Nicolaus is an ideal place for camping adventures of all kinds. Aside from great camping spots, you'll find hiking and many more outdoor experiences. Thinking of traveling with kids? You're in luck—Nicolaus is surrounded by family-friendly activities. Find the best campgrounds near Nicolaus, CA. Read reviews from campers like you and find your perfect campsite.
"Thousand Trails Lake Minden
Tiny Park, Giant Heart
We spent three weeks at Lake Minden and, to be honest, judged it too quickly."
"This is a Thousand trails camp ground. Its has a small (very small) lake. Good fishing for fun."
$52 - $100 / night
"We have everything we need here; FHU, laundry, clean showers and bathrooms, great dog park, friendly staff. They pick up trash. Sites are pull- through, gravel and fairly **level. **"
"The amenities are pretty great, lovely pool, petting zoo and my favorite the fenced dog park. Oh and they have a dog wash with leash clip!!!"
"Shaded grassy sites along the banks of Dry Creek (which was full of water when we visited) just above its confluence with the Yuba River."
"We are here in the off season, so there weren't many other campers here. I think in high season it would feel cramped. The trees are amazing and there are about 2 miles of walking trails."
$50 - $1000 / night
"Great Bike paths adjacent along the river into Downtown or up to Folsom. All Full hook up sites on gravel or asphalt, daily, weekly, monthly rates."
"Came here for a convention at Cal Expo, very convenient. While here there were incidents of someone (homeless?)"
"I love camping where you are at a place where you can get shower and electric"
$75 - $107 / night
"I like the place pros would be doing just water and electric hook up so your away from the croud,clean and quiet, great wifi, cons next to freeway, expensive,no firepit but have a communal fire pit,but"
"Mini train ride around park, great playground, mini golf, showed movie and a lot more awesomeness. Was not cheap but kept the kids entertained. Will be going back."
"Tons of beautiful, shady spots overlooking or near the Sacramento river. Very Breezy and well maintained park with good prices for electrical and water hookup and a dump station."
"Everything you need to “get away” is here and big city amenities a short drive away."
"It’s great for kids that want to ride bikes around the sites- but be careful of the river, it’s swift."
"Once I figured out the sites I had people move their cars so we could back in…. Lucky us we get next to a resident that lives there and is so rude!"
"It’s definitely a place I’ll put on my list to camp at again, especially when they figure out their electrical issues."
"Clean and Rustic. WiFi is very very limited- drive to top of hill or lodge( very sporadic) Great Lake for swimming, fishing and small boats. Store on site. Clean swimming pool. Ideal for Tent or RV."
$65 / night
"Lots of trees for shade and a nice swimming pool to cool yourself. The sites are a nice size. This is an older park in a location close to shopping."
"Quiet park and clean. There is a train track across the way but not a bother with the horn twice a day. If it was closer it would be "My Cousin Vinny"."
ScoutWe have everything we need here; FHU, laundry, clean showers and bathrooms, great dog park, friendly staff. They pick up trash. Sites are pull- through, gravel and fairly level. Sites are close, but it wasn’t too crowded while we were here.
LegendWe are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were in site 61, a“Premium” Pull-through site, for 3 days in early October, while visiting family in the area. This is probably the most critical review of a CG that we have posted in the 2 years we’ve be full-timing and for$76/night(with discount), I would expect much, much more from a CG. The staff at checkin were very friendly, but we didn’t see anyone patrolling the CG while we were there. It was fairly quiet when we arrived during the week, but got a little raucous on the weekend and I-505 road noise is fairly noticeable at night. The CG is“clean” and otherwise quiet, but showing its age a bit. The two pools looked pretty decent, but we didn’t use them. All of the sites are fairly short and very close. Bigger rig tow vehicles either extend into or are parked partially on the roads through the CG, although the roads are fairly wide throughout. The CG consists mostly permanent/semi-permanent residences. Most of those sites are are all gravel. There appeared to only be a few transient spaces, maybe 12-15, which were also short, but with grass, tables and foliage between sites. There are no green spaces to walk your dog. Everything that isn’t paved or graveled is basically bare dirt or tall, dead weeds, except the playground and one other area, and neither of those areas allow dogs. You are pretty much relegated to walking the CG roads or using the“off-leash” area, which is a fenced in treed area but is also just bare dirt and clearly not everyone cleans up after their dogs. They have signs for a Pet Walk, but this is just a very short walk on more dirt. The ponds on the map are fenced off and are either muddy brown or algae green pits with fountains- not very aesthetically appealing. AT&T coverage was just ok, with 2 bars of LTE and speeds up to 0.8 MB/s. The CG WiFi through TengoInternet.com is bit wanky, only allowing 3 connected devices and requiring a Browser to connect, so devices without one(Apple TV, WiFi router, etc.) are out of luck. Their website had a link to a page that was supposed to tell you how to connect them, but resulted in a 404 page not found error. We saw speeds up to 1 MB/s., but much less when everyone is online. Disconnecting WiFi and reconnecting seemed to help some. We were able to get DISH coverage on all three western satellites at our site. There were 35 OTA channels to be had with our fixed omni antenna. We would not stay here again.
GuideThere’s really no where else to camp in this area that is convenient to the freeway. We walked in with no reservation and got a pull through spot with a bit of grass. Full hookups, no fire pits, but picnic tables at each spot. Pool, pet park, bathrooms, and free showers. Quiet park but nobody was outside cause it was 102!! We relaxed in the trailer with a/c until it cooled off to the low 90’s which was at about 8pm. Good for one night as you’re traveling through though.
