Cyrus Horse Camp

And now for the third installment of the drive we took the other day to the Haystack Reservoir.

When we saw the sign on the road pointing to "Cyrus Horse Camp" I wanted to take a peek.

I was pleasantly surprised because the main area is very high desert; barren with a few scrubby juniper trees and sagebrush. As we got closer we could see bigger trees and an actual spot of green in the desert.

There are three trails of varying distances and difficulties.

There are several campsites, each with a picnic table and fire pit, and 3 to 5 horse pens at each site.

The horse camp was built on the old Cyrus Family Homestead.  There is still an apple orchard there.

I'm not sure what this structure is/was. Perhaps a cistern or well at one time? Maybe part of a silo? The bottom is level with the ground and cemented over. You can see the orchard in the back.

The orchard is fenced in but there is a tie rail to tie your horse and stile so you can go into the orchard.

Another view of the orchard.

In one corner of the grounds is a fenced off water tank fed by a spring.  According to literature the spring may or may not be working.  (Not potable.) It was full and working at our visit.

Here are some of the pens (and views!).

There's the Haystack Reservoir in the distance.

And finally just down the road a bit from the actual camp is more of the orchard, along with a sign (Cyrus Orchard).

It looks like a nice place where I'd like to go for a ride some time. At the time of our visit there were no other people, which is nice. It's not far from our house and the best part is IT'S FREE!!