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Located in the heart of the beautiful Napa Valley wine country, the Park offers Napa valley camping, picnicking, swimming, and hiking trails that go through stands of coastal redwoods as well as forests of Douglas-fir, tanoak, and madrone.
Park is open year round.
A few drop-in sites are available on a first-come-first-serve especially during the off season.
$43 / night
This campground is located on Forest Road M10, just above the Fouts Springs OHV area. There are 7 sites with tables and grills. Corrals and hitching post are available for packstock animals. A short trail__ (.8 mile) connects to the Deafy Glade Trail providing access to the Snow Mountain Wilderness.
Loafer Creek Horse Campground
$45 / night
OHV Staging Area, Equestrian Staging Area (no camping).
Open year round
$5 / night
Guide
This campground is dry and built primarily for HOV people cuz the Elk mountain area is very much a dirt bike and four-wheel Haven.
It's got dropped toilets and it has potable water. Problem is that the spigots don't have any hose fittings, so you can't hook up, which I think is a good thing to keep people from taking over water for an extended period of time.
There's no other water anywhere else, no showers, no sinks or anything like that so prepare to come fully dry.
If you come with that in mind I would say this place is really really nice. It's very clean. If it's in a beautiful location and if you're into four-wheeling or dirt bikes, you're going to have a blast.
There there's a small town not far, 15 minutes or so, that has gas, a market, pizza places, and a few other stores. So there's plenty of access to food and gas when necessary.
This has nothing to do with the campground. Just keep in mind that Elk mountain road, especially the part leading up to the top of the mountain right as you leave the campground is an absolutely terrible road, it needs a lot of maintenance..
Traveler
Visit was for 11/19/2024 found the gates locked, no entry. Seasonal? No signage to tell.
Traveler
Lovely campsite with very sweet camp hosts. Always waved when they drove by.
Chose site 17 because of the beautiful tree seen in another review but was felled prior to our arrival, so no big tree. We did however get a beautiful view of the stars.
Two things to note, some of the sites (didn’t look like all of them had this issue) have an incredibly fine dusty dirt that gets on absolutely everything, it made our feet, legs and sandals completely beige from the dust and we had to wipe them with wet wipes before going into our tent and tracked a fair amount into our car upon leaving.
The other thing we were disappointed with was that we had to pay for showers on top of already paying over $50 for our site for one night, we felt that was a pretty big con and that it should be included in the fees.
Overall, you can’t get closer to the wineries and it was an otherwise lovely site.
GuideQuiet stop, but I wouldn't call it the most beautiful stop I've ever stayed. Camping spots are to the left and the right I'd the day use. Pit toilets. No garbage.
GuideThis rv site was awesome.It's quiet beautiful, lush green. Be aware tho. It's full of poison oak!!!! But yiu can get around it.
There are no hook ups. But the sights are mostly shaded, so it was a great help and I did not go in a hot time of the year. They have good hours for use of generators as well
We Brought our electric bikes and rode to the geyser in Calistoga and to multiple wineries It was a great way to travel
ScoutThe camp area is closed, as of 2/9/2024. No indication of that on the BLM website.
TravelerNice sites in Oak, Madrone and Manzanita forest. As many have mentioned, it’s also a Poison Oak farm, but if you keep to the trails and roads it’s fine. Many sites are not level. Road is narrow. Bathrooms clean, showers although clean were not inviting. ATT was a bar, occasionally two. Was able to make a call if I stood still. Minutes away from Calistoga and St. Helena. We imagine it’s a very busy place in peak season, but a nice quiet getaway in winter.
TravelerGreat free campground! We've stayed here many times. It's open, grassy level and quiet. Next to a stream and surrounded by hills. The only tough part is getting across the stream to some of the hikes. It's a hot spot for horses which of course have no stream problems, so the only negative is fly's sometimes. But just keep your screen door closed (& fly swatter handy). We always manage to level out in our 23" Winnebago View. There is lots of open space so no crowding. There is a rural road near by but traffic noise isn't a problem. Perhaps I should say it's awful so fewer people come and it's not discovered.
