east, the sites are closer to the lake. Water was only available (non threaded faucets) outside the flush latrines, which were not very well kept (mostly due to the dead bugs). There is not electricity and I was only able to get 2 bars on Verizon. I could get a text through, but rarely a photo.
I have camped throughout Oregon and what impressed me as different were the large number of tent campers. More than half were tent camping, though the site would fit small to medium size rigs. I only saw one Class A and few trailers. Noisy neighbors can be a problem, as the sites though not exactly next to each other, are still close. The roads and parking for sites are paved, but some have very steep driveways. Be careful in your site selection if you have a long trailer or RV.
There are some nearby stores and gas station if you need, but very little else. A very beautiful spot with lots to do and see nearby.
Ranger
The Wildcat Campground in Oregon is great, however it does get pretty busy during the summer months. My family and I visited this campground for a few days at the beginning of August and it was packed. Thankfully we went early on Friday morning and got a spot before the rush of people came. It is a "first come first serve" campground so you are not able to call ahead and reserve your spot. You just have to get their early! The campground is located in the Ochoco National Forest. It is definitely a beautiful place to camp. It is relatively close to town, which is why I think it gets busy during the summers. There were a lot of college aged students camping, which did make it pretty loud. My family has a camper, which is allowed in this campground. They have spots for campers, and spots for tents. Each campsite does have a picnic table which is nice. We always bring extra chairs because we are a family of 5 so the picnic table gets a little overcrowded. My family and I really enjoyed doing some hikes nearby (can't remember the names of the hikes), but we looked everything up beforehand. Gorgeous views, but lots of ticks on the hike. Thankfully we all wore tick repellent and smothered our dog in it as well. One thing I wish this campground had was a river/lake within walking distance from the campground.
Traveler
we found this place because we wanted something remote, but accessible for my SIL’s travel trailer. This place was wonderful. There are only 3 campsites, which are all next to a gorgeous creek made of runoff from the spring. There is also a cabin, and an old barn the kids loved playing in. It’s creepy, in the best kind of way. The spring itself is past a gate. The path is gorgeous; the kids called it the magic place.
GuideIncredibly clean and nice area. Very friendly hosts and great trail boards. The Logger Museum was super cool and only a short trail walk from campground. The head waters of Spring Creek are worth the drive. The water is super, super cold. No privacy between sites. Tons of camper/trailer sites and all the tent sites are on inside of a loop with restroom/showers in the middle of the tent sites. Lots of foot traffic in tents area. Overall we would go back.
GuideWe were here July 4-7 and it was pretty busy at first - loud - however it cleared out Sunday and was a very nice stay. Not a lot of room between sites but large enough for our three tents plus a canopy over the picnic table so I think that’s the trade off. The Williamson river is so beautiful and a short walk from our site. Very cold, couldn’t swim but said to be excellent for fishing. There is a trail alongside it for an easy walk, (3 mi I think?) a pioneer exhibit that my parents really liked, and very clean bathrooms. Oh and the chipmunks are crazy.
GuideVisited Collier in August. Temperature was nice. A little dry and dusty this time of year. Great rivers close by, nice hiking trails. Restrooms open and clean. Quiet during weekdays.
LegendRanger review: Leatherman OHT at Collier Memorial State park , Or.
Collier State park is located off of Hwy 97 about 20 miles north of Klamath falls and approximately 25 miles from the southeast entrance of Crater Lake N.P.
Campground review
This campground is moderately sized with about 40 hookup sites and 20 tent only sites. The tent sites were $19 and the rv $22. It is set into the woods a bit off of the Hwy, but unfortunately you can still hear the Hwy noise (Jake brakes), even at night. There were also a couple trains that came nearby at night and a few planes as well. I stayed Friday through Sunday, so these issues may increase during the week. Not a huge deal, unless you are looking for a more remote campground with peace and quiet.
I stayed @ site A25 on the inner ring. I suggest trying to get a site on the outer ring. Some of those are just off the river with private trail access. The inner sites don't allow for as much privacy and are very close the bathrooms.
Down the easy 1mi. trail along the spring creek, they have a super cool old pioneer village and lumber museum. It's full of olde tyme cabins and era timber industry tools and equipment. They even offer a wagon ride pulled by an old Cat-30, for free, and in June they do a reenactment of the time period in costume and all.
Collier also offers many programs to keep the youngens and young at heart busy, very family friendly. There was wood sales, potable water pumps and clean, HOT powerful showers as well.
http://www.leatherman.com/oht-49.html
Product review
As a ranger I get to test products from time to time and give my feedback. This is my review of the #Leatherman OHT.
This tool is great!!
It has all of the secondary tools that my Swiss army doesn't, allowing me to be prepared for whatever comes. It has a nice retractable design, instead of the old fold style Leatherman, which allows for easy one handed operation.
The pliers have a spring load so it is easy on the palms. I used them to fix the zipper pull on my backpack, worked well.
You do not need to open the main tool to use the secondary. This makes for a great handle on any of the tools you are using.
All the blades are made with 420HC stainless steel, and are super sharp. I have used it to cut sticks to size with the saw, and widdle/ sharpen sticks with the standard blade, it keeps an edge nicely. I didn't get a chance to use the wire cutters, but it has hard and soft wire cutters and they are replaceable. It also comes with Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, seatbelt cutter and can opener.
I highly recommend this specific Leatherman as it has many of the tools any average or pro camper would need.
OHT review video:
Product page:
GuideWe stayed here at the recommendation of a friend—2 nights. Very clean bathrooms and unlimited showers. We stayed in a tenting site, with our mini Meerkat trailer, off the grid. Lots of bold chipmunks. Near the junction to go to Crater Lake, which we did as a day trip, about 45 minutes each way. Small grocery store in nearby Chiloquin. The campground is near the highway, and you can hear traffic occasionally, but there are a number of hiking trails (easy) and you can get down to the cold, clear river.
GuideA very fun campground that only seems to be busy around the summer months. Bathrooms are nice and campsites include a fire pit and picnic bench. People seemed to be very friendly and social. Nearby is the logging museum which is free to the public and open regular hours.
ScoutGreat park not too far off the highway, only complaint is that the sites are slightly too close together. The staff are very nice and the bathrooms are very clean.
TravelerThis campground is beautiful! Walking distance to the river and logging museum. Logging museum is huge and worth a visit. River is clear and beautiful. Sites are clean and nice. Tent and RV sires available. Beware of the Chipmunks! They are everywhere and for some reason people life the goods to protect their cars. Some spaces can be tricky for large RVs.
TravelerWe felt our campsite was plenty big enough for our 30 ft. trailer, chairs, dog, and equipment. The chipmunks are everywhere and will steal food. Our dog was quite annoyed.
Follow the walking trail to the logging museum. Logging equipment, buildings, train cars (all outdoors) with guided tours and a gift shop. The nearby river is small and beautiful.
RangerReally nice park off of hwy 97. It has a neat museum and the facilities were clean. There is a neat clear creek is just down the road and has trails to explore. There were people kayaking on the creek. Lots of places available to park and it was a little crowded but still a nice park.
TravelerVery well maintained camp, with friendly helpful host! Even with a spot very near the restrooms it was rather quiet and peaceful. Showers were nice and hot and the shower area and bathroom provided a plug which was nice to quickly blow dry my hair. The logging museum was a pretty walk across the river and very interesting. At &T phone service was spotty, though enough to keep in contact with loved ones and for emergencies. Stayed only one night, tent camping.
Guidesite: large site. wooded. near river. quite private. amenities: nice. clean. attractions: logging museum. Wildlife. I would definitely go camping here (just drove through checking out the campground while visiting the museum).
GuideTypical well maintained state campground. Water, flush toilets, showers. Showers with only moderately warm water. Obvious site of wildfire in not too distant past.
GuideGreat quiet camping. Large flat easy to park and hook up. Tent camping also offered. Very clean.
TravelerAdequate campground was perfect to break up a long drive. Clean bathrooms but not much privacy
Scout
Beautiful setting! Trail to natural bridge is awesome and leads to an open area where we watched the Perseid meteor shower
Horse camping near Crater Lake National Park in Oregon offers a unique opportunity to explore the stunning landscapes while enjoying the company of your equine friends. With several campgrounds catering to horse enthusiasts, you can find the perfect spot to set up camp and ride the scenic trails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Crater Lake National Park?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Crater Lake National Park is Diamond Lake with a 4.4-star rating from 59 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 15 equestrian camping locations near Crater Lake National Park, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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