Best Glamping near Stonyford, CA

Middle creek campground was as close as we could find to free camping in Upper Lake CA. At the time of our visit 90% of the Mendocino National Forest was closed as a result of fires the past year as well as landslides due to rains.this is normally a ohv area but since all trails are closed it is quiet and peaceful.you can hear the creek running along the camp, as well as the wild turkeys . There must be over 15 different species of birds as well. Each campsite has a picnic table , fire pit as well as a bbq grill. They do have vault toilets and running water. It was $8.00 a nite but offered a discount with a America the beautiful pass

I have been camping here for 20 years and have always had a great time. Camp sites are spaced out, so you're not on top of one another like some of the other sites around the lake. Also has a nice beach and direct access to the lake. Campground hosts change from year to year and have been good people. Since Lake Pillsbury is more secluded compared to Lake Mendocino, it tends to get a lot less traffic from campers (except around holidays). People who come are generally experienced campers or families on vacation and not 20-somethings looking to party. Noise normally isn't an issue, even when all the sites are full. Bring your own seat gaskets and toilet paper though. No seat gaskets are provided in the vault toilets, and the toilet paper is sometimes just 1-ply.

We stayed in one of the premium hot tub sites, where you get your very own hot tub. Highly recommend, my kids absolutely loved it and so did I! We were just a few steps from the pool, which was clean, but pretty cold. It didn’t seem like it was heated. If it is, it’s not heated well. We also went to the playground several times, which is super fun. The splash pad was a family favorite. The petting zoo, was also super cute and the animals seemed like they were well taken care of. The mini golf course was a blast, as well as the RC track. There was a ton to do, and we all had a blast. The staff was super friendly.

The Aurora RV Park & Marina is a work in progress. I can see what they want to make this campground into, but the reality of what it’s currently status is makes it difficult to stay there. I did get to try a couple of the different blends of Nature’s Coffee Kettle while I was there. Unfortunately I did have to cut my trip short as there was a mandatory evacuation order put into place due to wild fires.

Campground Review

First off this park is designed for RV use, but the owners have converted a few spaces for tent camping. During my visit I stayed in a tent. I booked the site through booking.com and paid $22.00 a night.

The Good

Each site has its own water sipget and two electrical outlets that work well. There was plenty of space at the site to setup two 4-person tents. The site is at the North end of Clearlake and you have some pretty spectacular views all day long. There is a beautiful public BBQ sitting area right next to the private beach. You can use the canoes, kayaks, or paddle boat all free of charge and they provide life jackets. There park does provide WiFi at no additional cost and it worked reasonably well. The mangers there are very friendly and approachable. They checked on me multiple times to make sure everything was okay.

The Bad

At the time of my visit the campground was undergoing renovations. The office area where the bathrooms/showers, laundry room, and community lounge were all at some stage of construction. THe bathrooms were clean, but only one shower and toilet worked. There was no mirror in the bathroom during my stay. I could not for the life of me get the shower to spray warm water at all so I had a week of cold showers, which wasn’t too bad given how hot it was. I did report this to the mangers, but the issue never got resolved. For tent camping the site were too close together and no picnic table was provided at the space I was at. If I had booked through AirB&B I would have been in a different area that had a picnic table.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products in the field. At The Aurora RV Park & Marina, I tested two different blends of Nature’s Coffee Kettle. I tried the Colombian and Sumatra blend. Overall I would give this product a 4 out a 5 stars.

What I liked about camping with the Nature’s Coffee Kettle:

• Portable and easy to pack. It takes almost no space at all as it is completely flat when empty.
• Easy to make. Boil water and pour into the kettle and wait. That’s it!
• Easy to clean. Once you’ve had your coffee take out the coffee pod and dispose of it. Rinse out the kettle and your done.
• The kettle is reusable! You can re-order new pods and keep using the kettle
• Many different things you can brew. Currently they have variety of coffee blends and tea blends. They also have Hot Chocolate, but that comes in its own kettle.
• Some of the best coffee I have had while camping. The coffee was really good! Way batter than my normal percolated stuff.

THings to be aware of

• You have to be really careful when pouting the boiling water into the kettle. It is easy to still some of that water on yourself (I did this).
• The pouch is not insulated so if you want to drink hot/warm coffee you got to drink quickly.

This is the sweetest campground. The sites were on the smaller side, but came with a picnic table. And you’re blocked from the other campers by your RV. It’s a short walk from anywhere in the campground down to the lake. The water is crystal clear and there’s a little dock for jumping off of. They bring in sand for the beach which makes it a really nice experience. And apparently the canopies that were there are new. There’s an on-site snack bar and coffee bar with limited hours, which is a really nice touch. The owners were super friendly and accommodating. The road to get into the campground is very sketchy. It is extremely narrow and there is no where to pass along it. So make sure you abide by the check in check out times, which are significantly far apart, to ensure that nobody meets each other on the road. Sidenote, there are no campfires, except for propane fire, which was kind of a bummer. Highly recommend.