Horse Camp Primitive Campground
October 2026
About
Overview
This campground is located in the southeast corner of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, 15 miles west of Redding, California, and three and a half hours north of Sacramento. This is the only campground in the park that can accommodate camping with horses, but horseback riders must share the campground with visitors who may not have horses.
The cool, clear waters of Whiskeytown Lake provide endless water activities. The picturesque mountain setting and extensive forested backcountry offer ample opportunities for horseback riding, hiking and biking.
Recreation
During the summer heat, swimming, kayaking, sailing, paddle boarding and water skiing are popular on the 3,200 acre lake. Year round, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, gold panning, fishing and picnicking attract visitors. Hunting is allowed in the appropriate season.
Facilities
Horse Camp can accommodate any vehicle or combination of vehicles, including trailers, RVs and RVs pulling other vehicles. Overflow parking is available. Each campsite is equipped with two picnic tables, two large bear-resistant storage lockers, a metal fire pit with a swing-arm barbecue grill and a lamp pole. The two campsites share a vault toilet. A hand pump provides potable water when available. There is no electricity at the site.
There are no corrals, hitching posts or troughs at the site. Horses must be high-lined or tethered to trailer.
Natural Features
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area is located where the Klamath Mountains, Cascade and Coast Mountain Ranges, and the Sacramento Valley meet, creating a wide variety of wildlife and landscapes. Foothill pines lightly shade Horse Camp.
Contact Info
For facility specific information, please call (530) 246-1225.
Nearby Attractions
Brandy Creek Beach is located five and a half miles from the campground and features sandy beaches, a large swimming area, picnicking and barbecuing facilities. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, there are showers, a store with food and supplies and rentals of paddle boards and kayaks.
Amenities
Phone: 530-242-3412
Is HORSE CAMP PRIMITIVE CAMPGROUND fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches HORSE CAMP PRIMITIVE CAMPGROUND in Whiskeytown, CA for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching HORSE CAMP PRIMITIVE CAMPGROUND for cancellations is the paid part.