Stagecoach Horse Camp
Location: Stagecoach Horse Camp, University Falls Rd, Tillamook, Oregon 97141
Facilities: Vault toilets, manure goes in garbage dumpsters, fire pits and picnic tables at each site
Camp Site Amenities: picnic table, fire pit,
Site Type: back-in and pull-through
Water: Water Spigot
Footing: Rocky, hoof boots recommended
Cell Signal: No cell signal
Dogs: Dogs allowed
Trail Maintaince: ODF
Other: Weed-free hay not required, open year-round for horses but don't go until at least April or May
Website: https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Recreation/Pages/Camp.aspx?wp4475=f:{c:86380,o:{t:2,o:[%22Camp,+Horse%22]}}
Blog: http://tillamookstateforest.blogspot.com/p/campgrounds.html
Reservations: No reservations possible, first come first serve
Facilities: Vault toilets, manure goes in garbage dumpsters, fire pits and picnic tables at each site
Camp Site Amenities: picnic table, fire pit,
Site Type: back-in and pull-through
Water: Water Spigot
Footing: Rocky, hoof boots recommended
Cell Signal: No cell signal
Dogs: Dogs allowed
Trail Maintaince: ODF
Other: Weed-free hay not required, open year-round for horses but don't go until at least April or May
Website: https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Recreation/Pages/Camp.aspx?wp4475=f:{c:86380,o:{t:2,o:[%22Camp,+Horse%22]}}
Blog: http://tillamookstateforest.blogspot.com/p/campgrounds.html
Reservations: No reservations possible, first come first serve
Getting There
The main thing to note is that if you are coming from Portland, take a left on Beaver dam road. If you miss this turn and go left on Rutherford road it may be more dangerous for trailers. This is excellent advice. I now know that there was a serious accident with a horse trailer on Rutherford road that resulted in death of horses.
Do not turn left on Rutherford road. Take Beaver Dam after Rogers Camp Trailhead. I have heard that this road is extremely unsafe. Apparently at some time a horse trailer has gone off the side of the road and horses died! Don't take this route!!
Getting There Complications
I attempted to camp here in 3/2023. I read that the camp is open year-round. It was somewhere new and close to Portland. I found no information about this place on the internet. Here is why. About 15 minutes from camp Hwy 6 gets really rough. Not potholes but rough enough that I felt every bump and worried about Sam. Turning off onto Beaver Dam road the gravel road was great but I saw about 6 feet of snow on either side of the road. For some reason instead of thinking about what could lie ahead I surprisingly thought that it would be fun to ride Sam in the snow. Sleeping in the trailer, and a warm horse blanket and we all would be just fine. Then I passed ATV after ATV and off-road vehicles came straight toward us around the corner with no clue that there was traffic on the road. Again, I thought the horse trail was separate from the ATV trails so I didn't think much about it.
We finally reached the turn-off for the horse camp. There was about 3 feet of snow on the road. I had to do a sharp turn to the right, go uphill and have a road full of snow! At this point my brain finally turned on, I started to panic and decided to do a 10 point turn and get out of there. I backed my F350 and horse trailer up the snow packed road and turned around fairly gracefully. Good old "Beauty" my diesel F350 has never failed me and I was so thankful she had no problems at all backing uphill with a trailer in 3 feet of snow!
Suffice it to say we did not ride or camp here. All of the following information is hearsay. Instead we headed to Wilkerson Horse Camp, one of the few places that is never booked even when you don't have reservations. We still rode in the snow but the road into camp was well maintained and safe. You can read about our snowy Wilkerson trip HERE.
We finally reached the turn-off for the horse camp. There was about 3 feet of snow on the road. I had to do a sharp turn to the right, go uphill and have a road full of snow! At this point my brain finally turned on, I started to panic and decided to do a 10 point turn and get out of there. I backed my F350 and horse trailer up the snow packed road and turned around fairly gracefully. Good old "Beauty" my diesel F350 has never failed me and I was so thankful she had no problems at all backing uphill with a trailer in 3 feet of snow!