GuideNo trees just dry open land inhabited by an unusual amount of flies. It was crazy how thick they were. An almost dry creek runs alongside the open field of camping pads. To close to the road and way to exposed to feel comfortable to stay. If I needed a place to get some shut eye before heading onward, then maybe. I had a car full of flies that went to the coast with us. It was crazy.
Scout
My dog loves clearlake state park. In Kelseyvile, CA. And I have to agree with her.
Scout
Pleasant setting in the trees. Only 3 other campsites in use that we noticed in October. The lake is super low, but a pleasant campground on our way home.
Guide
I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and my dad was a hang glider pilot. The campground has vaulted toilets non-flushable of course. There is water at the campground except during the winter as they shut it off to keep the pipes from bursting. The campground is open up all year round. Fires are allowed depending on regulations from Cal fire. The local store is about a 10 minute drive away and during the summer has ice beer and provides firewood for sale (during winter no ice but plenty of snow). Target shooting is available at the end of the airstrip which you will pass over on the way to the campground. For a boat launch there are two about a 10 minute drive from the campground
ScoutWE just stayed two nights camping and had a great time, site was good, bathrooms and showers were clean. Good access to wineries close by. Only real downside was that because of the dry conditions we could not have a campfire.
It was not a problem for us but ATT reception was poor, could not get messages at the site but sometimes could while moving around the campground.
GuideGreat spot for cheap and restful accommodation while Visiting wine country. Yurts, and campsites, pull thru and rv sites. Not super cheap cuz you are in California but way more affordable than any hotel and 5 minutes from Calistoga, thru vineyard lined lanes. Lots of hikes for a hike level. Mosquitos started coming out but tolerable. Nice trickling river and peaceful pondering spots. Great bathrooms but bring lots of quarters for showers, helpful staff! Rico you are the best for giving me firewood!
ScoutThe location of this campground is amazing, if a trip to Napa Valley's wine country is on your bucket list. The camp sites are okay, but road and access is narrow for many sites and the gravel pads aren't particularly level. We stayed at site 049 which is a nice quiet spot away from the restrooms -but has trees, rocks, and bollards obstructing ability to cut the wheel and back in. The restrooms were fairly clean and stocked with TP, but no soap or papertowels, so plan to bring those. Also the park is prominently overtaken with poison oak... we knew what to look for and very cautiously avoided it, but it is everywhere, so if you're not familiar with poison oak, be warned.
Overall, an okay experience but I would not repeat at this location.
TravelerLove this campsite. Large sites. Close to great restaurants and wine tasting.
GuideFresh and clean
GuideWater fountains/spigots relatively easy to find near most campsites. Bathhouse is next to site 10, operates with quarters. Site 7 is fairly flat, not terrible wide but plenty of room to put out slide and walk around RV. Further in on sitge has picnic table and more space. No fires right now, obviously, put propane is ok.
GuideI’ve been camping cross country for the last month with my husband. We’re from New York, and like to think we’re not easily rattled or intimidated. This was the first time on our trip that we were both scared.
The forest service website says this campground is not open for camping, just dirt bike and horse riding, so I had found a campground further into the National Forest to camp at. When we drove by Middle Creek, we could see the sites from the road and a few of them had tents and we could see some folks, the campground was pretty clearly operating to some extent. We just wanted somewhere to stay overnight on our way into SF so we doubled back and found a site, paid the $8 and had a snack. We explored our corner of the campground a little- pretty clean, a fine campground. No visible host.
Lots of wasps and flies, like standing right next to a dumpster. There was a woman who seemed to be experiencing homelessness and/or mental illness occupying multiple sites. She pretty clearly was stealing from sites people weren’t present at, right in front of us. She also had a dog that didn’t seem to be hers.
The man at the campsite next to us didn’t have a tent or anything, just paid then sat in his truck screaming and cackling and breaking stuff loudly and pounding beers.
We left without spending the night. The police need to go take a look out there.
GuideI've camped here more times than I can count. I remember camping here during several wine-soaked weekends with large groups of friends, back in my younger days. We rode our bikes through the Napa valley, stopping at multiple wineries along the way. Then, after a day of riding and wine tasting, we retired back to our campsites for an evening of grilling and drinking of local wines (of which there are many, many excellent choices). I've only tent camped here; I've not brought my Airstream because I don't think there are spots that are large enough for it. However, I do recall seeing trailers and RV's here in the past, so it can accomodate rigs of smaller sizes.
