Best Equestrian Camping near Ephrata, WA

This is the primitive portion of Steamboat Rock State Park along the Columbia River. There is a boat launch and vault toilet but no water or garbage. There are large cottonwood trees to shade the sites. When we were there in October, their golden foliage shone in the sunlight.

The sites are small and close together. Campsites are in either side of a gravel road leading to the boat launch. There are 12 sites plus an ADA site. There is a small day use only area. There were only 3 other campers when we stayed so it was quiet.

There is a golf course next to the campground. My Verizon signal was strong. The campground us situated far enough from the highway that road noise was negligible.

ETA: there is a dispersed site across the highway on public lands. Photos show the evening glow of the rocks.

Campground Review:

Potholes State Park is located in Central Washington, a bit south of Moses Lake. The climate is arid desert so expect hot days, cool nights, and occasional gusty winds. The park itself has some fun features and if you are into fishing or wildlife watching, I found it to be a great spot for both. The campground is divided into RV or hookup sites, a separate area for tent sites with some cabins mixed in, and a large day use section with a boat launch, restrooms with showers, a huge tree filled lawn with picnic tables, and a pretty fun little play ground. You can reserve ahead on the Washington State Parks reservation website. We did not make a reservation and there were a lot of open sites when we arrived on Saturday, even with the beautiful weather. I strongly doubt that will be the case as the summer continues. I would check ahead to see what you can get before heading out.  

The RV sites have power, water, and sewer. They are arranged like a wheel, you drive around the small center and the other trailers are the spokes in the wheel. There is no barrier between you and your neighbor, but all the sites are grassy and the loops are surrounded by a ring of poplar trees. There is a bathroom with flush toilets and token operated showers centrally for all to share. There are 6 wheels like this, a total of 60 RV sites just opposite of the boat launch and day use area. 

We stayed in the primitive or tent sites in the lower area of the campground. The sites along the water are in full sun most of the day, so be aware if that's not your thing. The sites along the inner part of the loop have a mix of poplars and other trees. That provides some shade and tress for a hammock.  No designated tent pad, but plenty of flat spots. All have a picnic table and fire ring. Not a ton of privacy, but it's much more secluded than the RV sites. Also, the bathrooms down here are vaults. No hand washing or showers for us, at least without a walk. There is a loop towards the group tent site and another towards the boat launch, for a total of 61 sites. Mixed into the primitive sites are cute cabins with air conditioning, if you really want to get away from the heat!

When we arrived, the Ranger at the park office offered to let us drive down and choose what site we wanted. I was sure from looking online, that I wanted one by the water. Once we got to the site I chose, we realized that we would be baking in the hot sun all day with no relief. It was at the beginning of the loop so we got the traffic and dust from everyone driving by and we were right on top of neighbors on either side. My husband went up to see if we could move and the Ranger was so nice! It was no problem to move across the road to a shaded site with trees so we could hang out and put up our hammocks. We had no neighbors the entire time. It got a little noisy on Saturday night with the sounds of other campers having fun, but by Sunday night we were alone and when we left on Monday, there was one other camper in our end of the tent loop with us.  

We encountered lots of animals in the park. The bird sounds are incredible. I wish I would have made a recording. Mourning doves, quail, robins, and red wing blackbirds among the many. Deer walked through the campground and beavers and otters were swimming in the reservoir while we did some fishing from the group camping area. We did not encounter too many bugs, but the season is still early. We did see two snakes. One swimming towards us while we were fishing on the boat, the other in our camp site. This was a baby rattlesnake, not a gopher snake. My husband noticed it as he walked by our picnic table because it hissed at him. It was curled up underneath. Very angry with us and ready for a fight when we got a stick to move him. It put up a good fight. I am just glad we noticed it before we stepped too close in shorts and sandals! I want to be clear, this is not anything against the park. You are in snake country and this is that animals home. Just be aware especially if you have little kids running around. 

We went to Potholes to go fishing with some friends on the reservoir for Walleye and Bass. If fishing is your thing, this park is great. You don't need a boat either. There are plenty of shore fishing spots and hiking trails to pass the time. The businesses right beyond the park have good food, a bar, gas, a golf course, and really good ice cream! I love this area of Washington and I can't wait to go back.  

