Looking for a rustic and comfortable horse camping experience near Mercer Island? Whether you own a horse or are joining a tour group, equestrian camping is an adventurous and unique way to experience the city. With our help, you'll find the best Washington equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
Dispersed camping is the term used for camping in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground. Typically, it refers to roadside car camping, but also refers to backpacking in undeveloped sites. Dispersed camping means there are no services like trash removal, and amenities such as toilets, tables and fire pits, are not usually available.
It is your responsibility to plan ahead and learn the extra skills necessary for dispersed camping. Camping rules and regulations apply to make your experience safe, and to keep the natural resources scenic and unspoiled for other campers.
Dispersed camping along Forest Service roads is allowed where there is adequate space to safely park completely off the roadway and not on any vegetation. Whether car camping or backpacking, choose an existing campsite on bare or compacted soil. Unless signed as an area where a fee is required, dispersed camping is free. Dispersed camping is prohibited in developed campgrounds and areas posted closed or no camping. Some designated Wilderness areas have additional restrictions. For the best information on dispersed camping opportunities and local restrictions, please contact the nearest ranger district office.
Rules for Dispersed Camping These rules apply to car camping and backpacking
You may camp in a dispersed area in an individual Ranger District for up to 14 days within a 30-day period. After 14 days, you must move to another Ranger District or off the National Forest until the 30 days has elapsed.
Do not blaze new roads to campsites, create new campsites, clear ground, cut or harm vegetation or construct a trail.
Do not drive beyond constructed physical barriers, such as berms or gates.
Do not drive through streams or wetlands to access a camp.
If campfires are legal in your location and you choose to have a campfire, pick a site with an existing fire pit. Do not create new fire pits. Make sure your campfire is always attended and is dead out and cold to the touch before you leave your site. Fires may be restricted or banned based on the fire danger rating.
Follow Leave No Trace principles and come prepared to “Pack it in. Pack it out.” Pack all trash home. Dispose of human waste in a sanitary manner. In high use locations, areas above tree line and snow-covered areas it is not possible to bury human waste in a sanitary manner. It will need to be packed out and disposed of at home using a wag bag, blue bag, portable toilet or another Leave No Trace approved method.
Do not block roads or gates.
Keep food and scented items secure from wildlife by keeping a clean camp and store items in your vehicle or use a wildlife resistant storage canister.
Failure to follow regulations can lead to legal consequences. Additional Forest rules and links to report crimes can be found on our Law Enforcement page.
$35 / night
Collins is a quiet campground located along the shore of the Duckabush River. Several of the campsites are near the river. There are 16 campsites, 10 that will accommodate tents, trailers, and RVs. Six of the campsites are tent sites with spurs for parking.Warning: River contains swift water, rapids, and waterfalls. River is not floatable. Use extreme caution in or near the water.
AS OF 10/11/2023 - THE CAMPGROUND IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
Due to a developing electrical issues, the RV and other power hookups are no longer safely operational. We are working on a plan and will post updates here as we know them. Sorry for the inconvenience. The dumpsite will remain open for now
$20 - $25 / night
This primarily motorized and rustic campground is located near the Tahuya River and the Tahuya River Trail. Campsites can accommodate up to a 30-foot RV, though size may vary by site.
Dispersed camping, or camping outside of a designated campground, is not allowed. The camping stay limit is 5 consecutive days, 15 total days per calendar year. Tahuya River Horse Camp is only open for weekend camping from Memorial Day to Labor Day Quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Dogs are allowed in Green Mountain and Tahuya but must be kept on a leash. Horseback riders may bring unleashed dogs if they are controlled by voice command. Day use fishing sites are open for fishing from April 15 to October 30. Be alert for other road users, ranging from heavy vehicles to bicycles, and check your speed accordingly. Stay on designated trails. Trails are marked with colored diamonds. White: Single-track trail Yellow: Two-track trail Purple: 4x4 trail
$20 - $30 / night
Traveler
Nice area by a creek, very peaceful and quiet during the day, a ton of people around and lots of passerby’s. As soon as it got dark, someone decided to sneak around my campsite with a flashlight and stand outside my tent for some time. Packed up quick and zoomed out of there, very uncomfortable and would not recommend for solo campers.
