Manzanita Campground - Tuttletown Rec Area - New Melones Lake

Area was very clean, lots of hiking options and access to the lake for fishing and swimming. My only issues were that the site was pretty small- we managed to squeeze a 4 person tent and a 2 person tent but anything larger wouldn't fit unless I wanted to be on a decent slope. The lake was also extremely low but thats not really anyone's fault. No hammocks allowed so if thats your sleeping method you'll want to bring a tent.

We camped out for 2 nights in spot 96 in the height of summer and just before all the fires started. New Melones was not a top destination but it was close to a very special place for us, Natural Bridges. Also, at the time of booking it was one of the few campgrounds accepting new reservations in this age of COVID. We selected spot 96 as it was the furthest from any other spot (situated on a bend and the only site on that part of the road for a while). It was something like 107 when we were setting up the tent and most of the day time but on the lake itself, the temperature was perfect. One thing to be aware of, most of the drive in camp sites, including ours, had absolutely no shade (including nowhere to hang a hammock).

The Good:

• The view was amazing
• The tent spot was level and clear of big rocks
• All the campers abided by quiet time
• It was so dark that I was able to do some great astrophotography
• The location was a great step off point for adventure in Gold Country

The Bad:

• The last campers in our spot left garbage everywhere. We filled up a large garbage bag before we could setup camp.
• Some bathrooms were closed but port-o-potties were there instead (as if somehow that is more clean???)
• The bathrooms that were open were disgusting
• No camp host onsite while we were there

We don’t have a boat but the boat launch was pretty busy all day and the day use spots were packed.

All in all, Tuttletown wouldn’t be our first choice but we would go back - probably later in the season since we aren’t there for boating.

I was debating on 3 or 4 stars. Showing up in 107 heat and wanting to set up a tent but having to clean up that much garbage was a huge turn off and having bathrooms closed with no notice was also a disappointment. I know these things aren’t normal but more notice on facilities and finding ways to get this cleaned up first would be a start.

not bad a little warm most of the time.