non-descript but sort of pretty, nice manager, overpriced
The hot springs is a completely separate business from the campground. $7 for seniors off season, $1 to re-enter - cheapskates. After the fine example of Lava Hot Springs, which was excellent in every way, this place is disappointing. The single soaking pool is quite nice however - slightly sulphur-y water in a row of hot jets on the side.
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.
The springs at Grover gurgle out of the hillside into a beautiful U-shaped alpine meadow. So it should be a groovy, enchanted place, but sadly it is managed by the State Parks system, who do their darnedest to make it prosaic and institutional. The pools are a couple of rectangular concrete tubs - a big one with lukewarm water, and a shallow (3 feet) one, maybe 40x20 which they keep at a pleasantly toasty 104°. You can look over the fence on the uphill side and see the water burble out of the ground and down a sluice to you. There are showers and cubbyholes to store your stuff. There is a campground, which I have never used since it's CA State Parks expensive and there is boondocking three miles down the road.
on a lovely little aspen-lined creek a few miles above Bishop. You can go even farther up either road and come to a lake, but this is a nice compromise, in the valley below the fork in the road. Save a few miles of driving straight up. Behind a big-ass moraine which cuts the valley in two. It's open and very pretty, with the annoying corporate management that most (all?) of the Inyo Forest campgrounds have.
10 site campground on the quiet side of Cascade Lake. 6 miles from the main road (55), which is a feature rather than a drawback once you get here! Site 7 is the bomb!
5 miles outta town on a good road. Panoramic view of many miles between the trees, closed-in feel in the scrub oaks, sketchy, kinda creepy campground host.
central Florida, savannah-like, nice big campground
expensive but deluxe, with hookups. very nice hike over to the wildlife preserve, near downtown
Nice clean bathroom, no shower, near 101 but quiet, 20 yards out of the campground you're in the sand dunes
A simple loop campground on an east-facing hillside above Frenchman's Lake. I like the inside of the upper loop with my living room facing the lake. It's quiet and pretty and the sun is on the other side of the van. Eight very scenic miles north of Chillcoot. For much of the drive the beautiful Sierra Valley spreads out to your left. Then you enter the canyon of Last Chance Creek, the outflow of the lake. Hundred foot lava cliffs, dramatic formations. Then boom! you're at the dam. The other two lakeside campgrounds have flush toilets. Maybe they are more deluxe?
talk about off the beaten path! A newly refurbished National Monument, centered around some cliff dwellings in the neighborhood.
Bike one way to a lovely lagoon, walk the other way to to beach, nice sites high on the bluffs. A really nice campground.
On a hill, some sites have a great sunset view. New and very well laid out
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!
Really pleasant little park south of the Missouri, on a plain that used to be a Missouri Indian settlement. Deluxe shower building, well-maintained nature trails, nice picnic area, what's not to like?
Small roadside campground. 2-3 sites are right on the river and awesome. The rest are just sites. Pretty close to Jackson WY.
On Lake Mendocino, off SR 20 a few miles east of 101. Annoying access road with 6 or ten speed bumps, but a very pleasant place once you've been assigned your spot by the check-in. Nice, free showers! The bathroom lights are quite bright, so a spot that looks nice in the afternoon might be kind of annoying at night.
handy on the way to San Diego, kinda pretty between the road and a cow pasture, not much going on...