The best EQUESTRIAN camping near
Bell Buckle , TENNESSEE

Quiet stop only one night. Everything worked and no drama! Beautiful trees! 🍁Live owl named “Cotton” and hawk named “Buddy” on exhibit there. Cute little store on grounds.

There are several nice playgrounds, ranger led activities, a nature center that my kids loved, a butterfly garden, several short hikes that are good for kids. There are several sinkholes and cedar glades. There are also some caves you can explore if you want to get muddy. We often go here for day visits, but the overnight amenities are also nice. They no longer have horse stables.

Despite this campsite being surrounded by the Green River on 3 sides, water is hard to come by here, and hiking it in may be your best bet. The river is at least 1/2 mile away, through extremely dense brush, and the banks are not easy to access, if accessible at all. We were lucky that a creek just north of the intersection of Buffalo Creek, Sal Hollow, and Turnhole trail had some water to filter from.

This is a nice, secluded spot. You are on the end of a ridge. Clear nights with a bright moon were magical here. It is probably a beautiful spot when there is no foliage, as well. We camped in August.

There is a tent pad, hooks for lanterns or packs, horse hitches, and a fire ring with a grate attached. Hike in is a little over 3 miles, a pleasant hike, but not a whole lot to see in the summer besides a lot of chantrelles.

The Green River Ferry seems to be non-operational a lot. Call the hotline the day of your drive in to see which route you should take: 270-758-2166

We decided to do a day hike on the Sal Hollow Trail. It ended up being pretty exhausting: we believe it is a lot longer than the markers suggest, and a lot of the trail seems pretty unused/not kept up.

We stayed at this campground recently and because the wifi coverage and speed was so good was actually able to "work from home" here.  We were on site 18 and it was very level, paved and double wide. Parking was easy and it accommodated the 38' RV and a SUV. The sites all seem to be well shaded and spaced sufficiently apart. Travel to and from the park is on good roads.  Chapel Hill, just to the north, offers all you might need with a hardware store, Dollar General, walk in clinic and restaurants. The park also offers a golf course which I didn't play due to the heat, but is on my list now that I've seen it. 

The trails we hiked were well maintained and there is a quiet paved road suitable for bicycling. 

Because of the close proximity to home, this will become on of our go-to spots for a weekend camp

I stayed in spot 8 during the Coronavirus lockdown. The staff is very friendly. It’s near I-24 which makes getting places easy. It will be noisy if you are sound sensitive. It is well maintained. The laundry room is great. You can get anything you need from the store. Perfect pull through sites for a big rig overnight stop. Great sites with picnic table, fire pits for longer stays. Nice pool, sparkling clean restrooms. The dogs loved the dog park. The amenities for kids are great. Highly recommend.

Peaceful, serene, cool rangers help all hours, has a great vibe here. I loved it.

Recommend a stay.

Its a KOA…no surprises. Hot (very) showers is a plus. Our cabin (2 room) was up near entrance. Highway about 100 yards away so that was a issue. Not much you can do about that. Was good just to get out for a couple of days.

Tucked away on the backside of Mammoth Cave NF, Ky, you want to find this Horse Camp.

Not huge and not to small, you can easily bring a small group of friends here for a private horsing around retreat ( pun intended) Direct access to several horse trails in Mammoth Cave. Spend your day riding and then kick back at your site and relax. There is an area in the “back” to park your rig and set up your glamping area. Stalls if your horse likes it fancy. A nice camp store and friendly staff to assist you. We visited while in the area, my favorite thing is the out of the way location! (Check out their page for events too.)

Another backside primitive campsite at Mammoth Cave National Forest, Ky.

A lot of people don’t realize the extensive trail system of Mammoth Cave. They come for the Cave and never take the time to enjoy the natural beauty of the area.

Before using this campsite you are supposed to check in at the visitors center. Unfortunately the ferry is closed so it’s a long drive around to the backside.

Turnhole Campsite is a short or long hike from the Maple Springs parking area. Sal Hollow Trail would be the long trail, twisty , turny and moderately challenging. Buffalo Trail is a straight hike in , take a left at the intersection and straight on to the campsite. Difference of about 3 miles-ish.

The trails are used by hikers and horseback riders, are well marked and lotsa fauna to see. No major vistas here, just woods.

The campsite has poles to tie your horses, a fire ring, tent pad and lantern hooks. Pretty easy to find seasoned wood to burn. DARK at night, lots of animal noises ;) not much of a night sky except in the winter months.

The cool thing about this campsite is your sorta on a peninsula of the river. Very private and it’s not on a loop trail so no foot traffic passing by.