All through the 90's and 00's this was my favorite getaway - old resort in the hills, a very hot pool, a just-right pool, a cold plunge, a lap pool that rocks on hot summer days, a cozy lodge, breakfast in the morning, expensive espresso drinks all day, world music dance every Tues and Thurs night. That whole vibe got vaporized in the fire. But the wonderful hot water is still coming out of the ground and the tubs (and beautiful ironwork railings) are still here! Last few visits before the cleansing fire I thought they were getting a little too taken with themselves. A Harbin parking ticket?! Give me a break. Then came the fire that consumed all the beautiful old wooden buildings. Everything that wasn't stone or metal was gone. On the way to rebuilding came COVID, now they're back!
13 miles up the Chetco River from Brookings, then 1/2 miles straight down a steep bluff to the long, wide stony gravel bed which is Miller Bar. The Chetco in front of my site is about 10 inches deep at it's deepest, but about 40' wide. The rocks are covered in bright green algae, but it's not too cold so I had a pleasant horizontal soak. Just drive along the gravel, park wherever you want, and you're home free,
Been here twice, and it was a little bit weird both times. Drive for six-ish miles up the side of the mountain, then get to a quiet campground on the point of land between a creek and a smaller creek. Both times it has seemed gloomy here. Both times I have been really happy driving back down the mountain to get out of here.
A really nice spot, a fisherman's dream I imagine. This a tailwater campground, that is to say build below the dam on the river. Most of the campsites are right on the river, so folks were fishing right out of the back of their campsites.
A remote, slightly shabby historical park with campground in the hills of Alabama. Nice folks running it. Along with the Ironworks, there's also an historical church and a baseball field.
Old, charmingly decrepit place on the Snake River south of Boise. The hot springs is basically a spring-fed indoor swimming pool. It's a nice temperature, especially after you find the 3-4 spots where the hot water comes in. There's a basketball hoop and 20-30 little beachballs floating around, so one can pass the time shooting hoops.
Small campground on a little strip of hillside between beautiful Odell Lake and busy Route 58, the through-fare between Eugene and the interior. There's a nice boat launch, fish-cleaning station, some pull-through sites - all the amenities for your grizzled old fisher-dude. Site 15 is a not quite level site facing right on the lake (down a 40' embankment). No sounds but the lapping of the waves and the wind in the trees ... and the semis on Route 58. It faces west. Sunset reflected off the lake and through the trees is spectacular. This would be a perfect place to launch a kayak.
Your two choices are tent camping and parking lot. It's a small lot, and everybody but me was running their generators till 10. Whatever is special and interesting about this park is not apparent from the road.
Three miles north of Old Station. There is a perfectly idyllic picnic area on the east side of the road and a campground on the west. The campground has no water so it's a little cheaper than Cave and Hat Creek. Even better, the big RVs don't come here, so it's more mellow - a win-win for me!
Good things about this place are that it's cheap and very close to Taos. Other than that, it's dusty, noisy, cramped and bumpy roads US 64 is way too close, so it's noisy, and after dark the headlights are annoying. It gets quiet later.
At the mouth of the John Day River. Mostly families with big boats and big RVs. Like Army Corps campgrounds in general, it's a highly controlled place. I-84 is 1/3 mile away and it is line of sight with nothing but water between it and you, so it's pretty noisy. Quite pretty though, looking right out on the bay ... between the parallel parked big rigs and all their big toys.
lovely spot in the valley beneath the cape. Lots of little hikes, and the rocky coast.
On the eastern side of the Great Smoky Valley,You could probably see it from US 50 if you knew where to look. Turns south off 50 onto 376, and almost immediately there is a turnoff to a pretty good gravel road heading straight as an arrow south into the flats. Follow that 6-ish miles, and you will find the hpt springs!
Just a parking lot. Not even a porta-pottie. No trails, no views, no nothing. But is sure was nice to be able to park there overnight!
Sites sprinkled around giant rocks. Nice little 1.7 mile loop trail. Beautiful, restful place, even when crowded.
Elevation 9,500. Weather is very gloomy, so I'm not seeing it at it's best. Site 22 is very nice, level, large, with an excellent vista looking over the wide, green valley with the busy highway on the other side. The camp host says she saw moose tracks at the next campsite!
funky little place, needs a LOT of maintenance, but their wifi was pretty good.. They have three private bathhouses: 1 - pleasantly warm, 2 - hot (> 100) 3 - very hot. (> 104) So if the one you want is in use you're outta luck until whoever's inside has had their fill. The pools seemed hotter to me - the medium seemed like 104 and the hot like 107-8 ... your mileage may vary.
Aquatic recreation paradise. swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, scubaing. You can swim or snorkel in the mouth of the spring Checkout is 3 pm.
The third campground after leaving Tioga Pass. It is a few miles and a few thousand feet elevation down, more properly thought of as up from Mono Lake than down from Yosemite. As you're angling down the canyon wall you see a road hundreds of feet down in the valley below. This campground and Big Bend Campground are here. Eventually you get to the turnoff and drive up the road almost two miles and there you are. For some reason the signage is for Bid Bend, but Aspen is the first option you get to. Shady, near the same stream as Ellery Lake, lots of happy trout fishermen, a lovely meadow at the east edge of the campground. Nice enough place, but it ain't no Tioga Lake.
Quite busy on Friday night. Lots of large, happy groups. Part of the crowd is for the observatory and the Friday night astronomy show!
talk about off the beaten path! A newly refurbished National Monument, centered around some cliff dwellings in the neighborhood.