There's nothing dramatically beautiful about this park, but if you like California country living - oaks, madrone, rolling hills, and lots of sunshine - than you'll enjoy it here. It's a short drive from the San Francisco Bay Area, and is quite literally in the Napa valley, on its northern end, near Calistoga. You'll easily be able to get to all the restaurants and wineries in the valley. You won't be disappointed with a couple of nights camping at Bothe-Napa.
One important note: I have not been here since the fires that have ravaged Napa and Sonoma every year since 2017. There has been at least one fire that burned very near this park, causing it to close temporarily. I don't know how bad the impact to the park has been, as I've not seen it first hand. As I write this in summer 2021, the campground is open, so hopefully the fire and smoke damage was minimal. As I've mentioned in many of my other posts, the sad reality of the ongoing drought in California is that summer camping is not the experience it used to be. It's still fun, but I would argue winter or early spring is now the best time to visit places like Bothe-Napa. The creeks will be flowing, you'll be allowed to have a campfire, and the vegetation will be greener and lusher.
Per my rating system, I give this 4 stars as it's not a place you'd plan a trip to from out of state, but it is a place you should consider visiting as part of a larger trip to Napa/Sonoma. For locals, this is a top tier spot.
Ranger
We stopped here on our way home to take some pictures to share with our fellow Dyrt members!
There are hitching post and water troughs, but I didn’t see any corrals. The sites were nice size, and a couple backed up to each other, making a good group site.
TravelerSparse campground and hot. But good sites and great location
TravelerThis was Part 2 of a "Test My Gear Close to Home" camping experience. It's close enough to the wine country aspects of Napa to be an easy overnight without the excruciating Napa Valley hotel prices. Google doesn't like finding the entrance, but I got the street address off the website and eventually made it. The gentleman at the gate was lovely; the camp hosts kept to themselves. My only drawback was that the showers were foul (cobwebs and spiders everywhere). It's very quiet and woodsy. I couldn't see my neighbors. I was awoken (as is the norm in NorCal) to gobbling turkeys at dawn. Easy access to hiking trails. A shuttle stops at the park to take people into town for dinner if they don't want to drive after drinking. The ground is volcanic rock and super hard in the dry weather. I broke a couple tent poles and couldn't pull the rest out of the ground, so they're now donations.
GuideThis is our second time here. It's so nice to be right in the Napa Valley. We found a great trail close by at Lake Hennessey. If you're a wine drinker, during non-COVID times you can catch a wine bus from here! There's a pool for warm summer days and some awesome trails.
TravelerGreat place to stay at when visiting the Napa wine valley that is halfway between St Helena and Calistoga, two nice tourist towns. There are nice hiking trails in the park though they are closed currently (Dec 2020) due to the fire in the area. There was no damage to the campground even though the fire burned into the grounds. The weekends usually are full, it clears out Sunday evening so during the weekdays it is really nice. Staff are really nice. Be careful of the poison oak, it is prevalent there as it is so anywhere in Northern California.
RangerWas 0.75 miles away from water (we have been in a drought?) but beautiful spacious campsite. Even with annoying neighbors, you can have peace and quiet. Fun, almost hidden area that I didn’t know existed before this trip.
RangerMy husband and I stayed here for Christmas, and loved our little yurt. It was very clean, and the bed was actually pretty comfy. It came with a cot as well. The bathrooms were super clean and also really nice. I was impressed. There were hardly any other people staying there at the same time, so we pretty much had the campground to ourselves.
It was pretty chilly at night in December, and the yurts don't really stay warm, but maybe slightly warmer than if staying in a tent.
My only complaint is noise from the road. It runs right by the campground, and pretty audible even inside the yurt. I recommend ear plugs.
Horse camping in California offers a unique way to explore the great outdoors while enjoying the company of your equine friends. With a variety of campgrounds that cater to horse enthusiasts, you can find the perfect spot to set up camp and ride the trails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Williams, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Williams, CA is Cowboy Camp with a 2.6-star rating from 5 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Williams, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 equestrian camping locations near Williams, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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