Product Review:

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, from time to time I get awesome products to put to the test while camping. On this trip, I got to test the RovR RollR 60 Cooler. Check out the product website here: https://rovrproducts.com/product/505229344820/6841244385332

First, the basic stats on this RovR RollR 60. This is a 60 quart capacity, rotomolded body cooler. It has foam insulation and an airtight gasket. It has a fast flow drain plug and is certified bear resistant. It sports all terrain, puncture resistant tires and has an aluminum dual sided padded handle so you can pull it from either side and not clip your heels. The color offering is green, orange, white, or pink at least for this size. The fun features that really set it apart are the inside dry bin, the top mount soft wagon bin for extra gear hauling , and all the extra attachments you can purchase to make your RovR perfect for you. You can add on, for an extra cost, a fishing rod/umbrella holder, dual cup holder, cutting board, stash bag, or bike hitch. Yes, you can attach it to your bike and tow it around! You can also get the wagon bin in other colors /designs. This cooler according to the website promises to compare to the other “high end” pricey coolers out there, if not outperform. RovR even promises to keep ice for 11 days under proper use and conditions!

I was excited to take it to sunny, warm Eastern Washington and test it on a fishing trip with friends. I knew it would spend a full day out in the direct sun, be opened and closed countless times, get banged around at speed, and have to be drug to the boat and back by hand. Also, my friend is a fishing guide and a Yeti fan, so I was looking forward to his opinion.

RovR’s instructions are to pre-chill the cooler 24 hours prior to loading with a sacrifice bag of ice and only add cold items to the cooler when ready. When it was time to load, none of my “sacrifice” ice had melted at all from the prior day. We were able to fit most everything we needed for food into the cooler for the whole long weekend. It is large but fit in the back of the SUV without an issue. When we arrived at Potholes, we set it out in out campsite and got to work with dinner and beverages. Everything was icy cold with no melt. Our fishing guide friend came over and fully checked out the RovR. He was pretty impressed! He thought it was cool looking and loved the wheels and handle, a feature his large Yeti does not have. That and his Yeti is poo brown not beautiful green like my RovR. The next day, we drug the RovR across two campground loops over to the boat launch. The mini monster truck tires handled all the dirt and gravel with ease. It was easy to pull and maneuver. We loaded it on the boat and had a full 9 hour day of fishing for Walleye and Bass in full sun. Even at speed, the RovR did not bounce or wander around on the bow. Overall, it did a great job and I am very happy with its performance!

My favorite feature has to be the dry bin inside. It keeps items cold but dry. I can’t tell you how many wet egg cartons and soggy zip lock bags I’ve dealt with over the years. If you camp for any length of time, at some point you inevitably have a chilly swimming pool of food. Not with the dry bin! I was able to load my salsa, meat and cheese, eggs, but it will also hold liquor or wine upright and cold. The bin is held down with a screw in disk so it’s removable if you have a need for more room. While my ice was fairly melted by Monday, everything was still icy cold. I am also sure that if it was not left out in the 80 plus degree sun ALL day, it would have performed admirably. But again, all my food and drinks were still as cold as before the day of sun, so that’s really saying something about performance potential. Also, when we arrived home, the wagon bin was great for throwing the headlamps, shoes, hammocks, and all the other loose items into it and hauling them down to be put away in one trip. It never leaked or showed condensation. It was also easy to open and close, unlike some of the other fancy coolers, even though it has similar rubber gasket type latches.

The only issue I have with my RovR RollR 60 is that it’s heavy! Fully loaded, my husband and I had to team lift it into the back of the SUV. My kitchen is also downstairs so to load it and get it to the garage I have to maneuver it up and down our stairs. It’s not an easy task. The other super minor, picky complaints are the handle, which is really comfortable to pull and hold in your hand, hangs centimeters from the ground. In our dusty campsite, the handle got really dirty which makes your hands really dirty. If you are trying to prep food out of your cooler that might be an issue. Finally, the wagon bin that the RovR comes with is white in color, initially. I don’t know about you, but I get pretty dirty while camping. White is an unfortunate color choice for the outdoors. We left it behind completely for fishing even though when flat it makes a nice cushion to sit on. You can get other super cool prints, but you have to buy them separately. Once my white bin becomes super gross I will definitely upgrade.

