We took an eight-day tour through Northern California and this was our first leg. Tent-camped three nights.

Trees help add privacy and make you feel like you’re not as close to your neighbor as you are. Campground was very quiet, even during the day, although we were there during the week, so I’m sure that helped. Stars were beautiful at night. Despite the blazing temps in other parts of the park we were always comfortable here, and even chilly at night! Bear box huge and all site amenities were in good shape. Couple bits of trash and a water bottle unfortunately littered about our spot.

We did have about a dozen anthills spread throughout our site, but were able to pitch our tents a bit away from them. Never had them bother us. We also saw yellow jacket traps in the trees, and they did their job well. Hardly any mosquitos.

Bathrooms mostly okay, except the last morning—strips of TP everywhere, 2/3 stalls not really clean enough to sit on, but I think that was more an issue of guest misuse than camp staff negligence. No dryers or paper towels, but there was soap. Nice dish-washing closet. Showers were hot and had good pressure, but one was broken and the shower head actually fell on one of us! They are no longer coin-op; you pay a $5 use fee at the camp store for the duration of your stay and receive a code to get into the shower room for when it’s locked at night. Otherwise it’s wide open (and I do mean wide—the ladies door is right next to the store entrance so make sure you do all your dressing/undressing behind your stall curtain, though there is a makeshift wall outside the door to help shield the room).

Camp store was a nice place to refill water bottles on our way out in the mornings as we never did find a water spigot near our site. They offer a smattering of groceries (eggs, premade sandwiches, drinks) and have a little cafe, some souvenirs and camp supplies. They ran out of wood our first day there and didn’t know when it would be resupplied (it never was while we were there) but directed us to a place 20 min away where we were able to get plenty. Store folks knowledgeable and friendly. Tiny gas pump out back very convenient and actually decently-priced.

There are a few hikes in the area but most of the main attractions are closer to Summit Lake campgrounds, however they don’t have all the amenities Manzanita does.