deluxe state park. Almost close enough to walk to town, beach and tidepools and trees and grass, pretty much everything
Pretty big campground as these State Beaches go. There is another smaller campground over near the beach. There is a road straight to the beach that doesn't pass the Ranger kiosk, so you can use the beach w/o paying park fees. A mere 2.5 miles north of Fort Bragg.
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.
The only other time in my life I came through here, I thought this place looked completely inviting as I pressed on past, so here I am four years later checkin' it out!. As soon as the sun goes behind the hill it's going to be awesome for 40 minutes or so. Nothing happening here. Sedate white people with American flags and dogs. There is apparently a path to the lake since some dudes headed off with their fishing poles and came back in a couple of hours.
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.
pleasant but too close to New York. Check in was confusing and a pain. You know you're too close to civilization when there are pizza delivery numbers at the campground office.
The TVA is almost like the Army Corps, a gigantic federal agency that builds dams then tosses in a few campgrounds around for fun. This one is below the dam, right across the road from the water. It is fun to watch the barges.
a little blessing for us budget RVers, a casino right on the ocean with a parking lot dedicated to (free) RV parking. The lot is not close to level, which is annoying, but everything else is very user friendly. Can walk to the beach, or any kind of amenity you might want.
Two campgrounds in one! A nice little tent campground on a knoll jutting into the lake, and a section of the boat ramp parking lot. RVs can only go to the latter. Since I sleep in my vehicle I'm supposed to sleep in the boat lot with the big boys, but there's already a pickup camper setting up, and it turns out that this time of year with only 8-10 site taken, nobody cares..
The park is pretty cool. It's an easy walk from the campground to the little waterfall, and the boardwalk makes some quite dramatic bridges over the chasm. Yes there is a chasm! Oklahoma State Parks did a very nice job with this. And across the chasm is a frisbee golf course!
Allstays calls this Indian Memorial, an ACE campground. The signage is in the standard ACE font and color, and it just has the distinctive well-engineered style, so I am calling it ACE also. If so, then clearly it has been leased back to the tribe. It's on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Nice place!
National park campgrounds with check in are the worst. The campground is by definition huge, or else they wouldn't pay a staff to check you in. It takes forever because they have to explain the world to each and every guest and it creates a high stress level that is the opposite of what you're there for. However ... once that's over, it's a nice campground! There three different hikes to take from the valley where the campground is back up to the mesa. There are free showers, wifi and food at the check-in place, which is pretty far from the campsites.
large and pleasant, had to check in with the host
The largest of the three USFS campgrounds between Sedona and Flagstaff in Oak Creek Canyon. I think this is the least cool. Manzanita is the coolest but always full (11 sites in this giant tourist attraction0), Pine Flat is right next to this one, and looked to be the second coolest. This one's still pretty sweet though ... although I find myself worrying about evacuation routes if this dry, hot canyon was swept by a forest fire. We would all be screwed I think.
Right across the highway from the Trees of Mystery, a few miles north of Leggett. On the map it looks like it's right on the Eel River, but it's on the bluffs, quite disconnected from the river, which is a dusty, steep hike mile long hike down the hill. Full-featured family campground. Swimming pool, big play area, decent regulation basketball hoop. There's a bar and a little restaurant, a lovely shaded patio and bocce ball. Happy hour 3-6 every day!
On the lake side of 89, a little harbor and campground next to the Native American-owned resort next door. The marina is closed because of the lake level. The highway to the south curves around the campground, so you are closer to the noisy trucks and fleets of motorcycles than you would at first think - not a good thing.
odd check in: 1. pick a site, 2. drive 2 miles to the office, 3. drive back. Very nice campground and park, though.
in the heart of Lincoln City, tucked away on the northeast corner of the bridge over the teeny-weeny "D" River. Site assigned by front office guy. Sites are close together with little shielding, but everyone is mellow and into their thing, so it's cool.
Aquatic recreation paradise. swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, scubaing. You can swim or snorkel in the mouth of the spring Checkout is 3 pm.
Keyhole State Park covers quite an extensive corner of the Keyhole Reservoir, and there are 6-ish separate campgrounds. The main road is paved, but the campground roads are gravel, leading me to deduce that the bigger the loop, the more gravel dust will cover you as the diesel trucks go round and round. So I am at Arch Rock Campground, the first loop and one of the smallest. Also, no boat ramp means fewer trucks.
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.