It doesn’t matter if you have an RV or prefer the tent, a good cooler is an absolute must. And, if you are going to invest the money in a cooler, why not buy one that not only performs at an outstanding level but has some neat features and a little spunk as well?

The campground is located on O'Sullivan Reservior in the middle of nowhere.  It has excellent fishing and a plenty of room to boat to different areas to fish.  The campground has tent and RV spaces with hookups.  There is a fish cleaning station and a shower, restroom area near the docks.  Fish that can be found are:  Walleye, Crappie, Bass, Trout.  There are also a lot of Carp to encounter. Be prepared for various weather conditions and sometimes windy conditions.  Fishing can be done on the banks.  Lots of little hidden potholes in the area if you are willing to look around the area.  There is a country store within a comfortable driving distance or bike ride.  Picnic tables and grass are available.  The camping can be cramped with little shade.  The Park Rangers can be cantankerous and at times can be rude.  The Park Host changes so you never know if you will get someone helpful or military rules.  Don't expect the other campers to respect your night of quiet.  Seems there isn't much in the way of enforcement.  Overall the Reservior is worth it and just enjoy it.

As others have said, this campground is on the reservoir at Moses Lake, but it is maybe 20-30 minutes from town. There are really several sections to this campground and they each have a different feel. I am not much of a fisherman, and have always stopped here while traveling, but I have always found it relaxing. If you are a fisherman, you will probably love this campground. Otherwise it would be a nice place to spend a weekend relaxing with friends.

The RV sites are separated into groups of circles where the sites radiate off like spokes on a wheel. Tall poplars surround these groups to break up the wind that can really get blowing in this area of the state. The sites themselves are gravel driveways in a grass field. There are trees within each group but there is very little privacy, even though the sites are quite large. These sites have access to a single restroom with flush toilets and showers. However, the restroom is starting to show its age quite badly.

The tent sites are in two loops amongst some trees. These are definitely my favorites spots in the campground. The sites are gravel/dirt driveways in a more rustic and less grassy setting. These sites are not level, so any RV will require some effort if you care about that. Privacy is still not great but it is better than the RV sites. The biggest issue with the tent sites is that the restrooms are pit toilets (I believe, but I didn’t go in).

This is a good place to camp, but.

While we did have good coverage for our Verizon phones.  We got site 98 which backs up to the lake.  Great idea, but due to people having no manners, we had people walking through our campsite to get to the water to fish constantly.

This was also the first time we experienced animal problems on a camping trip.  Normally, we move all our food under our awning to a small table we keep beside the TT for cooking.  This trip, there were racoons that liked our food more than we did.  First night, we lost a half gallon glass jar of dog food.  It had a lid on it, and it took me until the second night to figure it out.  I thought we had just misplaced it since nothing else was missing.  But after the activities on the second night we knew where the dog food went.  Ended up loosing a box of graham crackers, bag of marshmallows, and a bag of burger buns.

Other than the animal issue(self induced).  The camp site was fine.  I do find the placement of the large boulders to be odd!  We had to back our TT all the way into the camp site due to they line each side of the camp sites with huge boulders.  I am talking big ones, they are at least half the size of the picnic tables.  This would be fine, but they put one on each side of the entrance to the camp site which does make it a bit concerning to back in.  And once in, you have to make sure you place your TT in the right place so you don't have one in front of your door.

There was no hookups at this site, it was fairly flat, but it was VERY dust!  There was very little grass, odd for end of April, so the site was mainly just a dirt patch which was dry enough it was pretty much just dust.

Another observation was that while they did have a couple water taps (dish washing station) on this loop, they were both on the other side of the loop, so we would have to either walk through others camp sites or walk around the entire loop.  

With the issues with animals, I would suggest you dump your trash nightly, but there was no dumpsters on this loop.  The closest was about half way back to the check-in booth, in the boat ramp parking lot.  This was about 1/2 mile from our camp site.