Best Cabin Camping near Carlotta, CA

Henson's Hideaway is located between Weaverville, CA and Trinity Center, CA, along Highway 3 on the west side of Trinity Lake. It is centrally located to a number of the Trinity Alps trails, as well as boat access to the lake. Also, it is an easy drive to get food, supplies, beer, etc in either town. The road is plowed year round and the cabin is only a few minutes off of Highway 3.

Cabin Review: Henson's Hideaway is bookable on VRBO https://www.vrbo.com/300244) and Michelle is very easy to deal with, and very accommodating. Prices vary depending on the time of year and holiday weekends, so check with the listing page linked above for up to date info. The cabin itself is fantastic. There is a large deck downstairs that opens into a garage that has been converted into a bonus room with TV/Satellite, a pool table, extra full bathroom, and additional sleeping areas. The pool table was a fantastic unexpected bonus for a cabin in the woods. Upstairs is a very comfortable main living area with a bathroom, bedroom, full kitchen, dining/living room and a deck outside with seating for at least 4 adults. It was a very comfortable cabin with plenty of creature comforts, the kitchen was well stocked with cooking/cleaning/silverware etc. It was plenty of room for two couples, two toddlers, and two labs. The only downside was that it doesn't have a bbq. They don't keep one around because it attracts mountain critters, but people are allowed to bring their own if they would like. As always though, check with the owners for the latest info. I have posted a few pictures I took, there are more at the link above.

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At the Henson's Hideaway, I tested the Renogy ELumen Multi-funtionial Flashlight (https://www.renogy.com/renogy-e-lumen-multi-functional-flashlight/.)

The flashlight comes equipped with a flashlight (obviously) with three settings (high, low, strobe), a recessed seatbelt cutter, a glass shattering hammer, a compass embedded in the butt of the grip, a solar charging panel built into the flashlight handle (here is where you can insert the old joke about solar powered flashlights, but it does work thanks to a built in lithium ion battery), LED side lighting (both red and white lights, including a strobe function), a magnet for mounting/storage and USB input/output to charge the flashlight or charge electronic devices off the flashlight's battery. Enough of the specs, on to the review. This flashlight rocks. It is plenty light for nighttime wandering around a camp/cabin. The LED side lighting is great for illuminating a small space without blinding anyone, similar to a lantern, the red strobe LED side lighting is great for roadside emergencies or to use as a beacon. I haven't had to test the glass shattering hammer or seatbelt cutter, knock on wood, but they both look like they will do the trick, and the flashlight is living in the center console of my truck for just such emergencies. It charges quickly via USB and seemed to charge quickly enough from a fully dead battery to work fine, I just set it on the dash of my truck while I drove to the cabin and when we got there it worked all weekend. The only downside is the compass, I have tested it a few different times and places and it is always a few degrees off from my other compass and the one on my smart phone. Close enough to be useful in general, but I wouldn't trust it trying to route-find.

Henson's Hideaway receives 5 stars and the Renogy Flashlight receives 4 1/2 stars due to the minor issue with the compass. Overall it is a fantastic item that is light enough to backpack with, especially given the multi functionality of the product. I highly recommend car campers and backpackers alike get one for their travels, especially given the very reasonable price of $25.

This State Park is awesome to experience camping in the dense redwoods. They have flush toilets and showers available which were nice and well maintained. We went in the beginning of May and the mosquitos were out in abundance. The young lady manning the entrance kiosk was very nice and allowed us to check out the sites in advance of deciding whether to stay or not. Each site had a fire pit, picnic table and bear cabinet. No reservations were required and was first come first served on a wednesday afternoon in May. We stayed only one night and was worth the $35. Very nice park.

Gorgeous campground in the Redwoods. We have stayed here twice. Once in March and once in July. The shade from the redwoods makes this a cool haven from the hot California summers. Campsites are mostly shaded. Campsites are large with good fire pits and picnic tables. Lots of redwood stumps for the kids to play on. If you plan to hang your hammock, bring extra rope as the trees are SO BIG that regular hammock ropes won't reach around the trees. Spent several afternoons reading in the shade of the redwoods in our hammock with a blanket on top of us. Even the 13-year-old boy fell asleep reading in the hammock. Short walk to a beautiful swimming hole when the sun warmed things up in the afternoon. The closest store is okay for snacks and essentials but not much else. No real restaurants nearby. Be sure to have your cooler fully packed and bring your meals with you. Clean restrooms with coin operated hot showers. Water spigots close by to campsites.

 I was so excited to be camping here. I wanted a campsite in Trinidad which would be central to all I wanted to do in the Redwoods. This campground seemed to check all my boxes, plus: CAMPING BY REDWOOD TREES!!! This was the clincher for me. There are a lot of redwood trees in the campground& in the sites.

