Heading north out of Moab, take a left before the Colorado River and head upstream. There are a string of BLM campgrounds along the river. This is the third one, about six miles out. It is three sections, the pay station is in the middle. A campsite consists of a picnic table and a fire pit close to a busy road, that's it. But you are on the Colorado River!
This is where you camp when Island in the Sky is full ... which it always it. The method is to stop here on the way in, nail down a site then continue on another 20-odd miles to the Grand viewpoint ... then come back.
What a cool discovery! You leave Route 160 just a little north of the bridge that takes you to Pittsburg/ Antioch and take a bumpy little road along the edge of Sherman Island. The road follows the southern side of the Sacramento River to the tip of the island, where there is a nice county park for the windsurfers. It's roughly where the Sac River meets the San Joaquin River, and it is a great windsurfing spot.
mostly fisherman, got a great spot at the dead end right by the lake, a few miles from Terwilliger Hot Springs
There are two separate campgrounds, Windy Cove A and B. A is the closer to civilization. B has two loops, one of those loops is no-hookups, my loop! Very nice showers, well-mowed, easy walk to the marina, and such stores and restaurants as there are in Winchester Bay. I covered the town from one end to the other then ended up at the local bar for two beers. Checkout time is 11AM, which just isn't right! I have dawdled till nearly noon and no one has hassled me.
Here three days, for a Labor Day party with friends. Sites 7 and 9 are the PERFECT sites, roomy and shaded, and adjoining the lake. Everybody else has to walk around the edges of us to get to the lake. Pretty excellent place to hang out for the three day weekend. The only drag for me is that $25 is pretty steep for little ole me to hang out in the van. For me and six of my friends, whole different story!
quiet, except for the crows. Arrived at 3-ish on Thursday, plenty of sites. Right next to the dunes, the cool thing to do here is head due west into the dunes. The idea of walking to the beach is very appealing, but a steep hill and two miles of dunes is a lot of sand to slog through.
The Curecanti National Recreation Area is a huge place comprising most of the boundary of three reservoirs and then a few miles of the downstream river. There are many campgrounds, most are large, RV-friendly affairs out in the open next to the reservoir. This one is small and on the other side of the road up a little canyon ... er ... gulch. In the cottonwoods, very quiet and pleasant.
talk about off the beaten path! A newly refurbished National Monument, centered around some cliff dwellings in the neighborhood.
A mile or so north of Cave Campground is a gravel road (called Wander Lane on the Google map) and a bridge over Hat Creek. If you follow that road you will see a couple of good campsites.
Quite a nice place, despite the $8 "registration fee". Peaceful and quiet and quite close to Bakersfield. Very pleased to be here.
Only thing going between Lone Pine and Death Valley. It looked a lot more alluring when driving past than it does now that I'm staying here. Maybe when I get a beer and hang out on the veranda I'll like it better. It does have showers! Register at the gas station, not the restaurant as you might expect.
expensive but deluxe, with hookups. very nice hike over to the wildlife preserve, near downtown
very remote, no camping nearby, not like the NWRs I'm used to. Lotta driving to individual cool little habitats tucked away, one big pond and a couple of really beautiful cold springs.
One of two large campgrounds on the north side of New Melones Lake. This side of the lake is apparently the poor relation, because they've locked the bathrooms for the season. One must drive 20 minutes back to Tuttletown for the advertised shower facility.
California state park campgrounds are too expensive. If you're paying for beachfront that's one thing, but parking my van on a level spot in the woods with a bathroom for $35 does not work for me. The fine young man at the entrance kiosk told me that a couple of miles back on National Forest land, the signs saying "Camping 14 days max" also signify "OK to camp here tonight". So that's what I did.
Very cool state park a little south of Fort Bragg. There's a waterfall two miles up the canyon, something called Devils Punchbowl on the rocky shore, and lots of other hikes in between.
Except for a couple of "view lots" - sites 1 and 2 - the rest of the sites are in a compact bunch, nestled in a little canyon. Right across the road from Gull Lake.
In the style of Inyo Forest campgrounds(*), this one is hard to find(**) and kind of shabby and rough, but it's in a really beautiful location. This one is on Lee Vining Creek, in the aspen/pine forest on top of the glacial till. It's the first campground on CA 120 west of Mono Lake heading up to spectacular Tioga Pass. It's pretty cool. It's very popular with fishermen. (*) Except the Inyo campgrounds around June Lake/Mammoth. They are run by a concessionare. They are a little nicer, cost twice as much, and have three times as many rules. (**) There is an arrow for "camping", but you must turn off the road to see the "Lower Lee Vining" sign.
just a parking lot, but they left me alone. Turns out where I parked was the employee parking area, so about 7AM I was surrounded by groggy 20-somethings on all three sides, going to work at the lodge.
My friend Jeff lives and works in Reno until Memorial Day, then he commutes to Chester every weekend to run his fruit stand / pie shop / ice creamery / burrito place. It's really fun to hang out here.