Camp Wilkerson - July 22, 2009 15-20 min. past Vernonia. Nice because it’s close, shaded for summertime, and not crowded the time we went. 4 stalls each of the 6 horse camps w/ some logging roads and single tracks to ride on. Don’t remember mileage, but made a nice 2 hour ride on the outer loop. Water at sites, don’t remember if there’s electric. Some twisty roads, but overall an easy drive.
LL Stub Stewart- August 22, 2009 and July 25, 2010 Great site for spring, early summer or early fall camping when conditions are wet because the linear trail is usually nice and dry. 5.5 mile and 9 mile loops of single track trails in addition to the linear trail. Can be hot w/ ½ shade in mid summer but still cools off at night -got down to 45 in August. Close to home for easy access on a Friday night after work. Sites 9 and 10 are double sites for 6 horses, 16 people, and up to 4 vehicles (last 2 pay $5/night). All sites are back-in 50-90 feet. Water and Electric at each site. (I‘ve stayed in 13 and 14.) Easy drive, some hill climbing.
Silver Falls- June 17, 2010 Recommend going after July 4th! Great for mid-Summer when the corrals and trails dry out. 4 stalls at each horse site except the group site C which has 12! (Maximum 3 recreational vehicles allowed -any type of camper, motorhome, trailer, etc. Maximum of 6 vehicles -includes any recreational vehicles. Maximum of 24 people; minimum of 8 people. Maximum of 12 horses/pack animals. ) The sites are shady and spacious, so may accommodate more tents than usual, 2 vehicles allowed, 2nd pays $5/night. No electricity, water faucet nearby. I stayed in E, Diana in D, Tammie was in A or B. Trails were mostly single track, some slight ups and downs, mud made them more difficult. Don’t remember the drive, so must have been OK.
Nehalem Bay - July 27, 2010 Closest Beach Horse Camp. There are 5 pull through sites giving these sites the most room. All back-ins are min of 40 feet. No double or group horse sites. All sites have 2 stalls only. Beach is busiest in mid summer, lots of kites and radio aircraft. No electric, water faucet nearby. (I stayed in 2, Diana in 9, Tammie in 17). There is a trail to the point that is nice, otherwise your riding on the beach, which is pretty cool. Getting there on Hwy 101 is scary due to bicyclists on the roadway w/ no shoulder!
Clackamas Lake- July 29, 2011 If you are mixing horse campers and no-horse campers, stay here, if ONLY riders and horses, I recommend staying at Joe Graham instead! Mt. Hood National Forest, near the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Stalls are varied 2-4 w/ minimum requirements of horses in each site. Great access to the Pacific Crest Trail and 14 mile loop around Timothy Lake 2+ miles away. We did a shorter loop up to Timothy lake and back down the PCT, aprox 5 miles/2 hours. Scenery is wonderful, trail is shady but has rocky footing making faster paces difficult. Better trail is the one going towards Warm Springs (head South on PCT), less rocky footing, wider trail, more level. You can ride up to 8 miles down to the Warm Springs River and back. My problem w/ Clackamas Lake is there is only one water spigot between site 2 and 4 for the 11 horse camps, so you are transporting water 50-100 yards. No pull-throughs (except a fake one in 4) 0-45 foot back-ins. At Joe Graham there are taller trees providing more shade, larger back-ins 0-45 (but they look a lot bigger than the Clackamas Lake ones), and 3 water spigots making the water hauling closer! Neither camp has manure bins, so you have to put poop in garbage bags (provided by park host) and heave into dumpster! No electricity, water in limited locations. The drive there required going up and over the Mt. Hood pass, plenty of slow traffic lanes going up, no problem coming down. The drive home was a little scarier w/ some of the down hill parts around hairy turns w/ drop-offs, fast traffic, and no slow lanes.
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