GuideVery cool spot with new generation trees growing out of old generation stumps, close to river for water, very popular spot so found a lot of trash but loved the sites and hiking trails nearby
Guide
Langley is a great little town. I don’t know why they haven’t done more to develop the campground- all sites are first-come-first served. They did repair the electrical system this year and just reopened. It’s at the fairgrounds on the edge of town, there’s a largely unlandscaped grass field with electrical boxes & (some) water connections. There is a dump out on site and potable water. There are accessible bathrooms and showers nearby. The campground is on a hill above the horse barn and arena, very convenient to the town of Langley, which is delightful. No camp host available, nobody you can call for assistance. Because the campground just reopened, we were the only ones camped most of the 6 days we were here. I love Langley but they are not as tourist-driven as many towns which have campgrounds like this.
GuideA lit if the spots are on the smaller side, so we had a bit of trouble finding one that could fit our motorhome, but it was worth it. The place is beautiful. Super dark at night, and besides the sound from the interstate and cars driving up and down, it's quite. Even with the noise, it's peaceful and perfect for a little getaway. We have Verizon and have decent service, even with crappy weather.
ScoutSo dark I couldnt even see my own hand in front of my face! I loved it. Quiet enough, could hear gentle highway hum but cant see anything but trees n nature. Earplugs ftw. Some bugs but nothing major. Plenty of spots along the road. U dont need to go all the way to coords. Just pick a spot along road n park. Some wild raspberries at our spot :) firepit nice, a little trash but not much. Thats the cost of free. Spot is free, the cost is picking up a few pieces of trash. Seems fair to me!
GuideWent up at the end of 4th of July weekend. Found a great spot but it was apparent that the group before us used everywhere to go to the bathroom and covered it with paper towels. PRO TIP: make the hole first for when you need it and you want have any excuse not to use it! PLEASE LEAVE NO TRACE! Other wise we really enjoyed a quick night away in our van.
TravelerYou can hear the road from most camping spots. When we arrived at our site there was garbage all over the place in a fire pit so we cleaned it up.
There was a nice long trail that took us to the river. That was nice. Cleaning up sucked because the floor got muddy.
Lots of mosquitoes.
Lots of camping spots. We left Friday evening and most spots were taken.
GuideThis spot was truly beautiful. Green as far as the eye can see, with a creek by that provides the perfect white noise to fall asleep to. The road is fairly accessible, though there are some fairly large potholes that could damage smaller vehicles, and the road could become muddy after raining. On weekends you might have to drive pretty far down the road to find an unclaimed spot, but I didn't have a hard time on a Tuesday night. There was some trash, including broken glass in firepits and a few beer cans spotted in the woods, but for the most part it was clean! The sites further down the road are definitely cleaner. No bathrooms, so plan on dropping the kids off at the pool before visiting. Seeing as there is water nearby, there are plenty of mosquitoes. Bring some bug spray! There are towns within 15 minutes of the road.
GuideMy friend slept in her vehicle(end of the road) and I camped next to the river. There were no other tent campers on this day; many RVs and campers on the way to the river. I highly recommend for peace and solitude.
ScoutIf you are there even 5 min past the 10 day limit even though you are obviously packing up the manager will give you a specific time to be gone by or ahe will call the police in an attempt to have you tresspased then call the cops 40mins before that time and on the 9th day she called the police to do a welfare check even though everyone was up and moving around obviously ok. 😡 Never again and i may not even go to their crappy carnival they try to call a fair either.
GuideThis is my second time. It is free good spaces to camp with a lot for trees. I always sleep on my car but people camp on tents on the forest. Dogs welcome
GuideI travel and work remotely so I’m always looking for free places that have cell reception and this place hits the jackpot. I’ve come in twice on a Saturday afternoon and have been able to find an open spot with my 18 ft travel trailer, I have Verizon and have 2-3 bars of service, it is very close to the interstate so you’ll hear a constant hum of cars but it’s very nice to feel like you have your own slice of the mossy old growth forest.
