Modoc National Forest horse camping

Where to camp with horses, where to park a trailer, which trails allow horses and the rules in the Modoc National Forest, from USDA Forest Service, Recreation.gov and OpenStreetMap data.

Where can I camp with horses in the Modoc National Forest?

East Creek Campground
season: Facilities open as weather permits; usually late May to late October. ^[1]
Pepperdine Equestrian Campground
season: Facilities open as weather permits; usually early July to late October. ^[2]

Where do I park a horse trailer in the Modoc National Forest?

Named by the USDA Forest Service

Cedar Creek Upper Trailhead

description: “Located adjacent to our ski area, this trail offers both hikers, mountain bikers and equestrian units a downhill run of some 3 plusmiles that ends at the Cedar Creek Lower Trailhead.” ^[3] · Directions ^[3]
East Creek Th

horse/pack animals: “Horse/Pack animals are allowed at this site.” ^[4] · Directions ^[5]
Pepperdine Trailhead

water: “Drinking water and stock water” ^[6] · Directions ^[6]
Red Tail Rim Trail North Trailhead

description: “In addition to ample parking,this Trailheadhas a picnic site and hitching posts for tacking up horses for day rides.” ^[7] · water: “Drinking water and stock water.” ^[7] · Directions ^[7]
Red Tail Rim Trail South Trailhead

description: “The Red Tail Rim TrailSouth Trailhead is the staging area for riding, hiking or mountain biking the Red Tail Rim Trail.There are hitching posts but no corrals.This trail is not a loop.The opposite trailhead is located at Red Tail Rim TrailNorth, about 8 miles north of Adin along Hwy 299/139.Ash Creek Campground is located south of this trailhead.” ^[8] · Directions ^[8]
Soup Springs Trailhead

description: “One for hikers starts just at the entrance to the campground and the other begins at the corrals.” ^[9] · Directions ^[9]

Named by Recreation.gov

Red Tail Rim Trail North Trailhead

activities listed: horseback riding ^[10] · trailer spaces not published by Recreation.gov · Directions ^[10]

Horse staging, trailheads and entrances from the agencies' own map data. A trailer count appears only where the agency publishes one; a quoted lot note is the agency's wording. Parked a trailer here? Add it in Ride

Which Modoc National Forest trails allow horses?

USDA Forest Service

31 trails, 127.2 mapped mi ^[11]

Summit Trail
22.7 mapped mi ^[12] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
Red Tail Rim Trail
19.1 mapped mi ^[13] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
Owl Creek Trail
17.9 mapped mi ^[14] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
Highgrade National Rec. Trail
5.9 mapped mi ^[15] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
Poison Flat Trail
5.9 mapped mi ^[16] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
East Creek Trail
5.6 mapped mi ^[17] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
Pine Creek Trail
4.8 mapped mi ^[18] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
North Emerson Trail
4.3 mapped mi ^[19] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
Mill Creek North
4.1 mapped mi ^[20] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service
Mill Creek South
4.0 mapped mi ^[21] · horse season: 01/01-12/31 · surface: nat - native material · horses allowed per USDA Forest Service

Plus 21 more named horse-legal trails in the same data, not listed here.

OpenStreetMap

16 trails, 86.0 mapped mi ^[22]

Summit Trail
22.5 mapped mi ^[23] · surface: dirt · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
Owl Creek Trail
17.9 mapped mi ^[24] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
Mill Creek South Trail
8.0 mapped mi ^[25] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
Poison Flat Trail
5.9 mapped mi ^[26] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
East Creek Trail
5.5 mapped mi ^[27] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
Pine Creek Trail
4.8 mapped mi ^[28] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
North Emerson Trail
4.4 mapped mi ^[29] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
Slide Creek Trail
3.9 mapped mi ^[30] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
South Emerson Trail
3.3 mapped mi ^[31] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors
Blue Lake National Recreation Trail
2.6 mapped mi ^[32] · surface: ground · horses allowed per OpenStreetMap contributors

Plus 6 more named horse-legal trails in the same data, not listed here.

Trails the USDA Forest Service manages in the Modoc National Forest and marks open to horses, plus trails OpenStreetMap marks as horse-legal near the horse camps. Mileage is the mapped length of segments with that name.

Is the Modoc National Forest open to horses right now?

East Creek Campground: season Facilities open as weather permits; usually late May to late October. ^[1]
Pepperdine Equestrian Campground: season Facilities open as weather permits; usually early July to late October. ^[2] · status Open ^[2]

As of October 25, 2026. Check with the agency before you haul: seasons move with snow and fire.

What are the horse rules in the Modoc National Forest?

Ride hasn't collected area-wide horse rules from the USDA Forest Service yet. Each camp page lists the rules its agency publishes for that camp.

Is there water for horses in the Modoc National Forest?

Water for horses at trailheads: Not published by the USDA Forest Service. Ridden here? Add it in Ride

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+

What other horse campgrounds are near the Modoc National Forest?

No other horse campground on Ride is within 62 miles yet. See every published camp in horse camping in California.

More horse trails in California

Sources

USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/modoc/recarea/?recid=71254, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/modoc/recarea/?recid=71298, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_InfraRecreationSites_01/MapServer/0/query?where=site_cn%3D'616794010602'&outFields=*&f=html, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/modoc/recreation/east-creek-campground, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_InfraRecreationSites_01/MapServer/0/query?where=site_cn%3D'7224754010602'&outFields=*&f=html, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_InfraRecreationSites_01/MapServer/0/query?where=site_cn%3D'5315.003991'&outFields=*&f=html, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_InfraRecreationSites_01/MapServer/0/query?where=site_cn%3D'616793010602'&outFields=*&f=html, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_InfraRecreationSites_01/MapServer/0/query?where=site_cn%3D'616791010602'&outFields=*&f=html, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_InfraRecreationSites_01/MapServer/0/query?where=site_cn%3D'11802010378'&outFields=*&f=html, fetched October 25, 2026
Recreation.gov: https://www.recreation.gov/gateways/1069, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0, fetched October 25, 2026
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10579812&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10593384&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10581732&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10582056&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10582559&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10579086&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10581666&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10579289&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10593379&outFields=*&f=html
USDA Forest Service: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_TrailNFSPublish_01/MapServer/0/query?where=objectid%3D10593468&outFields=*&f=html
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/, fetched October 25, 2026
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493513549
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1104431515
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493522532
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493519246
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493519253
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1104860887
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493531053
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493522531
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493531055
OpenStreetMap contributors: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1493559779