TravelerIf I could give zero stars, I would. Thousand Trails Lake Minden is very rundown. Immediately upon arrival at this so-called "resort," you can see the neglect from the outset. Their main sign is faded and sunburned, looking like it’s from 1970. The roads are riddled with potholes, none of which are paved. It’s clear the maintenance of this property has been ignored for years.
The "resort" advertises full hookups, but the reality is they have about 20 full hookup sites that can’t accommodate RVs over 35 feet. My 40-foot RV doesn’t fit, so I’m forced to drive around the lake to the non-hookup section, which only has water and power. To dump your tanks, you have to make trips to the dump station—hardly convenient for a place claiming to be a resort.
I paid $10,000 for a lifetime membership that allows me to stay at Thousand Trails properties for 21 days at a time. My mistake was not visiting any of their locations before making this purchase. I strongly urge anyone considering a Thousand Trails membership to visit several of their properties first—it will likely change your mind. Lake Minden is no better than other Thousand Trails locations, and in fact, I’d rank it among the worst.
As a full-time RVer, I’m stuck here for the 21-day maximum, and once that’s up, I’m forced to relocate two hours away to their next nearest property, Ponderosa. I’ll review that location when I arrive, but I don’t have high expectations.
What’s most frustrating is the blatant contradiction between their claims and reality. They require age-appropriate RVs for members, yet I’m parked next to a 20-year-old RV with a blue tarp on the roof. The facility is so poorly maintained it’s a stretch to even call it a campground, let alone a resort.
My regret for buying a Thousand Trails lifetime membership is astronomical. If I knew then what I know now, I would never have spent a dime. Thousand Trails should be ashamed to call themselves a resort. Lake Minden, like many of their properties, is nothing more than a run-down trailer park.
TravelerPerfect for what it is which is a basic parking lot RV park. The amenities are pretty great, lovely pool, petting zoo and my favorite the fenced dog park. Oh and they have a dog wash with leash clip!!! So many parks miss the opportunity for dog friendly features. They have the cleanest bathrooms i have ever experienced at an RV park.
My only disappointment was the wifi connection specifically in communal spaces close to the office where it makes sense to have strong connection. Their rec room would be a perfect place to hey some work done if only the wifi was powerful enough. Since i was working on the road I was specifically in need of this amenity. I heard certain RV spots had great reception but unfortunately not ours.
GuideThis has been my favorite spot after traveling all across US. I wanted to hide in the forest. Nothing but trees and the wind blowing through them. It was an adventurous drive on a curvy mountain road to get here, but we'll worth it. There are 48 sites (no hookups) and it's just me and one other person pretty far away. Very clean. With a pass, I only paid $4 per day. Nice clean vault toliets. Water available. Picnic tables and fire rings at each site. Corrals for horses. Wood to burn laying around everywhere. Rangers were very friendly and helpful when I came in. I'm staying 4 days this time. I'll be back. I used my WeBoost and was able to teach online and even stream some TV. The dog has loved the nice forest floor to run on and lay on. I drove into Georgetown (6 miles) one day and had the best time exploring the shops and talking to the locals. Gas station has propane. Back in or pull through sites. You can call and reserve or just show up and find an open spot. I was there in May 2021.
TravelerLots of trees for shade and a nice swimming pool to cool yourself. The sites are a nice size. This is an older park in a location close to shopping. However, the train is near by and can be heard in the park. It comes by about twice in a 24 hr period. Office staff very nice and helpful. There are laundry facilities (pay). And many long term “campers”. All in all,it’s a sweet set up, with easy access.
GuideAs full timers- we thought we hit the jackpot for the area in order to be near the towns we wanted to explore and also have service for good wifi. We had enough AT&T service for one person to work fine on the wifi. There are also plenty of coffeeshops about 5 mins away for stronger wifi.
You feel like you're remote and you have direct access to trails and bike path from your site, but very close to downtown Folsom which is a cute little town. Site BP60 was FHU and spacious kind of tucked in a corner. Trash and recycle right at your site and picnic table and space from neighbors. Almost perfectly level site.
No laundry at campground- but Laundry Paradise in Roseville was a great find for us- very clean facilities and new washers. Worth the drive compared to Laundryland in Folsom. I'm only giving it a 4 because it would be a 5 if there was better service or if they offered wifi. It was decent, but could've been better. We will definitely be back.
LegendWe camped here TWICE in 2019. First time in mid April and 2nd time on the first weekend of November. Both times were AWESOME!!!
Both campsites, #66 and #116 had power, water and sewage. They were both lake front campsites, which meant the water or shoreline was right at our "front door" from our 27' travel trailer. They were both back in spots but with ample room to maneuver the trailer into a great spot, unhitch our truck and park the truck next to the Travel Trailer. Site #66 was closer to the camp store which was one of the best ones I have been to so far. They sell quite a bit of camping and fishing needs. They also have a great ice cream parlor. Don't miss out on that if you do decide to camp here!!!
The fishing is awesome on Collins Lake! We fished from kayaks and always caught fish for dinner :-) There are nice hiking and biking trails in and around the campground as well.
Just an FYI, in the Spring, the water level is much higher so the water line is closer to the campsites, especially #66. In the fall, pre-winter, the water level is much lower. It was about a 50 yard walk down to the water from #116 camp site, which is a lake front site. They do have a nice dump station row just outside the camping sites, so it is not necessary to have RV sewage at your campsite, which saves you a few $$.
The campground also rents different types of boats and cabins at this campground. See website for details :-)
Explore the charm of RV camping near Nicolaus, California, where a variety of well-reviewed parks offer great amenities and activities for outdoor enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular RV campsite near Nicolaus, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular RV campground near Nicolaus, CA is Thousand Trails Lake Minden with a 3.1-star rating from 10 reviews.
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