Ride

Horseback riding trails in Northern California

Horseback riding trails, trailer parking, horse campgrounds and season for 30 Northern California parks, forests and riding areas, from California State Parks, County of Marin, County of Nevada, East Bay Regional Park District, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, National Park Service, Santa Clara County Parks, USDA Forest Service and OpenStreetMap data.

Where can I ride my horse in Northern California?

A trail counts when its managing agency or OpenStreetMap marks it open to horses, so designated horse trails and shared trails both appear. Mileage is the mapped length of named segments. An area is listed once agency data answers at least two of: horse camping, trailer parking, horse-legal trails and horse rules.

Where can I park a horse trailer?

Lots where the National Park Service publishes oversize spaces:

NPS "oversize" spaces are sized for buses, RVs and trailers alike.

Horse trailer parking in Northern California: every lot, trailhead and camp rig limit the agencies publish, in one place.

Yosemite National Park: Frontcountry stock sites at Wawona (2), Bridalveil Creek (3) and Tuolumne Meadows (4) campgrounds, with a limit of two vehicles and two stock trailers per parking area. Stock can be loaded and unloaded at any stock camp, designated stock area or concession stable. [5]

Horse trailheads and staging areas the agencies name, with a trailer count only where one is published:

No agency publishes horse-trailer parking for Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Lava Beds National Monument, Lake Oroville State Recreation Area, Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest and Bidwell Park. Ridden here? Add it in Ride

Where can I camp with horses?

Horse camping in California: 50 Northern California horse campgrounds an agency lists for horses, with horse sites, rig length and season where it publishes them.

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.

Download on the App Store Free · iPhone · iOS 16.4+

Sources

  1. California State Parks: https://services2.arcgis.com/AhxrK3F6WM8ECvDi/arcgis/rest/services/RecreationalRoutes/FeatureServer/0, fetched October 25, 2026
  2. National Park Service: https://mapservices.nps.gov/arcgis/rest/services/NationalDatasets/NPS_Public_Trails/MapServer/0, fetched October 25, 2026
  3. OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/, fetched October 25, 2026
  4. National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/directions.htm, fetched October 16, 2026
  5. National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/stock.htm, read and verified by hand October 24, 2026
  6. National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/meadow-opening-dates.htm, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  7. National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/upload/HorseTrails_SB_2021-508-2.pdf, read and verified by hand October 24, 2026
  8. USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0, fetched October 25, 2026
  9. USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/eldorado/recreation/wrights-lake-campground, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  10. USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/eldorado/recreation/dru-barner-campground, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  11. USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/plumas/recreation/horse-camp, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  12. USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/plumas/recreation/snake-lake-campground-and-equestrian-camp, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  13. USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/plumas/recreation/whitehorse-campground, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  14. USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/tahoe/recreation/little-lasier-meadow-horse-camp, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  15. USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/tahoe/recreation/skillman-campground, read and verified by hand October 16, 2026
  16. East Bay Regional Park District: https://services2.arcgis.com/jeEP9c9zZoQQwtck/arcgis/rest/services/EBRPD_Roads_and_Trails/FeatureServer/13, fetched October 25, 2026
  17. County of Marin: https://services6.arcgis.com/T8eS7sop5hLmgRRH/arcgis/rest/services/Trails_MarinCounty_Symbology_2024/FeatureServer/3, fetched October 25, 2026
  18. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District: https://services2.arcgis.com/qmhndvC947rDNl6t/arcgis/rest/services/Trail_(public)/FeatureServer/0, fetched October 25, 2026
  19. Santa Clara County Parks: https://services1.arcgis.com/4QPaqCJqF1UIaPbN/arcgis/rest/services/Santa_Clara_County_Parks_Trails/FeatureServer/1, fetched October 25, 2026
  20. California State Parks: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=452, read and verified by hand October 24, 2026
  21. County of Nevada: https://services1.arcgis.com/UvqJJ6GFv4u5BZQj/arcgis/rest/services/Nevada_County_Trails_PUBLIC_VL/FeatureServer/4, fetched October 25, 2026
  22. East Bay Municipal Utility District: https://www.ebmud.com/recreation/sierra-foothills/sierra-foothills-trails, read and verified by hand October 24, 2026
  23. City of Chico: https://chicoca.gov/documents/Community/Parks--Outdoors/Bidwell-Park/rules_10_0824.pdf, read and verified by hand October 24, 2026