Established Camping
Utica/Union Reservoirs
About
USDA Forest Service
Stanislaus National Forest
These scenic small, twin reservoirs are located off the Spicer Reservoir Road.
There are several campgrounds here. Utica Reservoir has Sandy Flat campground and Rocky Point campground with 11 and 12 sites each.
Union Reservoir has West and East campgrounds with 18 and 11 sites
There are also dispersed campsites in this area and boat in campsites that aren’t part of the four campgrounds previously mentioned
The area is popular for day use, as well as paddle sports such as canoeing and kayaking. A primitive dirt boat launch is available at Union East Reservoir. The maximum boat speed is 5 mph. Utica Reservoir is managed for non-motorized boating; it has two dirt ramps designed for hand-launching of non-motorized boats.
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Group
Features
For Campers
- ADA Access
- Picnic Table
- Phone Service
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
Great Lake, terrible campground
I stayed at Sandy Flat Campground for two nights. The only reason I gave this two starts is because it has a good launch area for paddle craft and Utica Reservoir is lovely. For $16 a night I got a place to park my van, a broken picnic table, vault toilets swarming with flies, no garbage removal, no campground host, no drinking water. Next time, I’ll launch my kayak and paddle to an island to camp. It has to be nicer than the campground.
Beautiful but crowded
We've been coming to Utica and Union for years. Weekdays are the best if you want to find an actual campsite and avoid most of the crowds. Saturday nights are terrible now as lately large groups overcrowd campsites and party into early Sunday morning. The lake and area is beautiful with excellent trails into the Carson/Iceberg Wilderness and great for water activities. There is a lot of trash and litter, so please bring an extra trash bag just to help clean-up after others. No potable water, and you need to pack your trash out to the containers a few miles away at the crossroads.
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Utica Reservoir disaster
I really enjoy these two lakes. One of my "go to places" when I have several days to go camping. We recently drove up to see this years conditions and was met with a huge filthy hoard. There were 5+ tents in each camp site spilling into each others. As if that wasn't bad enough, there were literally hundreds of people camping all along the lakes. Tents on boulders 4x4 vehicles parked off road on boulders, there wasn't a square inch of space not filled with some type of tent, tarp, lean to, or other type of shelter. There were so many vehicles you could barely navigate the narrow road and in some places you couldn't. To say I was appalled in an understatement. Trash and filth everywhere. Latrines emptying into the creek. Perfect place and condition for covid to inhabit.
I won't be back this year, maybe not next because it will take that long for nature to clean up after these slobs.
If you do not know how to care for our precious wilderness places, or don't care to, STAY HOME!
Location
Utica/Union Reservoirs is located in California
Directions
From Highway 4, turn onto Spicer Reservoir Road (paved) and go 8 miles. Turn left onto 7N75; from there the roads are gravel. Continue .7 miles to a T-intersection. For Utica Reservoir, turn left and continue one mile. For Union East, turn right and continue one mile. For Union West, turn right and go .3 miles, bear left at the fork onto 7N75C, and continue a half-mile. Spicer Reservoir Road is 27 miles east of the Calaveras Ranger Station in Hathaway Pines, California.
Coordinates
38.41845853 N
120.00750467 W