Riley Horse Campground
4Heads up4 fires, nearest 19 mi
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $18.55From, per site
- Sites
- 1413 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Riley Campground is an equestrian facility located northwest of Oregon's majestic Mt. Hood. Horse corrals are tucked into the forest near the campsites, and several horseback riding trails can be accessed from the campground. A variety of recreational and sightseeing opportunities are available for visitors to enjoy. Keep reading
Recreation
Several hiking, biking and horseback riding trails can be accessed from the campground, including the 5.3-mile Cast Creek Trail, which was reconstructed in 1998 and leads from the campground to the Zigzag Mountain Trail. Combined with the nearby 4.9-mile Horseshoe Ridge Trail and part of the Zigzag Mountain Trail, visitors can make a nearly 14-mile excursion. The Sandy River Trail follows the river and stretches about 3 miles. Fishing is available in nearby Lost Creek, as well as the Sandy River, which is not far from the campground. Anglers can expect a variety of trout, salmon and whitefish. The rivers are popular for fly fishing. Scenic drives and picnicking are also popular activities.
Facilities
The campground offers single-family equestrian campsites. Most of the sites are equipped with horse corrals or cross rail hitching posts, tables and campfire rings with grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Horse owners are responsible for cleaning up after their horses. The campsites are intended for equestrians, but may be used by others. McNeil Campground (1/4 mile away) and Lost Creek (1 �½ miles away) are good alternative sites for those without horses. McNeil does not accept reservations. Horse corrals or hitching racks are provided at the sites.
Natural Features
The campground is situated in the Old Maid Flat geologic area of Mt. Hood National Forest at an elevation of about 2,100 feet. It sits alongside Lost Creek and is near the Sandy Wild and Scenic River. A variety of wildlife makes its home in the area. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (503) 622-3191.
Nearby Attractions
A deviation from the road coming into the campground (Forest Road 1825), will lead to a trailhead for spectacular Ramona Falls, on the Sandy River. The 7.1-mile, moderately difficult trail leads to cascading waterfalls and is one of the most popular hikes in Mt. Hood National Forest.
What the agency tells you
Off-road vehicle use is prohibited within the campground
In accordance with standard industry practices, Mount Hood Recreation will be assessing an additional vehicle fee on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered as one vehicle for determining additional vehicle fees. The third and fourth motorcycle would also be considered as one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles.
Click here for more information on the Mt. Hood National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).
Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 14 · 13 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…campfire rings with grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Horse owners are…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Horse owners are responsible for…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, River, Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Visitor center
- Night sky · 733rd darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 4
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 13 of the 14 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $18.55 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
14 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 14 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 13 of the 14 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA RILEY | 001 | equestrian nonelectric | 35 ft | 130 ft | 192 ft | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 002 | equestrian nonelectric | $18.55 | |||
| AREA RILEY | 003 | equestrian nonelectric | $18.55 | |||
| AREA RILEY | 004 | equestrian nonelectric | 35 ft | 194 ft | 305 ft | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 005 | equestrian nonelectric | 35 ft | 127 ft | 430 ft | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 006 | equestrian nonelectric | 20 ft | 61 ft | 499 ft | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 007 | equestrian nonelectric | 35 ft | 61 ft | 543 ftCast Creek | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 008 | equestrian nonelectric | 35 ft | 91 ft | 573 ft | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 009 | equestrian nonelectric | $18.55 | |||
| AREA RILEY | 010 | equestrian nonelectric | 26 ft | 91 ft | 574 ftCast Creek | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 011 | equestrian nonelectric | 26 ft | 108 ft | 356 ft | $18.55 |
| AREA RILEY | 012 | equestrian nonelectric | 70 ft | 327 ft | $18.55 | |
| AREA RILEY | 013 | type not stated | ||||
| AREA RILEY | 014 | equestrian nonelectric | 70 ft | 319 ft | $18.55 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Lost CreekMt. Hood National Forest · 1.2 miLost Creek Campground/Day Use AreaMt. Hood National Forest · 1.2 miTollgate Campground & Day Use AreaMt. Hood National Forest · 4.7 mi
TollgateMt. Hood National Forest · 4.7 mi
Camp CreekMt. Hood National Forest · 5.4 mi
Wildwood Recreation SiteNw Oregon Cascades Field Office · 6.4 miFrom Sandy, travel Highway 26 for 18 miles to Zigzag. Turn north onto Lolo Pass Road. Continue for about 4 miles, then turn right on Forest Road 1825 and continue for less than a mile. Bear right, staying on Forest Road 1825, and cross the Sandy River Bridge. Continue for another half-mile, to Forest Roads 1825-382. Turn right, cross Lost Creek Bridge, and the campground will be almost immediately on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Mount Hood Villages, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 36°F, day 60°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 27°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Riley Horse Campground is in Oregon’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Maxine Dexter (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →