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.
Twelve miles north of the town of Green River, on the Green River. A nice swimming beach, boat ramp, dramatic formations of the Book Cliffs in all directions.
Way overpriced and has stupid rules. The park borders the Wabash River, but the campground itself is miles from the river. There is a public swimming pool that is an additional charge on top of the camping fee.
Due west of Chico, about 12 miles on the west side of I-5 is Black Butte Lake. There are two ACE campgrounds. This one is the main one, with a nature preserve and large recreation area. Open all year, on a point of land jutting into the lake, quite scenic. This campground is closer to the lake.
Lovely spot at 7,000'-ish on the south side of a little alpine lake. On the north side is Summit Lake North Campground which costs $2/night more. It has flush toilets and sinks with running water. It has the shambling, kinda charming disorganization I associate with National Park campgrounds. Sites are not very level, but there's a lake to swim in and you're in an awesome place!
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.
Epically deluxe RV park: pool, hot tubs, beach, playgrounds. In the middle of San Diego, two miles from Pacific Beach ocean beach, four miles from Balboa Park.
right outside Ashland, dusty little hippie place near the fancy Lithia Hot Springs Resort. The pools were excellent and clean, as was the pavilion area with wifi and electrical outlets. But the rest of the place was third world and had a weird vibe.
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!
on the South Fork of the Yuba River. very crowded in August. There is an excellent, deep pool in the river right here. The river is shallow and kinda boring at the next campground west - Indian Valley. Sites 6,7,8 are the best, right on the bluff overlooking the river. Best sites: 7 and 8 are on the river, 6 is best site and most private yet convenient to the bridge.
Signage is very poor ==> hard to find. I ended up going to the river level loop with hookups and the camp host who directed me up the hill to the non-hookup sites on the bluffs. Nice big sites. There's a trail down to the swimming hole by the old dam. Very cool!
huge-ass campground on ever-diminishing Eagle Lake. Full of giant RVs with hookups and run by a concessionaire, so it is much more bureaucratic and rule-bound that most. Site 159 is pretty sweet, unobstructed lake view (150 yds away), open, but the tall pine behind (south of) me give it pretty good afternoon shade.
real nice find! Crab Orchard is a pretty big place, with four campgrounds. The other campgrounds have full hookups for the big boys and cost more. But E Loop is the oldest and has become the bastard stepchild in the corner. Electric only inside the loop, no hookups outside. Its bathroom is kinda gross, but hey, $5 for overnight and a shower ain't bad.
pretty far off the highway. Deluxe as BLM CGs go. North Santiam River is pleasant to swim in. Little red recycling boxes everywhere.
Funky place on the Russian River, more lo-budget than its fancy neighbors. We got a lovely site surrounded by redwoods, 40 yards from the river.
busy but pretty quiet, very scenic. nature trail. a short hike past the swimming pond to a great sunset over non-swimming Sardine Lake, shining off the Sierra Buttes to the left.
On Strom Thurmond Lake, god help me. According to the map I am on the Georgia side of the lake, South Carolina ten miles away. There are a number of ACE campgrounds on the lake. All except this one closed at the end of September.
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,
At the Rainbow Road exit off I-80. On the South Yuba River. Super nice place, even if the freeway is 200 yards away. If you're familiar with the Bay Area to Reno run on I-80, there's a place where it crosses some beautiful rapids. This is about ½ mile downstream from that.
Nice place. Expensive, but nice. Only about 4 miles from the sports bar where I spent the afternoon. Both Dakotas do this trick where the campsite is $22, but non-residents must also pay the $6 entrance fee. I don't like it. The Swimming Beach is really nice. A huge area to swim in, shallow to enough to stand up 50' out.
On Lake Mendicino, a little closer to 101 than Bushay Campground where I've gone before. Kyen is much more accessible, no three mile, 9-speed bump access road, but it's also much noisier and busier. Tonight I just want to park and crash, so it's working for me. It's in a manzanita scrub forest that's very, very pretty. The shower has the insanely heavy flow you expect at a reservoir campground, but in an historic drought, maybe a little too much. I again protest the arcane self-pay procedure by not doing it, and again I escape unscathed. I have a pleasant night and leave!