Kennedy Meadow USFS Horse Campground near Sonora Pass, Highway 108, Stanislaus National Forest

[Robert H. Sydnor]

Dear Equestrian Colleagues:

         Attached is a 4-page report on the Kennedy Meadow Horse Campground that is owned and operated by Stanislaus National Forest.  This is along U.S. Highway 108, and near to Sonora Pass at the crest of the Sierra Nevada Range.  This horse campground and pack station is favored because trails connect to the Pacific Crest Trail.  There are pipe corrals for horses, horse water, an outhouse, and bulletin boards.  Bring your own baled hay for horses and your own firewood.   Backcountry Horsemen of California use this pack station to bring supplies by mules to crews working on the Pacific Crest Trail.   Endurance riders of the American Endurance Ride Conference will enjoy this horse camp for high-altitude training.  Elevations along the trails vary from 6,330 feet to over 9,000 feet.

        Before you go, download your own (free) copies of these three USGS topographic quadrangles:   Sonora Pass, Emigrant Lake, and Dardanelle.  These 3 topographic maps has horse trails marked on them.  These are huge digital files, so regretfully, I cannot post them here on Google Groups for Horse Trails.  You can also obtain the US Forest Service map of Stanislaus National Forest by stopping in at the Summit Ranger District Ranger Station, located on Highway 108, in the village of Pinecrest.  The phone number for the Summit District Ranger Station is   209-965-3434.

        This U.S. Forest Service horse campground is not to be confused with the private Kennedy Meadow Resort, which is on private land about one mile distant.  Kennedy Meadow Resort has vacation cabins for rent, a general store, a restaurant, and most importantly,  there are rental horse stables with guided trail rides.  (There will be a separate report on Kennedy Meadow Resort.)

Respectfully submitted, Robert Hadley Sydnor

              AERC Trail Master,   and member of Backcountry Horsemen of California, Mother Lode Unit