If you like riding in Oregon’s Coast Range, you’ll love Northrup Creek Horse Camp. It’s a well-appointed horse camp that provides access to a fun loop trail built expressly for horses. You can now reserve your campsite in advance at www.ReserveAmerica.com, so you know you'll have a site when you arrive.
The Camping
Northrup Creek Horse Camp is located about 70 miles west of Portland and 35 miles east of Astoria. The campground is shaded by large Douglas-firs and features 8 equestrian campsites with 2- or 4-horse corrals, vault toilets, potable water from a hand pump, and manure bins.
The Riding
Northrup Creek has only one official trail, but it’s a delight — an 8.5-mile loop that explores the surrounding hills and runs along its namesake creek. The Northrup Creek Horse Trail takes you through moss-draped forests dotted with old-growth trees, and through a couple of clear-cut areas that offer nice views of the Coast Range. In places, the forest canopy is so dense that there is little undergrowth, but in most places the vegetation is lush.
The highlight of the Northrup Creek Horse Trail is, in my opinion, the stretch along pretty Northrup Creek, which features immense old-growth maple trees. You’ll see some good-sized cedars and firs along the trail as well.
If you’re looking for a new place for a weekend horse camping trip this summer, give Northrup Creek Horse Camp a try. It will not disappoint!
More Information
Northrup Creek Horse Camp and the Northrup Creek Horse Trail are covered in Riding Northwest Oregon Horse Trails, by Kim McCarrel, available at www.NWhorsetrails.com.
