Looking for a place to camp near Heppner with your horse? Finding a place to stay in Oregon while traveling with your horse has never been easier. With our help, you'll find the best Oregon equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
Coalmine Hill is just off the paved Blue Mountain Scenic Byway (also called the Western Route). The Campground serves as access to the Bald Mountain, Hells Half Acre, and Willow Creek trails, offering a 7.5 mile-long loop experience for hikers and equestrians. Once inside the campground's large parking area, there is an information board on the northeast side. Past the information board runs the Bald Mountain hiking trail leading to Gibson Cave, which is 1.25 miles from the parking lot. The cave is really a shallow overhanging shelter with an interpretive sign describing its history.Once you've reached Gibson's cave, continue up the Bald Mountain trail until you reach a nice view point. The mountain's view point overlooks the drainages in between Coalmine Hill (to the northwest) and Little Bald Mountain (to the east), providing fantastic views and tranquility. About five miles southwest of the campground is Penland Lake; follow the Blue mountain Scenic Byway and Forest Service Road 21 and 2103, until you've reached Penland Lake where there are fishing and nonelectric boating opportunities. . Coalmine Hill Campground provides one larger, separate site near the entrance and the remaining five sites are located along the tree edges of the large parking area. There is one vault toilet and a travel access information board. This campground was constructed to serve double-duty as a snow park in the winter. There is no potable water or garbage service, so please pack out all garbage and dispose of it at home.
This recreation area is part of John Day Lock and Dam, Lake Umatilla
This fairly secluded campground is near the end of Forest Road 5506 along the Wild and Scenic North Fork John Day River. It features 8 campsites and 2 accessible toilets. There is no potable water or garbage service, so please pack your garbage home. Large vehicles, trailers, and low clearance vehicles are not recommended due to poor access road and limited turnaround capability. This campground offers fishing, swimming, non-motorized boating, hiking, OHV riding, horseback riding, sight-seeing, and photography. Water levels are low in mid to late summer, which can impede use of boats. The campground also provides good access for big game hunting. Near Oriental Creek is the start of the River Trail #3043 , an OHV trail accessing the southern end of 100 miles of trail. Three miles down the closed portion of Road 5506 is entry to the North Fork John Day Wilderness with access to the North Fork John Day River Trail #3022 , Big Creek Trail #3151 and Corral Creek Trail #3009.
Guide
I took my teardrop camper out for the very first time ever here. The area was absolutely beautiful, but it was a little cold and windy during this time of the year. There are hiking trails around the camp grounds.
GuideThis campground is close to home for us and a really nice place for the kids to play
TravelerThis campground has full and partial hookup sites. The roads are gravel and wind their way up a steep hill, but the sites provide decent privacy. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. Pit toilets are located in one of the loops, but there are bathrooms with showers near the host site. There is a hiking trail directly from camp into the forest. We loved the serenity of being away from town in the woods where all we could hear were the birds and the creek nearby (and the thunderstorm that passed thru).
GuideSo… many… spiders! I paid 20 bucks for 1 night tent camping for me and 2 dogs. The campground is absolutely gorgeous with lots of trees and water views. A little confusing to get to since there isn’t much signage to guide you and I ended up going to wrong way the first time. They have bathrooms with showers available for use. I was very very satisfied here but once it got a little darker, all the creepy crawlers started coming out and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many spiders in one place. In the morning, I had spiders in each of my door handles, my mirrors, when I turned on my car they started crawling out of the hood of my car, and I had spiders coming out of my trunk for a week. I am not a “beginning camper” so I’m used to bugs and spiders on my trips but I’ve never had this many in one place. There are really cute baby frogs hopping all around in the mornings though which was very cute. Just watch your step. Probably won’t be going back because of the spiders though…
GuideSpent a fun weekend here. Site was easy to back into. Clean and level. Lots of shade and grass. Allows pets (on leash) fun little park for the kids and nice little beach for swimming.
ScoutCamping here is nice on the Columbia River Washington side. Little breezy at times. $40.00 a night for RV $30.00 for veterans $20.00 for tents
Guide
Let's start with the positive folks. This site as an amazing parking area that is large enough for rvs and horse trailers to be able to turn around without any issues. There's a wooden pin to be able to keep horses safe and secure over night. Almost all campsites are shaded. There is a trail for either a long hike or a short one. With two littles, we did the short on which around trip was under 3 miles. It looks like if we would have kept going there is definitely an uphill climb to continue the treck, but I'm sure the few is gorgeous on top! Now is time for the negatives that really just makes this place not that great. The campsites are very close together. The ground isn't very level, so tent camping would be bumpy and on an incline. There's also little tree trunk scattered out through out the whole place so it is kinda dangerous for kids to ran around a play. Mosquitos can be murdereres so lots of bug spray! Last thing, it is rather close to the main highway so lots of noise from the traffic.
ScoutGreat for weekend getaways from Tri Cities. River access and plenty of shade. Discounts for vets and seniors.
LegendOne of the few national forest campgrounds on road 53, or the Blue Mountain Scenic Highway. It was a beautiful drive to the campground. There are no spot numbers for this campground and is free to camp. There are only 5 picnic tables scattered around a large cul-de-sac parking lot. I choose one at the bottom of the cul-de-sac with full view of the parking lot and no one on either side of me. This is definitely a campground geared for equestrians with a horse corral available. The only amenity is a pit toilet. Aside from the horse trailer/RV that ran its generator most of the night and morning, it was a great spot to camp. There was even a short hike (2.5 round trip) up to Gibson Caves with great views along the way. The only reason I gave it 3 stars is cause of the RV running it's generator all night and being annoyed.
Guide
When we pulled into this site while on a scouting expedition, it looked really spooky to me! Trees were all creepy looking. Tons of shade. Only two spots had lots of sun and one of those two was overgrown with grass and weeds. There was even a RIP sign there which made it more creepy.
Horse camping in Oregon offers a unique blend of scenic trails and equestrian-friendly amenities, making it a great choice for riders and their horses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Heppner, OR?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Heppner, OR is Coalmine Hill with a 3-star rating from 2 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Heppner, OR?
TheDyrt.com has all 4 equestrian camping locations near Heppner, OR, with real photos and reviews from campers.
