Best Cabin Camping near Orleans, CA

Ripple Creek Cabins are located about an hour north of Weaverville, along the upper Trinity River. Each cabin is self contained and comes with cooking utensils, linens, towels, and full kitchens. There is also a picnic table and BBQ provided for each cabin. The property sits on the bank on the Trinity River, with easy river access for swimming and fishing. There is also a large grassy area for all to use that has bocce ball and horseshoes. There is easy access to the Trinity Alps Wilderness for hikers of all levels, as well as access to Trinity Lake about 20 minutes south for all that the lake has to offer. The cabins are pet friendly and wifi is available. There is no phone service or television. Each cabin has a wood burning stove, shower and toilet, but otherwise are a bit spartan compared to some cabins. But with all the easy access to outdoor activities, all you need is a place to cook, clean up, and sleep. Great to rent for couples, families, or large groups. It is a bit of a drive to Weaverville, so be sure you have all your supplies you need. The small towns of Coffee Creek and Trinity Center are closer, but may not have everything you need. Each town does have a couple of great places to eat during the Summer, specifically Trailhead Pizza in Trinity Center.

General: RV sites with water and electric hookups plus tent sites and what looked like a cabin located along Route 101 in northern California not too far from the Oregon border. Although located right on the highway, the RV sites are tucked far enough back that road noise is not an issue. We had our choice of assigned site (13) or one of the few other available sites. We ended up taking Site 19, one of the other choices so that our van door would not open directly into the slide out of the RV in the next site. 

Site Quality: Sites are on grass with no defined camper pads. Sites 15-21 are a little wonky in that the hookups are on the left side; we were able to thread our electric cord underneath our van to reach them. Most but not all sites had picnic tables (ours did not but we were just passing through for one night so not a big deal). As is typical of RV parks, sites are close together with little to no separation between them. We chose Site 19 because it had trees on one side, providing us with partial privacy. 

Bath/Shower House: Two stalls and two showers – both were very clean but did not use the shower so cannot comment on how well it worked. 

Activities/Amenities: Laundry (main reason in addition to the convenient location we booked this RV park). You reserve a time and then get the key from the office. There is an 18-hole mini golf course, but it looked quite worn so we passed. There are horseshoe pits and a swing set. There is also a small store with gifts and other basic sundries.

Patrick and Maya are new owners since April 2023, and we were greeted very warmly by Patrick. Later while doing laundry, I had a nice conversation with Maya. They live on-site with their two young children and the store/office is open 9 am– 9 pm. Honestly, this is why I gave this place 4 stars. This was a good overnight stay for us and worked well for us to catch up on laundry while at our campsite.

Cash or check only, $35/night. On-site host sells firewood for $10/bundle. Coin operated hot showers for $0.50 to start the shower for 2 min, $0.25 to add minutes up to a 12 min max.

Each campsite had a fire ring, a picnic table, and a bearbox. There were several running water bathroom buildings around the campgrounds.

The spots near the river were filled by the time we got there but there was a small path to get down there and it was gorgeous. The forest growth was beautiful and it was nice and quiet at night. Over 100 campsites to choose from and it was nicely maintained. Would love to stay here again!

I highly recommend this location - what could be better than camping in the redwoods, with elk grazing in the meadow right next to your camp!

Sites were decent sized for our 2 tents, surrounded by trees and bushes offering some privacy so you don’t feel like you are right on top of your neighbors. Very clean bathrooms, decent showers, picnic tables, fire pits. You are expected to keep your site ‘crumb clean’ and will be provided with instruction about that.

The only downside is that it can get very damp at night – which made it seem a little colder and had a lot of tent condensation.

There are many wonderful hikes in the area – love it when you can get forest and ocean on the same trail! Normally I don’t like hearing other people’s campground music, but whoever was singing vespers it was beautiful. Slept peacefully to sounds of the creek running by our site.

The visitor center was good and gave us a lot of useful information. The ranger even came around to let us know of local events.