Suffice it to say we did not ride or camp here. All of the following information is hearsay. Instead we headed to Wilkerson Horse Camp, one of the few places that is never booked even when you don't have reservations. We still rode in the snow but the road into camp was well maintained and safe. You can read about our snowy Wilkerson trip HERE.
Must Brings
1) A snowplow
2) Common Sense to know not to camp here
3) A plan to camp in the summer with your ATV, leave your horse at home
4) Ear Plugs and loud music to drown out the ATV sounds
5) Check trail conditions here This would have been a smart thing to do if there was updated information. Many trail conditions have not been updated since 2020. The main website posts Reehers horse camp as closed and Stagecoach as open. I did see a winter storm conditions posted 3/03/23 (after I got home). It would be best to physically call the park and see if you could talk to someone that actively hikes or drives the area. I found the phone number for the Forest Grove ODF office: 503-357-2191. I have no idea if that would work but if you manage to talk to a person they may point you in the right direction.
2) Common Sense to know not to camp here
3) A plan to camp in the summer with your ATV, leave your horse at home
4) Ear Plugs and loud music to drown out the ATV sounds
5) Check trail conditions here This would have been a smart thing to do if there was updated information. Many trail conditions have not been updated since 2020. The main website posts Reehers horse camp as closed and Stagecoach as open. I did see a winter storm conditions posted 3/03/23 (after I got home). It would be best to physically call the park and see if you could talk to someone that actively hikes or drives the area. I found the phone number for the Forest Grove ODF office: 503-357-2191. I have no idea if that would work but if you manage to talk to a person they may point you in the right direction.
Horse Campsites
All of the horse sites are back-in except for 1, 10 and 6. You must have a horse to reserve a site after April.
Details to come in my next hair-brained camping trip
Site 1 - Pull-through
Site 2 - Back-in
Site 3 - Back-in
Site 4- Back-in
Site 5 - Back-in
Site 6 - Pull-through
Site 7 - Back-in
Site 8 - Back-in
Site 9 - Back-in
Site 10 - Pull-through
Site 1 - Pull-through
Site 2 - Back-in
Site 3 - Back-in
Site 4- Back-in
Site 5 - Back-in
Site 6 - Pull-through
Site 7 - Back-in
Site 8 - Back-in
Site 9 - Back-in
Site 10 - Pull-through
Riding
Crazy-Making Stagecoach Horse Camp to Reehers Horse Camp
Linda Brim reports that one of her grand adventures during her time camping at Stagecoach was a valiant attempt to ride from Stagecoach Horse Camp to Reehers Horse Camp!
Looking at the topo map and the elevation profile this is a pretty extreme ride. Most of the elevation gain is on Gales Creek Trail after you leave the ATV area. On Gales Creek Trail you ascent 1553 feet in 6 miles and then go down a steep downhill to descend 1553 feet in 3 miles! For comparison, this is more elevation change then the Butte trail at Lost Lake which basically goes straight up. This is also more elevation gain than going up the Buck Mountain Loop at Silver Falls and much more of an ascent than Cast Creek Trail at Riley Horse Camp. Looking at this trail plan makes me shake in my boots and want to go home before even starting! Linda reports that there were parts of the trail with steep drop offs where horses had to go one at a time. They did not make it to Reehers but I am sure they had an adventure they will never forget! These are ladies that rode the trail before GPS tracks and Iphones. Before trail updates and improvements. They were true horse camping pioneers! I am sure it was kind of like this...one of your friends studies their paper map and says "I bet we could ride to Reehers from here...." and off you go. Cheers to you and thank you for the story! |
Rating
I don't want to totally give up on this horse camp. My next plan is to send my husband mid-week to check it out with just the suv and dogs, no horse trailer. If he gives me the ok we may attempt this camp again in the hot, warm summer season. I am hoping that you the reader, can benefit from my crazy half-baked adventures. I was never really in trouble and my turning my rigg around was fairly easy. The more information that is out on the web about these horse-camps the more prepared the next horse camper will be!