Best Equestrian Camping near Camas, WA

Great campground when nearby Timothy Lake campgrounds are full. The spot I had was large and not too close to other spots. The campground was full, so there was the early morning sounds of children playing. I was in spot 8 which looked onto Clackamas Lake. Which side note is not a "lake" but more of a marshy pond with reeds and grass around the edge. Still I was able to situate my tent to look onto the lake. This spot is in the horse section so there were corrals in each spot. Looked like a horse had camped in the spot a few days earlier cause there were large piles of fresh horse poop I had to keep my dog away from. The table/tent area was about 75 feet from my car so I had to make many trips to get all my stuff into the site. If you are extra adventurous and in shape you can walk from the campground, around Timothy Lake and back, be warned this is just over 18 miles. The trail around Timothy Lake is not strenuous, and offers amazing views of Mt Hood, and there is water about half way through, but again be ready for a long hike.

Hares Canyon Horse Camp is one of three campgrounds in Stub Stewart State Park and unlike other horse camps which often allow the overflow of tenters and rv'ers without horses, this horse camp is equestrian only.

The Campground is set up in one loop and offers both single and double sites, ADA facilities, showers, toilets, and trash. Each site has a picnic table, fire pit, and a corral. There is a double corral on the double sites.

You must clean up after your own horse. Manure bin as well as shovels/brooms are provided onsite.

In mid May, the sites were very wide open.

We have stayed here a couple of times now, both by accident when our intended destinations were full. The sites are pretty well spread out in a double loop with 3 double pit toilets and 2 hand pumps for water. There are several places to access the creek and play in the cold, shallow water. The stones in the stream are a rainbow of metamorphic rock.

Across the road is a horse camp that the PCT goes through. There is a spur from the PCT directly into the campground for easy access. There is a beautiful view of Mt. Hood just a couple of miles up the trail. Further up the road is a short hike to some beautiful falls. The road continues for a long way, eventually looping up to Cougar, making for a lot to do in the area. Camas is a short drive for most supplies though for spirits you'll have to go to Stevenson about 30 minutes away. Overall an accessible and pleasant place to camp.

Clackamas Lake is a great campsite. Fairly easy to find and navigate. Great for when you don't want to deal with the more crowded campgrounds.

While the camping sites are fairly close together, the site is usually lightly occupied. While we where there we only had one neighbor but the rest of the loop was empty.

For horse riders they have some equestrian only campsites.

There was plenty of trails in which to hike or ride, and a dock to go see the lake. You can also go swimming if your into Oregon lake or pond swimming.

Clackamas Lake itself is fairly small and in many ways feels more like a large and deep marsh then a lake.

Phone and internet reception (AT&T) is spotty at best.

This is hands down one of my favorite campgrounds, because the spots are large, far apart from the other sites, and very quiet. It is not too far from the Portland area, I would recommend getting last minute supplies before getting off the highway. The campground is a horse campground, but I reserved on the Monday before arrival and it was still very empty so no fear about taking a spot from equestrians. The spot I had (Spot 4) was huge, plenty of room for a larger party, felt like a quarter of an acre. There were no neighbors on one side of the spot and only the water spigot on the other. All the spots in the campground had plenty of space between spots. There was lots of dead, dried out wood laying all around the site that after a couple hours of collecting I had plenty to keep a fire all weekend, and still left a pile of wood when I left. The campground is close to many trails in the area, mainly Romano Falls Trail. There are views of Mt. Hood, peeking out through the trees here and there.

Additional Stay, Different Year
-A few more trees have been knocked down due to winter storms, but this is still a great campground.

Beacon Rock is an incredible, tall hill in the Columbia River Gorge and a Washington State Park. The climb up the rock is through a well-built trail. It can get narrow at spots and not for those who fear heights. The view at the top, however, is amazing. Easy day-use area and there is also a popular campsite nearby with hiking trails.

Camp sites are kind of small, with most in forested areas. A few are slightly more exposed and some are split-level, in that you park up top and walk a few steps down to your camp site. Bathrooms and water on-site. It is close to Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington and very popular and busy.