Scout
It's more of a place to park then a full on campground. It has water and 30 amp power at all spots with access to a dump station. You are limited to 7 nights per month. It's right next to the fairgrounds so you have all the sounds that come with that. A great place if you are one of the vendors for an event at the fairgrounds. It was $35 a night. If you reserve your spot online there is an $8 fee to do that. The power pedestals is set up for 2 rv's per pole so it might be on the wrong side so you need to run an extra cord or hose. Not a problem if your set up for it.
ScoutNice open sites with space for multiple vehicles or trailers. Easy access to ORV trails. Expect lots of noise from off-road vehicles and music.
GuideI stayed at one of these sites on Tinkham road while hiking a section of the PCT. Get there early to get the better sites. Plenty down the road though if all of the initial sites are full. Pretty wooded sites, some you can pull down into. Unfortunately, most sites are pretty trashed. Still a pretty area and a good location.
Scout
It's nice to find sites but most RV parts enforce the 10 yrsl anfld younger RVs only allowed. That's discrimination!
GuideLove this place, the view from the bridge makes for some amazing photographs and it’s so well hidden, one of my favorite places.
ScoutThe campsites aren’t bad. There in heavy wooded areas. If you get here early enough you can get a good secluded site on an offshoot, but most sites are just right off the road. Some sites are really close together with like 50 yards.
GuideNice secluded camp site. Pros: privacy, river access, sunny. Cons: trash and glass scattered throughout the site. Freeway noise is very loud
TravelerThis is near the Tinkham Campground. Plenty of dispersed sites with fire pits. Some sites are close together however if you keep going down the road you'll find plenty of quiet and private places. They also are redoing the roads as I'm here so little to no potholes.
GuideTraveling from Seattle, we stumbled upon this campground. Kind of confusing to find, it’s called “RV2” and you follow the signs to it in the fairground parking lot. More for RVs and not so much tents, we ended up sleeping in the car. Didn’t utilize the showers, but there was a port a pot for us to use. Camp host was nice, $25 for the night. Racetrack is loud but was expected
Traveler
We got an awesome river spot with our brand new set up. It rained but was a beautiful and oh so green area to camp.
GuideWhat a beautiful place! The campground is in 500+ acre Tolt-McDonald Park, far enough away from any busy road so that there is no traffic noise, just the sound of the Tolt River rapids. All the RV sites are drive-through, with water and 20, 30, and 50-Amp service. (There is a privately-run RV dump on the way to the park.) The sites are wide because of the driveway. No trees between sites, but some bushes between sites offer some privacy for the back half of the sites. The 17 RV sites are around a huge lawn, with the restroom building at one end, and a path down the middle that is part of a long, level, paved bike/walking trail. There is a shower in each restroom, so the whole building is heated (which was really nice, since the lows were in the 30s in April, 2022) Access to both rivers is at the South end of the RV loop. There are tent-only sites to the North, and also yurts and more tent sites across a picturesque foot bridge over the Snoqualmie River. There are carts available to roll your stuff over the footbridge.
ScoutThis is under snohomish county park system. Rates are good price. Notable considerations, near racetrack ongoing races and trials usually quiets down early evening this time of year. Great place to go adventure for the day. A couple major stores to stock up on. Friendly staff check in was a breeze just call the number.
ScoutNot a place for tranquility. The price is right for what you get. Dump station you either drive to or take your porta can and drag it there. Hosts are good people and quiet when races not running. I'd stay here again
GuideIt is an open fairground with rv hookups.
TravelerEnjoyed the sound of the river right there. Restroom was not too smelly, no tp when we arrived, but most of us prepare for that. Would go again but would be more selective of site. Our spot was a little more marshy but the river spots looked fantastic.
Washington offers a variety of options for horse camping enthusiasts, combining beautiful landscapes with facilities that cater to both riders and their equine companions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Mercer Island, WA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Mercer Island, WA is Tolt MacDonald Park, WA with a 4.3-star rating from 22 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Mercer Island, WA?
TheDyrt.com has all 10 equestrian camping locations near Mercer Island, WA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
