Skillman Horse Camp, Highway 20, about 13 miles east of Grass Valley, Nevada County, California

[Robert H. Sydnor]

Dear Equestrian Colleagues:

      Here is a report on Skillman Horse Camp within Tahoe National Forest.  It is located along Highway 20 in central Nevada County, California.  

   

      This horse camp is heavily used by the American Endurance Ride Conference for both conditioning rides and also each June for the "Wild West" three-day endurance ride.   The AERC Ride Manager is Robert Ribley, who is also an AERC Trail Master.  For the updated annual calendar for AERC rides throughout the West Region, please visit:   http://www.aerc.org/

      Equestrian volunteers from the Gold Country Trails Council have spent hundreds of days performing maintenance at Skillman Horse Camp and the large network of horse trails that interlink with this campground.  GCTC has built several permanent corrals for horses, and these are located on the south-central side of the camp.  You are invited to join Gold Country Trails Council, and help with other volunteers at their work-days.  It is good fellowship among equestrians, and much is accomplished.  Please visit their GCTC website at:     http://www.goldcountrytrailscouncil.org/

      Skillman Horse Camp is one of the few equestrian camps that has its own Facebook webpage.  This was created by Jaede Miloslavich, the webmaster for Gold Country Trails Council, and we thank her for this sustained effort with timely communications to the extended horse community.   http://www.Facebook.com/SkillmanHorseCamp/

      Some day-use riders will not necessarily need to camp and pay the $18 fee.   The good news is that there is a free Overlook Equestrian Staging Area about one mile west of Skillman Horse Camp along Highway 20.   It is a large and spacious gravel parking lot for horse trailers, although there are no amenities.  The last page of my report has photographs of the Overlook Equestrian Staging Area.

     Respectfully submitted, Bob Sydnor, AERC Trail Master and GCTC Member