This summer, we visited Cape Blanco Equestrian Campground on the Southern Oregon Coast. This was a beautiful destination, and the campground was well designed for horse camping. We went kind of early in the season (the end of June), so it was quite cold and windy. Below, you will find a review and tour of the equestrian campground and surrounding horse trails!
Cape Blanco Horse Camp is Well Designed
Oregon sure does get it right when it comes to horse campgrounds. We’ve been horse camping from coast-to-coast, and I’ve never seen more consistently nicely designed equestrian campgrounds than in Oregon. One campground we went to in Idaho said it had accommodations for two horses at every campsite, but it was ONE 12×12 stall! Not all horse camps are created equal, but in Oregon, they seem to know what they’re doing. Each campground had at least two pipe-corral style stalls. They were all sturdy and full of pine mulch when we arrived.
The entire campground is basically on a loop with a big meadow in the middle. This grassy area is a great place for hand grazing and walking your horse after a long trailer ride or trail ride.
There is potable water at the Cape Blanco Equestrian campground, but there is no electricity, so plan accordingly.
Additionally, campsites are well spaced out for decent privacy. That being said, they’re not so far that your horse won’t be able to see a buddy if you traveled with friends at an adjoining campsite.
Even though the wind was howling on the beach, the campground is pretty well protected by trees. It got a little windy in camp, but never as bad as it was on the beach. Camp is fully surrounded by trees and foliage.
***Another nice thing about camp, is that there aren’t too many non-horse people coming through. There is a reservable campground next door, and people there may walk through to go to the shower house, but it wasn’t really an issue when we were there.***
Bathroom Facilities at Cape Blanco Equestrian Campground
The family campground and bathrooms/ shower house at Cape Blanco Equestrian Campground is a short hike from camp. There is a gorgeous natural trail leading the way, and there was even some decent lighting at night. There is a porta-potty in horse camp, but if you want to use a real flush toilet, sink and shower, you have to go to the main bathroom and shower house.
The bathroom was basic, nice and clean, and the water in the shower house was hot and had good pressure! A piping hot shower is just what you need after a bone-chilling windy beach ride!
Attractions Near Cape Blanco Horse Camp: Tide Pools!
Okay, I’m from the East Coast, and we have “tide pools” there, but they’re generally just warmer puddles of water by the ocean after the tide goes out. In Oregon, they’re FULL of crazy looking sea life! It’s like being an an IRL aquarium! Star fish and anemones abound!
Just a short drive from camp is a light house you can visit. At the lighthouse, there is a trail you can take down to the beach. Make sure to find out when the tide will be going out, so you can check out these awesome tide pools. You definitely don’t want to miss them!
Local Attractions: Tide Pools!
Taking The Horses to See the Pacific Ocean!
Whenever we first arrive at a new horse camp, we take the horses for a hike to stretch their legs. This is really a two-fer, because not only do they get to stretch their legs after being in the trailer all day, they also get familiar with the local surroundings. As this was their FIRST time ever seeing the ocean and being at a beach, we figured this hike was especially important in building confidence and getting them comfortable at this strange new place!
We arrived tacked up the following day, and as you can see, we still started off in-hand, to be safe. For Monk especially, the addition of tack can sometimes throw off her whole game and start you back at zero!
As you can see in the photos below. Monk lost a little courage between the hike the day before and being tacked up the next day. A small wave approached, and she nearly jumped in Max’s lap to escape! (She did step on his foot.)
***In Monk’s defense, Max made the critical error of putting Monk between himself and the sea, by walking on her left side. Never put your horse between you and the sea. It should go OCEAN-YOU-HORSE-BEACH. So, if a horse-eating monster wave does decide to try to eat your horse, she will not be spooking into you. She will be spooking away from you.***
After this little scare, Monk was much more comfortable going back into the retreating waves, and we went on to have several good rides! If you want to read more about how we set our horses up for success for their first beach rides, go check out that blog here! (It involves keeping them below their fear threshold and also utilizing positive reinforcement (R+) to help build confidence and keep things going in the right direction.)
Riding on The Beach at Cape Blanco Horse Camp
The only really difficult part of this trail is the dune up and down from the actual beach! The sand is SUPER soft and SUPER deep! If you want more info on mistakes we made getting up and down the dune, definitely go check out the full ride report!
Jungle Trails at Cape Blanco Equestrian Campground
There is so much ecological diversity on the trails at Cape Blanco Equestrian Campground. One minute, you’re on the beach, and the next you’re in some kind of fern-gully Jurassic-Park style jungle. There is quite a bit of elevation change on some of these trails, and remember, if you go down, you must also come back UP.
At the bottom of the jungle, some of the trails were wet and mushy, and SO overgrown, you couldn’t see the ground below. That was kind of unnerving for one of our rides, because Monk was getting anxious and gaiting at a pretty good speed, which is a working trot for Bamboozal.
Nothing wrong with a good working trot, but Bamboozal is a life-long ROAD driving horse, and we were keeping up with a worried Monk through thick jungle foliage on muddy ground, where there were also lots of ROOTS, that we couldn’t even see, due to how thick the foliage was. Thank goodness, Bamboozal was very careful and didn’t trip.
Once you were out of that, you had to go up a VERY steep climb to get back up to the main trail. This was a heavily rooted area too, but at least you could see the ground.
Basically, if you plan to go horse camping and trail riding at Cape Blanco Equestrian Campground, make sure your horse is sure-footed and WELL conditioned. From deep sand at the beach to elevation changes and technical trail in the jungle, these trails are deceptively challenging.
Keep in mind, that my horse is 25 years old though, so I try to be as conservative as possible. I like to take it easy on his heart and legs to make sure we have as many years on the trails as possible. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with taking good care of your young horse’s legs too, especially if you’d like to have a sound trail horse a few decades later, like me!
In Conclusion
In conclusion, the Cape Blanco Equestrian Campground is pretty dang nice! If I were going to do anything differently, I think we would go back in August. The end of June was quite chilly and windy, and it sounds like that’s pretty early in the season for this area. (We were the only people in horse camp…)
The camp is well designed, there are hot showers nearby and the stalls are sturdy and safe.
Trail-wise, from deep sand in some areas and thick jungle in others, make sure you bring a horse that is well conditioned and sure footed. Be careful not to over-ride and watch your horses’s legs for any swelling or puffy-ness, especially if they’re not used to deep sand. Ligament and tendon injuries can happen easily in sand.
If you haven’t already, go check out our horse trailer tour to see our whole camping setup!
Until next time, Happy Trails!
