I’ve never ridden LBL, but back in October my b/f and I were camping/riding Shawnee in IL and took a “day off” to drive down to LBL. He’s been there before and said there is plenty of riding to do - you can also ride near the bison and elk area and see them out grazing. Nice, big campground - some of the spots are really out in the open with no shade, though. We’re planning to take the horses there some time this spring.
I’ve heard good things about a recently-opened horsecamp at Mammoth Cave. We were going to camp there last summer, but temps were in the mid 90s and humid - not much fun for camping or riding. I think it’s just called Mammoth Cave Horsecamp; the place has mixture of sites with electric/water, some have a teepee, and some that are primitive. Tie-up is allowed at some sites, and they also have a barn with stalls; shavings and wheelbarrows provided, bring your own muck fork, buckets, etc. They just opened in 2009; there are reviews on horsetraildirectory.com along with a link to the campground’s site.
East Fork Stables in Jamestown, TN is great. Nice variety of trails, from flat and smooth to steep and rocky. Very pretty scenery, nice overlooks when you ride on the ridges. I know we didn’t do all of the trails there in a week, part of the reason being that the area had a lot of rain and the staff warned us at check-in to avoid certain trails.
The staff is great and helpful, nice barns if you choose to stall your horse (which we did). The main barn’s stalls are all interior but with plenty of open space for ventilation. Nice tack shop upstairs (above the check-in). The showerhouse and bathrooms were kept very clean and well-stocked with toilet paper. They also have laundry machines available on-site, which was helpful since it rained every day that week.
While we were down there, we drove around to see some of the other campgrounds. Some were much nicer-looking than others. . .a few (like Station Camp) I probably wouldn’t stay in even if someone paid me.:no: There is also a little Amish place called Muddy Pond nearby. Just a couple of shops, but they do fast, inexpensive tack/leather repair and also sell tack. It’s something to do on a rainy day, or if you just want to give the horses a break.
Happy trails!!
