OUR FAVORITE CAMPING TRIPS
Equine Friendly Camp Trips

Pt Reyes National Seashore

A short hour and a half drive from the East Bay and only half an hour from San Francisco is one of our favorite camp trips with the horses. Point Reyes National Seashore has some of the best and most varied trails around Northern California. You can ride everywhere from sunny trails through cattle grazing leases to rainforest-like areas to the famous 18 mile round trip beach ride! Or, if you prefer you can trailer over to Limentour beach, unload at the parking lot and go directly onto the beach with your horses.

If you decide to go there are a few places to consider staying. For riders who are done with their tent and campfire days, there is the Pt. Reyes Country Inn, in Pt Reyes Station. There you can stable your horse in a clean cushy stall with the bedding provided (you provide the feed). The rooms above the barn are cozy and inviting – perfect for a relaxing evening after a busy day of exploring the trails.

But, for us, the most fun at Point Reyes is camping at Stewart Ranch Horse Camp, located about 4 miles south of Olema on Hwy One. Here you will find a large meadow tucked in the middle of the park where you can pull right in with your trailer, pick your spot and set up camp! Most of the campsite have a picnic table and a fire-pit, but we try to bring a portable fire-pit just to be sure we can get that big campfire going when it gets dark. Got to have those s’mores!

When we first started camping at Stewart Ranch we put up picket lines, spacing the horses far enough apart that they couldn’t get tangled up with each other. One of our more brilliant friends suggested hanging a bell from the line that supposedly would wake us in the middle of the night should there be any shenanigans going on with the horses. That bell clanged all night long and ended up getting flung into the bushes in a fit! Our picket line days are long gone now that we’ve discovered how easy it is to set up a portable hot-wire pen with step-in posts and a battery powered fence charger. You can get these in a variety of catalogs (Valley Vet or KV Vet or Country Supply) and they are well worth it when you see how relaxed the horses are in there after a hard ride. We think it is by far the best way to go, although there are still plenty of campers that successfully use picket lines! A word of caution, though. You should try the pen out on your horse in an enclosed area to make sure he understands the hot-wire set-up before you camp. The last thing you want is for him to blow through the pen in the campground causing all kinds of excitement!

When you check-in to Stewart Ranch be sure to pick up a trail map from Amanda Stewart when she collects your fees. It’s a pretty detailed map and makes it easy to plan your day rides. Keep in mind the condition of your horse and don’t get over ambitious with your rides if they are in poor shape. We’ve seen too many horses tie-up after the long beach ride because of poor conditioning. There are plenty of shorter rides if you aren’t sure how well they’ll do. The trail to Olema is one of my favorites. It winds through some really beautiful redwoods and alongside some marshes and cattle grazing land all the way to Olema where you can tie up the horses and go in for brunch at the Olema Farmhouse Restaurant. The Farmhouse is also a great place to come to town for dinner and drinks at the bar! There are always fun people to talk to and other riders to swap stories with. Make sure you enlist a horse sitter (there are always plenty of people to keep a casual eye on you horses while you go to town) before you go and then kick up your heels and have some fun! In fact we hardly ever cook a dinner in camp anymore – I know, pretty lazy!

All in all, you can’t help but have a great weekend in Pt Reyes! Hope to see you there!

To make reservations or receive more information on accomodations contact:

1091 Pereira Rd
Martinez, Ca 94553
925-381-6111 cell
yippeio1@aol.com

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