It pays to call the ranger! I called about spring flowers on these riverside trails (not yet he said), and as long as I was there asked about staying overnight. He said the all the other parking areas were day use only, but the one at the end of the road - Perry Riffle (cool name!) - allows it. So here I am, feeling very pleased about life.
Five sites at a boat ramp into the Snake River. A few miles upriver from the very expensive Massacre Rocks SP. Really cool little spot!
Quite a nice place, despite the $8 "registration fee". Peaceful and quiet and quite close to Bakersfield. Very pleased to be here.
shady, the camp is quiet, but there is an extremely busy highway right across the Snake River. Kind of deluxe and kind of expensive, as state parks tend to be.
Looked good on the internet, and probably is good if you're a fisherman with a boat and a huge-ass RV as big as a mobile home.
pretty far off the highway. Deluxe as BLM CGs go. North Santiam River is pleasant to swim in. Little red recycling boxes everywhere.
On the Pit River, which is a pretty good sized river for Nor Cal in a drought. There are seven campsites and a picnic area next to the river. It's almost exactly 2 steep miles of paved road from 299 to the campground. We are in a HOT spell, 111° in Redding, 100° in the shade right here at my campsite, and I am not digging it. Some of my neighbors give off an aggressive prison vibe, others are creepily too friendly. I guess there are normal neighbors also, but I haven't noticed them.
Right on the Snake River below the Oxbow Dam. On the Oregon side of the river, but run by Idaho Power. Grassy and pleasant and remote.
On the McCloud River, within hiking distance of the three waterfalls. Apparently heavily used in the swimming months, but pleasantly uncrowded tonight. The hike to Lower Falls is less than a mile and very scenic. Hike to Middle/Upper Falls is a little more than a mile. You can walk the paved road back to make it a loop if you wish.
In the redwoods where 101 narrows and winds through the big trees. Next to where Reggae On The River used to happen. The campgrounds are west of the road, the Eel River is to the east. Once you're past the kiosk and in the park, there is an underpass to connect the two. The coolest part of the campground used to be over a little bridge on the Eel River on the east side. It seems to be closed permanently, which is too bad.
Nothing here except a really pretty bend in the (Salmon) river, pretty well shielded from US 93, even though it's 30 yards away. Really pleasant overnight.
On a gentle downslope between I-84 and the railroad tracks and then the mighty Columbia River, between Hood River and The Dalles. They have a ton of tent sites (80-ish?), so I easily got a nice spot at 4 PM on Fourth of July Friday - woo! Downhill I can see the river between the trees, and hear the train when it comes through, and uphill is the constant sound of the interstate - as regular and monotonous as the Pacific surf I tell myself :)
Small roadside campground. 2-3 sites are right on the river and awesome. The rest are just sites. Pretty close to Jackson WY.
very user-friendly, downtown right across the bridge, and next to a rec complex with bike paths, tennis courts, swimming pool, etc.
Very hot here, tried to choose a site for morning shade. There is a nice trail up the river. Sunset against the mountains across the river is beautiful.
A lonely outpost of Mendocino National Forest - a little chunk of federal land next to the diversion dam. The parking lots are huge, making it seem like it was full of action back when the dam was being used create the diversionary lake. Emptying the dam a couple of decades ago was sad for the boaters of Red Bluff, but great for the salmon, who were being killed off by the salmon ladder. This beautiful campground suffers from being too close to the town of Red Bluff. The bathroom has a security code to prevent random weirdos from moving in.
Boysen State Park takes up much of the land around Boysen Reservoir and the river creating it. There are many campgrounds spaced far apart. This is the second or third on the river instead of the lake, and the last one heading towards Thermopolis, right on the edge of the Indian Reservation, where the fishing rules change. Nice shady cottonwoods to hang out under. US 20 is too close and tonight there are way too many bugs.
Owner was a right-wing lunatic, but the campsite situation was superb, right on the river. Nice laundry room with shower (costs extra!) and tv
between I-5 and the Rogue River, a very pleasant, user-friendly place. The only loops open happen to all have full hookups, but the nice folks agree that if you don't use 'em you don't pay for 'em, so it's a $15 tent site! Great hike along the river, followed by my first shower since the hot springs, so I am feeling pretty good!
Really nice place, good bargain. Quiet and natural, but close to civilization. A Loop is more open, on a point of land in a calm little estuary of the Arkansas River. B Loop is in the forest above the actual river. They have showers.
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 sixth one, about eight miles out. It is more deluxe than Drinks Canyon, it actually has a bathroom and a dumpster! Campsites here are bigger, RV sized, but equally Spartan -- a picnic table and a fire pit, that's it. But you are on the Colorado River!