Best Equestrian Camping near Manchester Center, VT

The only campground in all of New York that acquires to house back riders. There are campsites that also come with stalls for your horse!

Woodford State Park is situated between Wilmington and Bennington VT in the southern part of the Green Mountain National Forest. The park surrounds the Adams Reservoir and happens to be the highest elevation of all the Vermont state campgrounds. Woodford has two beaches- a larger day-use area with tables and grills and a smaller “campers” beach in the park’s third loop. There is also an approximate 2.5 mile trail that loops the reservoir and access to canoe and kayak rentals.

My sister and I stayed in site #2, which was smaller and less covered than some of the other sites. But I was lucky to book a spot just two weeks ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. Despite a couple days of rain, I really enjoyed myself and the park. The grounds seemed well kept and the staff were helpful. Plus there’s also looks to go and see in nearby Wilmington and historic Bennington.

After some exploration, I came to the conclusion that site #23 is the absolute best. It’s my go-to for my next visit! I judge this based on privacy, shade and water views, but of course preference is subjective. Sites #11, 21, 39, 40, 45, 56, 70, 72 and 84 were also pretty great.

Overall, Woodford was a great park and I definitely recommend it, particularly to those looking for dog and/or family oriented recreation!

We stayed on T67 over Labor Day weekend. This was listed as a prime waterfront site, which is what we look for so that we can launch our kayaks from our site. The map showed a short trail to the water, but it was a 40 foot drop in elevation. We still managed to get our boats down there and lock them up at night near the water. Our site was a tight squeeze for our 8 man tent, 4 man tent and an EX Up over the picnic table.  The campground is in good shape. Clean bathrooms, well maintained roads. Firewood is $6 a bundle and almost all pine. We were at the furthest point away from Rte 9 but we could still hear trucks occasionally. The sounds from within the campground were very loud by virtue of the campground topography. We could hear every shrieking kid and barking dog. But the hiking trails were really cool. I'd go back here, but it wouldn't be my top choice.

Been taking my son here since he was a baby.  Great place to relax

Stayed over for 2 nights, the campground is easy to access, amenities (showers and toilets) are in excellent shape and clean. The overall conditions of the campground are great. Some campsites are more private than others, we stayed at #84 and loved it. Showers are $0,50 for 5 minutes, $0,25 per extra minute. Bundle of wood fire is $6 and big bags of ice $3. The campground was very quiet most of the day and totally at night. There is a nice ~ 30/45 minutes trail around the reservoir, easy level.

We had a great time and would stay there again!

This campground offers great hiking and a casual feel to it. Good for passer byes or staying the weekend to go fishing. Again on Route 9 so not the quietest campground, but there are back sites that offer some more privacy if wanted. Lean-tos are the best part! Keeping it simple. And the workers are always very friendly. Affordable as well.

perfect for families! there are tons of different types of campsites with either tent spots, lean tus, and a few (hard to get) cabins. bathrooms are plentiful and clean, hot showers for a small price. beautiful clean swimmable lake with a walking trail around it.

the staff was pleasant, camp sites were clean and accommodating.

This campground was great. Quiet, great fire pits, clean bathrooms, firewood and starter for sale plus access to day use area. The lake next to the campground is beautiful and has plenty of picnic tables and grills for use. Close to hiking trails and the city of Bennington.

This is a very nice campground.

We stayed in site 64 which is set back more than 2 car lengths from the road and is pretty well surrounded with trees so it feels very private and secluded. Could see one neighboring site slightly through the trees but that neighboring site was lower down so it still felt private. It was a good sized site. Not sure if we could hear any noise from route 9 or not. If we did, it was very faint and did not disturb us.

Site 64 is across the road from a water spigot and the path to the bathrooms/showers. It was very convenient and we didn't feel like we were right by the bathrooms (no compromise to our site's privacy, no noise, etc). Our site wasn't waterfront but wasn't far from path down to reservoir.

The bathrooms are BEAUTIFUL! the nicest I've seen yet. Very clean, well stocked with toilet paper and soap- convenient shelf and hooks for toiletries/towels.

The showers are beautiful as well. There are 3 individual shower rooms that lock. Each one has a bench/chair and hooks to hang towels etc. There is also a small shelf in the actual shower for soap. 

NEW for 2024: the showers do not accept quarters anymore. You need to buy tokens from the campground. It is 1 token for 5 minutes and it is 50 cents a token. The issue we encountered was that apparently people still try to put in quarters and this jams the machine. Therefore, when we put in our tokens, though we thought everything worked fine, in fact the machine did not register the tokens and we were left taking ice cold showers. When we told the office in the morning, they explained the issue and said that had we called them they could have fixed the shower. They are going to try to put some guard over the slot to prevent quarters from going in. Hopefully, this is implemented soon. They were very apologetic and gave us new tokens to replace the ones we had lost on cold showers.

The office sells wood for $6 a bundle and you can get free kindling from their leftover cuttings/sweepings. They also sell ice and some "merch"/"swag".

We really enjoyed our stay here.

Had a pleasant stay at Woodford State Park. Sites near T38 have a great elevated view of the reservoir. Also a nice loop trail for those looking to do a little bit of hiking.

I was headed from NY to ME and decided to make it a two day trip. VT State Parks have a two night minimum but as this was a Thursday I decided to take a shot. Got there in the late afternoon and a couple sites were open so it all worked out. 

This was just an overnight stop so I didn't explore much but it is definitely on the list should I get back up that way again. 

Site was shaded and private. The bath house was nice. The coin operated shower was a surprise but I had enough quarters for 10 minutes :)

Basic camping in a quiet, older campground. Very pretty beach area at the reservoir where you can paddle and swim. No hook ups available but only $20 per night for a site that was plenty big enough for a small motor home. Mostly tent campers though and spots would be tough for anything much bigger. Bathhouse was clean and had a pay shower.

Clean open and level camping areas. Prime areas are near the water some what elevated but you are able to drag your boat through on paths. Ice and firewood sold at $6.00 a bundle and it is Kiln dried so it burns fast. If it is windy I would move away from the water. Staff was young but were pleasant and accommodating and will deliver wood and ice. Great biking on paved areas.

Very clean, quiet and well-managed state park. Exactly what I’ve come to expect from the VT State Park campgrounds. The prime tent locations book quickly but those are definitely the ones to go for, as they have private access to the water. Otherwise you have to go around the lake/reservoir to swim. Firewood is very good; $6/bundle and ice for $2/bag. Helpful staff.

Great place to camp and access nearby hiking including the AT and LT. Clean lodge (hostel) for hikers; access to a kitchen and showers as well.

Nice wooded sites. Pay showers I wasn’t too thrilled about but the new one was nice. The old bathrooms need a little sprucing up there’s no place to put your soap and shampoo, wouldn’t take much to fix that. Great lake there for kayaking and fishing. Rained most of the time but still had a good time.