Best Campgrounds near Lathrop, CA

Midweek in June the park, which is fairly large, is still nearly empty. The sites are fairly close to each other, which matters because one of the other campers is right next to mine (46) and doesn't understand basic camp etiquettes like not using generators all night or letting their dog wonder through other sites and the bathroom areas off-leash. Still the campsites all have decent views–though best ones abut the lake on the map. They look close to the lake on the map but they are actually way up high above it. There are trails running throughout the park and around the lake that are a mix of wider open trails and narrower, through the woods, but groomed trails with plenty of up and down to make for a good hike.

Lots of birds and wildlife–beware says the sign...all the signs, but I mostly only saw turkeys and a few water birds. Because the camp was empty, I moved over to site 56 when it was clear my neighbor was a camp d-bag. It was a pull through with a downhill slope in the site but not in the drive. The views and solitude over here were great with the setting sun through the trees, and the knowledge that the Bay in the distance.

There were a few other weird vibes in the park, namely some e-bikers charging up phones at the bathroom drinking 40s and smoking joints, while watching very loud sitcoms on the charging phones. They seemed mostly harmless, and were gone well before dark.

The warm waters* of Lake Chabot was beautiful and tempting as a siren, but don't touch it, or let your dog touch it, unless you want to get mutated like the Ninja Turtles...

Actually, that is a bad example. That would be awesome. The water will make you sick or your (or your pets) skin break out in a real not fun way. It is toxic. It will not make you a Ninja Turtle.

The showers were great. Hot and FREE!

Finally, this is a well-kept park with proactive rangers only limited by their working hours, and despite it being quite accessible to Oakland, the park felt like camping in the wilderness, even though I could hear cheers echoing through the canyon from a graduation somewhere below.

The road in is fairly winding with a bit of a drop down the cliff. If you're heading in at dusk or dawn, go slow. You will see deer stepping through the road.

*I don't know if it was warm. I didn't touch it.

A half-mile off of I-5, far enough to dampen the interstate roar, and separated by a dike from the San Joaquin River.  Not a lot to do in the surrounding area, no obvious hiking trails, for example, although some fishing seems to have been possible. A small loop of 20+ sites, all (it appeared) with full-hookups.  We had a back-in site with no trouble for a 17' trailer. Small oddities (a site or two with what looked like permanent residents, showers with limited hours in the morning and evening, unclear signage on how and where to register), but a classic municipal/county park campground, that was a quiet and welcome alternative to commercial camps.