Horseshoe Bend Campground

This campground is in the Bighorn Nat'l Recreation Area, and as such, should qualify lifetime senior pass holders to a discount for its use. Instead, the marina and campground at Horseshoe Bend has been privatized to an outside concessionaire who offers the convenience of online booking for a handful of sites, collects all fees for all camp sites (whether booked online or in person by pay envelope at the campground) and does not honor the national pass discount. I think this is W R O N G. No camp host was present, the "iron ranger" in loop A was full and a sign directed us to use the one in loop B, which it was visibly choked to the top with pay envelopes. The restrooms were entirely closed for "renovations by NPS" (according to the sign; why aren't the concessionaires paying for their remodeling if they are collecting the campground fees???). i made out our check to NPS and made it for the promised 50% discount. They can cash it or not. Now to the good part: the views are million dollar, the wild horses down at the marina are beautiful. Peaceful and quiet. Worth the aggravation, I just wish the government wouldn't get into these privatization deals with public land.

We chose a dry camping location for $18/ night. It was a quiet place off the beaten path. No internet. The dry camping areas are not level, not even close. We have a 30’ fifth wheel. We made it work but it was ugly. There’s a nice hiking trail to the canyon. It rained much of the time and the campground was “unusually empty.” The camp hosts were pleasant but not as friendly as the other hosts we have met along the way.

We were lucky to find this stunning campground. In October, there were very few other campers and it was free. There is a great hiking trail out to an overlook. We saw wild mustangs along the road. The flush toilets were clean. My only complaints were that the dumpster needed to be emptied, and there was a lot of dog poop. Why are people too lazy to pick up after their dogs? I would love to return!

We went in late April. The campgrounds were open but you have no other services. No water, no dump, no one there not even a ranger. Had to pay at the Iron Ranger because the kiosk was boarded up but they didn't have any envelopes available. The sites did have electricity on.

We were supposed to stay 4 nights but only had water for one night. So plans changed.

The water/electric sites are impressive, level, well laid out, and have beautiful views. We wished we could have stayed longer.

There was no cellular at the campgrounds. Just outside the park, we were able to get full bars of Tmobile.

We saw plenty of wild horses and a group of bighorns.

The campground is nice — good mixture of sites with water/electric ($26.25/night) and those without hookups ($15.75/night). Most are level, with some exceptions. Decent spacing between sites and many sites with lake views. There seems to be a little snack shop down in the day use/boating area.

The mustangs are the real draw here — these horses are direct descendants of the ones brought over by Cortés and they no longer exist anywhere else in the world. If you turn right out of the road to the campground, you can look for the herds (some with little foals!), though apparently there’s at least one herd that likes to hang out in the bushes between Crooked Creek and the campground entrance.

This is the big daddy of C/G's in this area. If you don't have a geezer pass there is a daily charge to enter the Park plus the overnight camping fee. Sites do NOT have electric or water. Water is available as well as a dump station. Plenty of room and beautiful scenery at each site for rigs of most sizes. This can be windy during seasonal changes. You will have for visitors and neighbors: Eagles, Ospreys, hawks, geese, ducks, coyotes, the occasional rattler and invariably a mustang or two might wander the C/G during the eveing and early morning hours.

The Canyon area has a wonderful and interesting history. The Big Horn Mtns to the east are gorgeous, but the real prize is to the west, are the Pryor Mountains named after one of Lewis & Clark's soldiers. He brought part of the Corp. back through what is now Yellowstone Park and River. The Pryor Mtns today has a wild horse range that maintains about 200 mustangs that live as they did when they first roamed here. They are a unque breed of horse of Spanish origins. Some today still show slight strippings on their legs (zebra?) and run in groups. Visit the Mustang Center at the entrance to the Park. You will learn a grest deal about these amazing creatures.