Best Equestrian Camping near Yacolt, WA

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.

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.

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.

I love Seaquest for their beautiful campsites and the proximity to a wonderful forest to bathe in. But don't go for the RV sites, which are laid out in a parking lot setting with no real distance from neighbors and not surrounded by trees. Unless that's your jam. It was definitely not ours, tent camping alongside some friends with a trailer who liked nothing more than to hang out at said trailer, and walk through the campground to look at other.. trailers. I don't think they even stepped foot in the 7+ miles of forest trails which is a few steps away. If you can step away from the hookups and get a real campsite off the RV pad, it is a stunning experience. Each site is surrounded by trees, creating privacy and serenity.  Another great option is the yurts. We stayed in Yurt 2 (the only pet friendly yurt) and loved it. 

For those with RV's, trailers, campers - look into the regular sites because I think some of them even have hookups and can accommodate most sizes. Just steer clear of RV sites T1-T16.