Taking Your Horses Camping

Gibson Park likes horses. Gibson is in sleepy Hamilton County Florida. On the way to another State Park. You may want to stay here.

Most people use the park for boating. It was dedicated with horses in mind. Pretty, with a true Southern bent, the park gives visitors a chance at campfires, star filed sky. Chirping birds. Frisky squirrels. It's huge open field will support barrel racing, training, or lots of campers. It does have facilities, hookups, however, not that many.

It will give a city dweller a real taste of the outdoors, even if they are in a motor home. The park's boat ramp doubles as a power-walkway. Fishing can be excellent or good, depending... If you are out boating, be careful there are jumping fish here. Not grass carp, gulf sturgeon (see background) Kids will have fun, so will most visitors. Taking horses camping I thought was only done in real camping experiences out west.

They occur in parks also. The horses enjoy being next to your tent. The trails are good. You and your pets will enjoy Gibson Park.

Background:

The gulf sturgeon is an ancient fish first appearing in the fossil record 225 million years ago and evolving to its current form around the same time as sharks. They can live forty years. Grow 12 feet long, weigh 1200 lbs. They average 5-6 feet. The head of the gulf sturgeon consists of a long snout preceded by four sensitive tactile barbels (cat's whiskers) which sense prey.

The gulf sturgeon is anadromous and spends the major part of the year in freshwater, migrating to saltwater in the fall. Gulf sturgeon return to their natal stream to spawn. Steep banks and a hard bottom with an average water temperature of 60 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit are also characteristic of rivers where sturgeon inhabit. Sturgeon occupy the river bottom downstream of springs where they seek thermal refuge during hot summer days. Movement from the gulf and up-river movement generally occurs between February and April, while down-river movement occurs between September and November. (source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)