Best Equestrian Camping near Stevenson, WA

Great place to camp. It has wonderful hiking trails. There is swimming available in the warmer months in the Clackamas River. Horse trails for equestrians and fishing!

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.

Site was nice and private, staff was very friendly, and the grounds were pretty clean! A short hike will take you right to the river and there’s plenty of nice trail to explore. If stepping around occasional horse poop isn’t your thing, maybe skip the hike though. Plenty of horses and dogs around.

Two parties (all family) stayed the night Friday night. Additional family visited Saturday night (and were able to easily get into the campgrounds to park in our sites). LOTS of nice, wide horse trails for horse riding enthusiasts. We all made s'mores and sang campfire songs together in the evening after our day of hiking to the horse camp and up to the bat haven (a nice long nature walk for the kids). This park would have been even better later in the year (we went in May), as it sits along the Clackamas river, and is the river is easily accessible for rafting, tubing, swimming, or fishing. We rate this one an 8.2.

There are at least four different campgrounds within Beacon Rock state park including the main camping site, an equestrian area with two spaces large enough for horse trailers, a group camp site that can hold up to 200 people, and a small 2-tent and 5-RV space down by the boat launch (at the base of Beacon Rock). This review is for the main "Beacon Rock" campground, which has 28 sites nestled in the woods including two walk/hike-in only sites. From the main road, head north directly across from Beacon rock until you come to a parking lot on the right that's the trailhead for Hamilton Mountain, Whispering Pool and others. Just past the parking lot (which also has a nice day-use picnic area and shelter) and on the right you'll come to the entrance of Beacon Rock campground.

Sites are a good size with lots and lots of beautiful trees, though the size and privacy varies greatly depending on which site you get. Ones on the right when you first enter are smaller since they butt up next to a ridge. For the most part the sites on the inside of the loop and especially the back side (it's a one-way counter-clockwise loop) are larger. Sites are first-come, first-served, and even on Memorial Day weekend there were several still available at 5pm on Sunday. Not sure if that was a fluke or we just got lucky. The campground and day use areas were built by the CCC in the 1930s so there's some beautiful rock work here and there, but it was not built with RVs in mind, so most people had tents, though a smaller trailer or pop-up might work depending on maneuverability.

Pros: Sweet little campground with lots of beautiful trees and greenery. Still had spots available on a busy weekend.

Cons: Best for tents only or a smaller trailer. Some sites are definitely better than others.

This park has it all, camping, fishing, hiking swimming, playground, horse trails!

Secluded, open prime real estate: horse facilities abound here, but it works for everyone. About 60% full on a popular August Saturday, so come on over especially if you can't find space elsewhere (but hey, McNeil is bound to have some openings). A guide book said that it's exclusively for horse owners only on holidays, and a sign in the campground said holidays AND weekends, but now you're getting information from another source, with pics to boot. Lots of shade and popular trails for both humans and horses. Gesticulate those spurs a little. GEAR REVIEW: Cairn Picky Bar Moroccan Your World... nice change of pace here with the sweet curry taste of the Moroccan. This has a fuller, nicely complex flavor, with protein and carbs and waves of different ingredients, but the consistency wasn't as sludge-like as, say, a Clif Bar. It was that nice balance of substantial without being heavy. We get something chewy, friendly and bite-into-y. Buddy up.

Its Huge, many camp spots. Big open fields for discgolf, you can bring your horses to ride in designated areas. And bring your kayacks!

Enjoyed our stay. The park is on the Clackamas River. A horse trail traverses the river. It’s a great place to walk the dogs. Canoe rentals, fishing pier, disc golf and more.

They have a dog park, plenty of trails, several different areas to go down to the river, frisbee golf, area for horses. Good showers. There’s a great view point to see Mt. Hood. It really is a nice place.

Smaller, but we were able to switch sites away from an area with two families/lots of little kids (so the area is easy for people who don't camp a lot). Beautiful river, lots of horses and fisherpeople, great trails, tall trees, lots of shade, close to Portland. Plus you can reserve sites ahead of time.

Hiking around the lake is a great way to start and/or end you day while staying at Battle Ground Lake SP. Horses are welcome. There are cabins available also. Several sites overlook the lake.

Fishing and swimming are common here, but the lake often closes to swimming later summer season due to bacteria etc. in the water.

If your travels take you near Portland OR. and you need a nice spot to camp or horseback check out this park, it’s an easy 30 miles east of PDX and has over 900 acres to explore including a frisbee golf course. The park is located on the Clackamas river with some views of Mt. Hood to the east. There are many trails for horses and corrals.

This is a nice little horse camp with several sites and corals. We came for a mtn bike race but we're comfortable anyways. Each spot is large and quite private. The sites are nice and close to a creek which was nice since it was hot. Our site had a fire pit and a picnic bench. We camped in our van. Beautiful spot and pretty quiet event though it is nice and close to town!

We love it! For a lot of reasons. Part of the reason is it’s close, so that’s part good. Driving up there the way we drive (from Vancouver) you go up through ranching/farming territory and it’s nice and green and pretty, so it’s nice getting there. You do have a lot of options, in that the first time we went up there was with our hiking club, and we went up there for a hike around the calderas so it’s easy to do a day trip in a car. Part of our discovery was while we were there is that the food place is really good and very nice. The kids playground was great for the grandkids.

As far as the camping, while it’s open, for the most part you do have a limited amount of privacy in the campground. The campsite we picked was a mix of things: just far enough away from the restrooms where we don’t get all the traffic there, but close enough so it’s not too far either. We were within easy walking distance to two restrooms/showers.

One thing that always looked intriguing is they do have the cabins, so maybe one of these times we’ll rent one. Another thing that some people might like is that they do have horses and some of the trails around the lake you can have horses on, plus a separate area/campground where you can have your horses, which are fun to see.

It’s a small lake but big lake, meaning they do not allow motors on the lake, even electric motors, so it’s all floats, kayakers, etc. A lot of people grab the big inter-tubes and go with that. And of course fishing up there is generally pretty good, especially when they stock it. The trails around the lake are kind of fun also because you have a high trail (very forested) and you also have a certain amount of low trails right on the water where you could have your own spots to fish and swim.

Like most campgrounds, it has its peak season and its off-season, but you can go there year-round if you choose to. The beach area isn’t big, but that’s okay. Wherever you’re heading (from the campsites down to the water, to the playground, to the food shack) you always have different trails and options for how to get from one place to another if you want to explore. If there’s anything you forgot (groceries, fishing gear etc.) you can be in the small town of Battle Ground within 5 miles.