Best Cabin Camping near Stonyford, CA

A simple, rustic cabin.  As noted by others, it suffers from a little damage/neglect—many of the windows are boarded up—but it's an old fire lookout so we didn't expect a rental cabin atmosphere.  Views are exceptional, as is the peace and quiet.  Get up early and you'll catch the dawn chorus of an amazing number of birds: warblers, woodpeckers, quail, juncos, grosbeaks, cowbirds, even robins.  The cabin is roughly outfitted with cots, bunkbeds, a table and chairs.  There's a clean outhouse down by where you park and a firepit, which we didn't use because it was windy when we were there.  Keep your food up on the table at night--the mice are nocturnal visitors and will help themselves if you leave food on the counter.  Only caveat is the access to the cabin.  They're not kidding when they warn you to bring a chainsaw.  Two of the three roads in and out were blocked by downed trees (so big our small chainsaw wasn't helpful), and in places the road that was open had pretty deep potholes and gullies formed by last winter's heavy rains.  I was really glad we had 4WD.

The camping area is first come first serve.  Very peaceful.  There are platforms that are right on the creek where you can pitch your tent.  We have an 8×8 tent and it was a little tight, so if your tent is bigger than that, you might want to call to get exact dimensions.  Otherwise, there is a large open field for camping too.  

Lots of shade and decent space between platforms. Close to the parking area, though the creek is between the parking and the camping platforms, so you can't drive directly up to your site.  Very clean showers and restrooms nearby.  No picnic tables at the individual sites.

One downfall (though very understandable) is not being able to have campfires or camp stoves, even in the winter.  You cant really cook any food, BUT the cafe onsite had very tasty food if you want a hot meal or coffee.  

The camping fee includes use of the hot springs too, which are amazing.  Clothing optional, and I would say not that many people had clothes.  The trail to the hot springs is right by the camping area, and a nice little hike.

Having visited Lake County many times, I wasn't expecting much from this camp ground. I had intended to camp at Boggs Forest - my usual hangout for mountain biking when in the area. Turns out it's closed to camping now, so I took a flyer and looked at this park. I managed to grab what appeared to be the last spot available for the Friday and Saturday night stay I had planned. And it was a spot next to the water! 

The spots are a bit close, but there are many options available - from waters edge on the creek or lake, to hilltops with views of the lake. 

The bathrooms were clean, but I showered at the back of my van and didn't need to obtain any tokens to use theirs. 

There are hiking trails, a boat launch, bbq pits, food storage lockers and a pretty good amount of trees to shade the camp sites. 

I think next time I'd opt for a spot along the creek instead of the lake. They look to be better shaded, but may get more drive by traffic. 

I did happen to be here during a heat spell - 104 was the high yesterday. The shade definitely helped! 

I will be back since it's a convenient location for me - 20 mins from my father in Lakeport, 30 mins from Highland Springs and 40 from Boggs Forest. Oh… and the bugs are not at Al what you might expect. At least for me. They weren’t bad at all. I didn’t even need the screens on my van, but the zapper was busy at dusk. Update as I’m still here: for some reason the toilets no longer flush. After all those beers I figured it’d be polite to use a toilet to return them to their maker, but the first bathroom had a large deposit waiting for me. I tried to flush it, but nothing. Went next door. Only per in this one, and it wouldn’t flush either. Oh well. I added to the color of the bowl. Oddly, the faucet worked. At least I was able to wash my hands.

Pros: If you are a person who likes to either stay all day at your campsite or are a water sport/water toy type person this campground is for you. Cons: Bathroom near our campsite wasn’t working. Campsites were overgrown with foxtails, not good for my dogs. Trash in our fire pit. A few campsites away from ours had a huge poison oak plant at the back where you park your rig. A walkway near the campground popular for fishing had a tree fall on it, instead of clearing the tree, the park rangers closed it off. Not much hiking in the park, and if you decide to walk the couple short hikes, don’t bring your dogs, NO DOGS ALLOWED. For the number of workers this park employs you would think these things would be dealt with, but no. I guess this is typical of State Parks in California, so much potential but sadly California parks slowly deteriorate.

The campground is your typical KOA. there's a store, pool, pond, bathrooms, cabins, disc golf etc. The electric scooters are pretty fun, and the paddle boats too. The ground themselves arent really anything special though. It's open, very little privacy. Honestly it's kinda like a massive group site. No real walking trails or anything. Getting to the campground is easier in the summer because there is a bridge that goes over the river, making it a shorter drive. In the winter, the bridge is removed, so you have to go through the town of Cloverdale and back track, adding about 15-20 minutes to your trip.