 My husband wanted to give one star. I'm giving three. It wasn't completely awful. First, divide the campground in two. The Hwy 101 side& the Patrick Point Road side. You don't want the Hwy 101 side. It's noisy. VERY noisy. PPR side is the better bet. There's traffic noise, but not as bad. There's a rustic charm about the campground. It's obviously an established place, but I couldn't find out how old it was. Lots of annoying signs posted all over the place about quiet hours, check out time, speed limit, ect. They sell propane& there's a dump station. They have a camp store/gift shop at the office. The beach is very close, but there's no view of the ocean at this campground. This is one of the few places we camped at that we were allowed to have a campfire. 

The worst thing about the campsites on both sides is how close they are- VERY VERY close& narrow. Sites 2-11 are very tight. We had campsite 9. It would have been acceptable if we weren't camped next to site 10, which is the trashiest campsite I've parked next to. Ever. There were a couple of sheds, wooden pallets for a privacy fence& junk everywhere. Obviously a permanent site. The trailer has been there a LOOONG time. We were there for four nights. It sucked. Best site in the campground is site 20, which is a pull through. Don't get site 9 or 11. Sites 14-17 are right on top of the bathrooms& there's foot traffic there all the time. Also not very attractive& right on top of each other. If you rent a cabin, ask not to get Q. Right on top of the bathrooms. Lots of foot traffic. 

If I had a tent site I'd be in heaven. The tent sites are in a redwood setting. Very rustic& nice. Also spacious. There's cabins also that looked nice. 

There's one bath house in the 101 side. Men& women. The women's side had 3 sinks, 1 out of order. 3 toilets all working. 3 showers, 1 out of order. There's a group of three unisex bathroom/shower combos by the PPD side. All working. It looked clean, but my husband accidently dropped his towel on the floor& I had to wash it. Very dirty.

 Laundry had all machines working.

 It looked like most reviewers liked this place a lot. I think it had some charm, but didn't like how close the RV sites were. 

If you're there for a night or two it would probably be ok.

We stayed here one night last year. We’d hoped to stay at Patrick’s Point State Park, but it was full. The woman who set us up with a tent site here was super friendly and helpful. She offered advice for where to eat in the area and points of interest.

My daughters and I checked out the Bay Area and hiked the Trinidad Head. It was a beautiful afternoon. We had dinner at the Trinidad Bay Eatery and Gallery which was nice with a friendly server and good American fare.

After we returned we looked at the little arcade area in the cabins area. It reminded me in a nostalgic way of the arcade area in the 80’s movie Starfighter. Very fun.

Although it wasn’t quite dark yet when we headed back to our site, it was VERY dark in the back area with the tent sites fue to heavy tree cover. Finding our spot was difficult in the dark. The path is winding and doesn’t exactly match the campground map and the ground was very uneven. I was glad we have four wheel drive.

The campsite was also very uneven and had a steep drop off to a creek bed on the side. Luckily we’d planned to car camp and only had to fold down the sleeping area in our vehicle. I can’t imagine trying to set up a tent on that site in the pitch blackness. I’m not sure that the site had any amenities like a picnic table or water or a fire ring. I couldn’t see anything!

Overall I’d stay here again, but I’d get there way before dark and set up camp first before adventuring in the area. I love the Trinidad/Eureka area. There’s lots to do and see. I gave the three stars because the tent site area ground is so uneven and so unlit.

We stopped here as it was one of the only places near Trinidad. It was your typical state park camp ground with nearby bathrooms, fire pit, picnic table, and water. One thing to note is that there wasn’t a grey water disposal area. There are several campgrounds and we stayed at the Agate Beach one which had nice trail down to the beach.

The area was very quiet and dark. The pull-in we were at had a nice spot for tent camping. We showed up last minute and there were several spaces available. There is a placard that shows which spaces are available and you can flip it once you park. We picked a spot, flipped the card, and went to go pay at the kiosk. $35/night and cash/check only. I wish I would’ve knew this coming from Oregon.

It was an ok typical state park but I probably won’t stay here again if I had other options.

[ PROS]

• Super lush and foresty campground right by the Pacific Ocean. There is so much to see all around the campgrounds. You can go for a hike and the Rim Trail which perimeters the park, you can go down to the beach and hunt for agates, explore tidepools, look at birds and other wildlife, and go to the visitor center.

• Each site came with a picnic table, bear box, fire ring, and two parking spots.

• Sites were surprisingly large! We stayed at Site#99 and it was super spacious. It even had a hidden area that was under large trees that was perfect for setting up tents.

• I love how the sites were also very private. Each site seemed to be carved out of the brush so you’re just enclosed in trees and bushes. Everything was so green!

• The restrooms were really clean. Site#99 was a little far from the showers, but we had nice toilets right by us.

• VIEWS VIEWS VIEWS! My gosh. We stated at Agate Campground (1 of 3 campgrounds at this park) and it was really close to the beach access. We did the Rim Trail hike and it was unbelievable.

[CONS]

• NONE! Perfect campground:)

Overall, I would come back here in a heartbeat! I know we came during off season so the campground wasn’t as full, but i’d imagine when this place is fully booked it would still be very tranquil and peaceful. Each site was like a little oasis removed from everyone else.