Best Glamping near Ripon, CA

We stayed here for the night prior to a Hetch Hetchy backpacking trip. We arrived in the dark. We had reserved a site with a small two person tent already set up for us. It was a bit hard to find in the dark, but the camping area is fenced in under an oak grove so eventually we found the stump with our name on it next to the tent. In the future, I think I’ll just bring my own tent and deal with the small hassle of setting it up—the tent provided was fine, but definitely would not have been a good choice if there had been rain. And you could tell it is essentially set up 24/7—some tiny insects living inside etc. The campsites themselves were sufficiently spacious and the host has nice fire pits with fire wood provided for each site, plus picnic tables. Basic portapotties plus some running water for bathrooms. Fellow campers were an interesting mix of folks from all over, though I wish the owner had quiet hours posted and communicated—our immediate tent neighbors sat out chatting and laughing until nearly 1am which was annoying. The coyotes and owls at night were lovely.

I wanted somewhere not too far to go and stay when my 5-6 year-old had 5 days off from school. This was perfect in so many ways.

Positives

- Amenities! I love how everything was themed, from the street names to the signs. Two nice playgrounds, ball courts, pool and hot tub. Watching your kids play red light/green light on the jumping pillow put a smile on every parent's face.

- Seasonal programming (weekends only). For October, we did an outdoor movie, magic pumpkins, costume contest, trick or treating, hay ride, and haunted house. My daughter loved everything except the haunted house, which she said was "too scary!"

- Clean, comfortable facilities. Lots of ways to stay. We car camped and found the hook ups really easy to use. Water, drain, 3 types of electricity, picnic table and firepit at every site. We used their bathrooms and showers and was impressed by how clean they were. Most of the time we had them completely to ourselves and they were even climate controlled.

- Restaurant. I cooked breakfast and lunch most days at the campsite, but for dinner we splashed out at the kid-friendly Waterfront Grille. Friendly staff, good food (lobster and prime rib, yum!), amazing views of the sunset.

Negatives

- Water park was closed. Call ahead to see if it is open when you want to go. I heard that it is never open because of some issue with permits or drought. If so, the promotional video is misleading and I almost deducted a star for this.

- Expensive. For camping, it is expensive, but think of it more as a theme park/resort, than true camping. We saved on the cabin and RV, and spent on the optional activities and the fancy meals.

Bottom line, I would totally go back and stay as long as I could. I hear it is super crowded in the summer, but it would be worth it if the water park is open.

These were quite decent campgrounds, kind of close together but decent sized sites. We were lucky to have a spot at the dead center of the top of the mountain looking out at the lake (site 13) with a big shade tree. Since we got there on a Saturday night, we were surprised to see that the campsite directly to our left and directly to our right were empty. By Sunday night, every campsite within sight was vacated so we had a lot of freedom to do what we wanted without having to worry about disturbing other people. Deer are fearless & majestic, several “packs” walked through our campsite all throughout Sunday night when everyone else was gone. They walked up to us to smell our campfire & our food (we were making s’mores). There’s a campfire spot, a water source, a picnic table, & a grill set up at each site (for the most part), with trashes nearby. 

The Lake was nice! We went swimming in the swimming area and there were a surprising amount of people there via Covid. We went in the little shop briefly but from what I could tell they had a lot of useful things campers may need varying from firewood, ice, snacks. fast food, alcohol, & camping/fishing supplies. You can have 2 cars at your campsite but we only had one, the second would be an additional charge. You can bring pets but also for a charge. If you have campsites like 1-20 you’ll have to walk clear across the campgrounds to get to the water or make a quick drive down with your party. We just drove which was better for us after having swam. 

Only complaint is the porta-potties. We went from Saturday to Monday & by the end of Sunday there was no more toilet paper, high-piled waste, & when I called to try to inform them to restock the toilet paper no one answered. I brought my own toilet paper so that wasn’t the worst situation but definitely bring some just in case! Master that sumo squat to hover over that thing!

My family and I stayed at Lake McSwain Campgrounds for a weekend during a mountain bike race at Exchequer. We showed up with our 24' trailer on Friday, and even though it was February, they brought on staff to get us all checked in since it was so busy because of the race. There was a short line to get in to the campground, but we didn't wait long and the staff was helpful and friendly. The site was a good size for two trucks and the trailer. The site was not too close to the water, not too far. The bathrooms had showers which we used since our site didn't have a sewer hookup. The site did have water and power though. The marina isn't normally open in February, but they opened due to the volume of campers that weekend. They stocked up on the basics and even had hot coffee and breakfast burritos in the morning and sandwiches at lunch. On Sunday, we moved over to a full hookup site and it was level and felt private. We camped next to some friends and stayed up around the campfire and made smores. The kids rode their bikes around the campgrounds alllll day. They had a blast! Thanks, MID!

Gorgeous place to camp and tons of dragonflies,butterflies and bees. We did a lot of kayak fishing and relaxing by the lake. We were able to walk the kayaks down with no problem. The only 2 down falls are...... you can’t read the tiny sign that says your campsite number. I think it should be on both sides of the sign and bold. Also they’re sooooo close together. It’s great for families and they can buy a couple next to each other. Tho we were celebrating our 1 year anniversary and we would have wanted more space between campers. Other than that it was a lot of fun and perfect weather. They don’t have showers so heads up. We just got naked and did it cave man style in the middle of the night. It was warm enough and made it that much more special. They do have water spouts to wash your dishes and bathrooms walking distance. A picnic table, bbq and fire pit at every location. Make sure you get water shoes because the lake does have sharp rocks and the local CVS has them. It was really nice and convenient and worth the money. It did get really hot , so my fiancé and I went to the local ice cream parlor. It was about 5-7 minutes away from the site. It’s a cute little mom and pop ice cream shop and the customer service was amazing. We went their Friday afternoon when it was over 90 degrees and it was the best ice cream. It’s called Country girls ice cream shop. Look for the pink picnic table and red corner sign. I recommend this place and also right near buy is a little gas station to get gas, bait, firewood and etc. Well hope this helps future campers and have fun.

The location and weekend was amazing and beautiful. The 105 daytime temps were quelled by dunking ourselves in the lake and taking excursions to some of the other local wonders. We had a great view of the lake and the stars overnight were amazing. It was extremely easy to socially distance from others at all times.

We spent the weekend camped out here but when we arrived, our location was filled with trash. The previous occupants had left garbage strewn everywhere and a garbage bag that was torn into by the wildlife. We cleaned for about half an hour and filled a large black yard waste bag with garbage before we could start to settle in.

The other big issue is that the site says “all facilities are open” but in reality all the restrooms are closed and locked with a solution of putting portable toilets in front of the restroom areas. This is in no way better for dealing with bathroom needs.

Also, the camp host location was marked but no host appeared or was available. The rangers drove by maybe 6 times total.

Be aware when coming here that many sites do not have shade or places to set up hammocks.

Don’t let my negative points turn you away, many of these things were going to be situational and we would love to go back (just not in the midst of a heatwave like that).