Thousand Trails Ponderosa

Great spot if you can get in half of the camp got washed away from the rain this year though .

The park is a little more “stack and pack” than we like, but the view of the river made up for it. Nice park to spend the holidays.

This is so great plz stop and check it out

This is a well maintained RV and tent camping resort. It’s great for kids that want to ride bikes around the sites- but be careful of the river, it’s swift. The RV and tent sites are in two separate areas, with more updated amenities available for RVs like hot showers. Shared pool site. Lots of great trails to weave through the campground on a mountain bike.

One downside- it can be hot. Not a lot of tree cover for the RV sites- make sure you bring shade with you. Luckily, there’s a nice cool river to swim in!

Fires are restricted sometimes in the summer. Some sites require a membership.

Local grocery and pizza, frozen yogurt available within walking distance.

Lots of great fishing, floating, and kayak accessibly. Bring tubes and life vests. Poles and bait.

The location is amazing for morning walks along the river and even as a base for taking off or putting on private whitewater trips on the SF of the American River.

That said, unfortunately the spots are packed in like sardines making privacy and personal space hard to come by - especially with a lack of landscaping. This combined during our visit with repeated interactions with a couple of employees who seemed to forget who the guests are. We encountered a lovely gate attendant on our first night but the subsequent interactions with staff were less than pleasant at best and oddly hostile at times.

Next time at the American River I’ll be looking for another park or to dispersed sites.

The best thing about this campground is its location on the river. But the sites are packed in and many have little or no cover. There's not a ton of grass and trees, mostly dirt and gravel, at least in the section we were in. We managed to get a spot with some tree cover. It was incredibly hot when we were there so we spent most of our time lounging at the edge of the river. It really moved along and was fun to float down in a tube.

Thousand Trails membership is worthless. Every time I try to book something it tells me to call the 1800 number but they never answer. The facilities are pretty tore up. The facilies are clean but they neglect the maintenance. On several occasions I booked a site and the day before it gets cancelled without reason. They don’t answer emails or phone calls.