Palisades Horse Camp

Overview

Palisades Horse Camp is located 30 miles north of Pagosa Springs, high in the San Juan National Forest. This beautiful area has excellent horseback riding and hiking trails and an abundance of wildlife.

Recreation

Hiking and horseback riding trails are the main attraction at Palisades. The Williams Creek Trail leads directly from the campground into the Weminuche Wilderness, crossing the Continental Divide.

Facilities

This equestrian campground offers single- and double-family campsites to campers with horses. Corrals with feeding bins are provided. The corrals are divided into two sections with room for two to three horses on each side, depending on horse temperaments. Hitching racks are set up throughout the campground and a water tank is on-site.

Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A campground host is on-site, and is very knowledgeable about the area.

Natural Features

The campground is nestled in a stand of pine, spruce and fir trees, and sits at an elevation of 8,300 feet. The area provides panoramic views of the surrounding meadows and mountains. Williams Creek flows nearby.

The surrounding forest provides a prime wildlife habitat. Bears, deer, elk and moose frequent the area.

Contact Info

For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.

Charges & Cancellations

Cancellations

Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. 

A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite.

Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.

No-Shows

A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date.

No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite.  

Refunds

Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended.

Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay.

For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. 

In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.

Camp site features

Across 12 camp sites:

  • Picnic table: all 12 sites
  • Longest RV: 45 ft
  • Largest party: 16 people
  • Equipment: Horse, RV, Tent, Trailer

Directions

From Pagosa Springs, at the intersection of Highway 160 and Piedra Road/County Road 600, turn north and drive approximately 23 miles to Williams Creek Road/Forest Road 640. Turn right and drive approximately 7 miles to the campground.

Stay Limit

Check in from 2 PM, check out by 12 PM.

Reviews

37 reviews
5 stars
25
4 stars
8
3 stars
2
1 stars
2
Lois L
Loop:Loop A
Site:
Reviewed 2 months ago
This is the second time we’ve stayed at this campground. While we were still setting up the host came over and started telling us everything that we couldn’t do and acted like we were going to Lea everything a mess. We just thought she could have handled things a little differently.
Susan T
Loop:Loop A
Site:
Reviewed 2 months ago
The camp host was very helpful and bathrooms are always clean.
Mitzie S
Loop:Loop A
Site:
Reviewed 2 months ago
Very nice campground. Nice sites. Most sites have concrete in the horse pens with rubbrr mats. A few are still to be done. Vault toilets were very clean. Two hydrants in the park for potable water. Need to get water before dark, the well is solar run and the holding tank doesn't seem to be very large as water would stop if there were very many horses in camp. Nice camp host, very helpful.
Danny S
Loop:Loop A
Site:
Reviewed 3 months ago
Beautiful location at Palisades and surrounding areas. Terrible road condition to get to camp though. Road was so rough it knocked loose things in my truck and trailer. Had to take my truck into Pagosa to a mechanic. Also only 2 water facets. String enough hoses together to make it to the campsite, but then the water pressure is really low. Takes awhile to fill water tubs for the animals.
Steve D
Loop:Loop A
Site:
Reviewed 3 months ago
Campground was awesome. Very clean, well taken care of and the camp host was very friendly and helpful. The only negatives were the road coming in, which was very rough and full of washboards. Tore up one of our friends trailer door popping the rivets because it was so rough. Our pens were good but our friends had pens that had concrete in them and no rubber mats. Their equines got so sore standing on the concrete for four days. The pens in space 4 was very nice I’m glad they were dirt even though they had some gravel in them. It was way better than the concert. Hate to see all the pens get upgraded with concrete. Very long haul in a trailer and then long rides you want your equines to have a nice comfortable place to hang out and unfortunately concrete is not yet even with mats on it. Other than that campus, beautiful, it was our first time there and really enjoyed our stay.
Sonya L
Loop:Loop A
Site:
Reviewed 3 months ago
This place is beautiful!! Corrals are spacious! Our two horses fit comfortably together in one corral. Camp host was great! Definitely recommend!
Availability

See the Camp Sites section below to find detailed booking availability.

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Season dates

Peak season

Jun 4, 2027 – Sep 25, 2027

Reservable online

Peak season

Jun 4, 2028 – Sep 25, 2028

Reservable online

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