Horse camping checklist
What to pack for a night or more with a horse: tack, ways to keep the horse at camp, water and feed, your own gear, safety items and what to confirm before you leave. Each item links to the page it comes from. Use your browser's print command for a paper copy. New to it? Read camping with horses first.
What do you need for horse camping?
Horse and tack
Keeping the horse at camp
Bring what the camp allows. Some sites supply corrals, some ban tying to trees, some require a portable corral or hitch line.
- Highline rope and tree savers [2]
- Lead ropes with swivels [2]
- Portable corral, if the camp has none [1]
- Hobbles (only if the horse is trained to them) [2]
- 25 to 30 foot picket rope with a swivel, and a stake [2]
- Electric fence tape, charger and batteries (only for a horse trained to it) [2]
Water and feed
- Water containers: about 10 gallons per horse per day if the camp has no water [1]
- Certified weed-free hay or feed, started at home [1]
- Feed tag checked for the weed-free certification [3]
- Rake and bag or shovel for manure [4]
You
Safety
- First aid kit for you and a separate one for the horse [1]
- Multi-tool [1]
- Emergency communication device [1]
Before you leave home
- Reservation confirmed, and the camp's rules and any permit read [1]
- Water source at camp confirmed [1]
- Trailer count and rig length checked against the camp's limits [4]
- Parking pass or vehicle fee sorted, where the camp issues one [5]
- Truck and trailer locked, valuables out of sight [1]
This is a starting list from the sources linked below, not a full inventory. It names kinds of gear, not brands.
Ridden here?
Ride is a free iPhone app for logging rides, built for trail rides out of cell range: GPS keeps recording with no signal and the ride syncs later. If an agency hasn't published something on this page and you know it, add it in Ride.
Free · iPhone · iOS 16.4+
How much water should you pack?
Which horse camping gear depends on the camp?
The camp decides what goes in the trailer. Some supply corrals, some allow only a hitch line, some require certified weed-free feed.
- Lake Perris State Recreation Area's horse camping has 7 primitive sites with a fire pit, picnic table and two corrals each, 1 or 2 horses per site, horse troughs, drinking water and chemical restrooms, and no hookups. [5]
- At front-country stock sites, use hitch lines or portable corrals, wrap the trees under the ropes, and tie stock so it can't chew bark or woody plants. [4]
- Weed-free feed is required at the front-country stock camps, and grazing there is banned. [4]
- Check whether the area requires certified weed-seed-free feed, and read the tag: some feed cubes are certified and some are not. Get stock used to certified feed several days before the trip. [3]
Check the camp before you pack. Ride gathers what California agencies publish:
- 50 Northern California horse campgrounds on Ride. 14 camps publish a longest-rig limit, from 25 to 60 feet (median 37.5 feet).
- 14 camps where an agency says corrals are provided: Butte Lake Stock Corral, Carter Meadows Horse Group, Cuneo Creek Family Horse Camp, Devil's Gulch #1, Dru Barner Campground, Frank Valley Horse Camp, Hidden Horse Equestrian Campground, Juniper Lake Stock Corral, Martins Dairy Horse Camp, Packsaddle, Skillman, Snake Lake Campground and Equestrian Camp and 2 more.
- 5 camps where an agency says there is water for horses: Butte Lake Stock Corral, Devil's Gulch #1, Frank Valley Horse Camp, Martins Dairy Horse Camp, Skillman.
Counted when this page was built from the camps listed on horse camping in California. A camp is left out of a count when its agency doesn't say. Each camp page gives the agency's wording and link.
Keep going
- Camping with horses: how to choose a camp, keep the horse overnight, and what to practice first.
- Horse highline or portable horse corral: how to keep the horse in at camp.
- Horse camping in California: campgrounds with rig length, corrals and season.
Ridden here?
Ride is a free iPhone app for logging rides, built for trail rides out of cell range: GPS keeps recording with no signal and the ride syncs later. If an agency hasn't published something on this page and you know it, add it in Ride.
Free · iPhone · iOS 16.4+
Sources
- TrailMeister: https://trailmeister.com/from-hesitant-to-happy-horse-camper, fetched October 24, 2026
- Horse&Rider: https://www.horseandrider.com/horse-life/travel/horse-camping/horse-containment-while-camping-15649, fetched October 24, 2026
- USDA Forest Service (Modoc National Forest): https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/modoc/safety-ethics, fetched October 24, 2026
- National Park Service (Yosemite): https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/stock.htm, fetched October 24, 2026
- California State Parks (Lake Perris): https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=28032, fetched October 24, 2026
- eXtension Horses: https://horses.extension.org/how-much-water-does-a-horse-need/, fetched October 24, 2026