Beacon Rock State Park Horse Camp
Location: Beacon Rock State Park,34841 WA-14, Stevenson, WA 98648
Facilities: Vault toilets, manure bin, tie-rail, highline, hand-pump for horse water only
Camp Site Amenities: picnic table, fire pit,
Site Type: back-in or pull forward into, may be able to pull through if other site is unoccupied.
Water: Hand pump for horses, sign reports water is not potable for humans
Footing: Rocky, hoof boots recommended
Cell Signal: Att 1-2 bars at high spots on trail, no signal at camp
Dogs: Dogs allowed
Other: Weed-free hay required
Website: https://www.parks.wa.gov/474/Beacon-Rock
Reservations: https://washington.goingtocamp.com/
Email: [email protected]
Facilities: Vault toilets, manure bin, tie-rail, highline, hand-pump for horse water only
Camp Site Amenities: picnic table, fire pit,
Site Type: back-in or pull forward into, may be able to pull through if other site is unoccupied.
Water: Hand pump for horses, sign reports water is not potable for humans
Footing: Rocky, hoof boots recommended
Cell Signal: Att 1-2 bars at high spots on trail, no signal at camp
Dogs: Dogs allowed
Other: Weed-free hay required
Website: https://www.parks.wa.gov/474/Beacon-Rock
Reservations: https://washington.goingtocamp.com/
Email: [email protected]
Getting There
We had two options from east Portland/Boring. We opted to go up 205 and through WA. You can haul trailers over the Bridge of the Gods but I thought it would have more traffic on this route.
Must Brings
1) Extra highline. As of 8/2022 the highline is sagging. It is more like 4 feet tall in the middle. You can either tie your horse to the part at the end and make sure they can't move down the rope or set up another highline from your trailer to one of the posts.
2) Water, there is a hand-pump but it says it is not potable for humans. To me that means I don't want my horse drinking it either.
2) Water, there is a hand-pump but it says it is not potable for humans. To me that means I don't want my horse drinking it either.
Horse Campsites
The horse sites at Beacon Rock State park are at the other end of the park from the popular trailheads. On a busy weekend I found cars parked in about half the trailer spots. The parking spots did not have physical barriers so you could be creative about parking around the cars if needed. For the campsites the driveways were long and hard to see due to lack of use. You could either back into the spots or pull in forward as there was plenty of room to back out. There was a hand-pump, manure bin and vault toilet. On the bottom right the 2 horse sites are circled in red, the blue is the manure bin location, purple is the hand-pump, and the green are the restrooms. The highline is shared between site 1 and 2 and has room for 3-4 horses. The highline at the time of my trip in 8/2022 was very saggy. It was 6-7 foot high at the posts and more like 4 feet high in the middle. Please email the camp staff here to join me in asking them to tighten up the highline, Update 9-2022 Annie emailed me back and reported that the highline has been tightened and is now 5.5 feet high. Plans to tighten the highline more may get pushed until later in the year. Annie let me know it was ok to use portable corrals or to make my own highline from my trailer to one of the highline posts.
Below left is the manure bin and vault toilet. On the right the hand pump which was working 8/2022 there was no potable human water available unless you drove to one of the other human centered campsites. I am not big on giving my horses water that is not ok for humans. I would plan on bringing your own water.
Campsite Details
- Site 1: Back in or plenty of room to pull in forward then back out when leaving, if site 2 is empty you may be able to pull through around the rock and out site 2's driveway
- Site 2: Back in or pull through if site 1 is empty, if it is not busy I might just pull my trailer generally on the grass or next to the highline. I liked the picnic table of site 2 because it is closer to the highline. My tack room door is on the right so I would pull in from site 1 and turn so I am facing outward or can drive forward out the driveway of site 2. However, if there is a rock, I will probably hit it. I also thought about setting up a highline from my trailer to the end post on the left so that the highline could be an appropriate 7-8 feet off the ground.
Campsite Pictures
Campsite 1 and 2 both share the same grassy area and highline. There are tracks where you can see trailers have pulled into or backed onto the grass. There is a picnic table on the right and left and a highline to share.
Below is a panoramic picture of the horse sites.
Here are some closer up views of the highline. It was 7 feet tall by the poles but really sagging in the middle. I would feel more comfortable pulling onto the grass and tying Sam to my trailer tilt-tie, or making my own highline between my trailer and one of the posts. Talking to the park staff, setting up my own highline would be perfectly fine.
Here is a view looking from the driveway where you can park a trailer out into the day use parking lot. The driveway was fairly long and wide although hard to see from the lack of use.
The highline was ok toward the ends but sagging in the middle. It may be 7 feet tall at the poles but was more like 4 feet tall in the middle. Update: Annie at the park told me the highline was tightened and is now 5.5 feet high in the middle. She said further work to tighten the highline would be planned for later in the fall of 2022.
Below is the marker for site 2. The driveway was long with room for a large trailer. These two sites are good for 2 trailers that know each other.
Riding
Disclaimer - I need to get Sam used to highlining so we have not camped here. I will be planning a day ride in the near future. I also am waiting for a tilt-tie to install on my trailer so I have a back-up Sam constraint plan if highlines go sideways.
Trail Map PDF
The trails are well signed and the equestrian trailhead is right next to the campsites. It is good to note that horses are only allowed on the yellow/brown dotted line trails that include the Hardy Ridge Trail, Loop Trail, and Upper Hardy Creek Trail.
The trails are well signed and the equestrian trailhead is right next to the campsites. It is good to note that horses are only allowed on the yellow/brown dotted line trails that include the Hardy Ridge Trail, Loop Trail, and Upper Hardy Creek Trail.
Below is a blown up snip of the part of the map above with the equestrian trails.
The green loop goes from the trail-head to The Saddle Viewpoint is 3.3 miles. You can lengthen the ride by adding the orange trails to make additional loops. Hardy Ridge Trail is in blue and does not connect as horses are not allowed on the connecting trail that is labeled as hiker only.
The trailhead is well signed and is to the left of Equestrian site 2.