Mark M.

Atlanta, GA

Joined July 2021

going cross country and trying to do it for as cheap as possible

Weird but doable

Small state park. The water at sunset is super pretty, can't beat that and it's only a five minute walk from the campsites. It's kinda unsettling though seeing signs that it's a high theft area.

Some of the campers here are pretty peculiar tbh. One guy kept yelling at his dogs for doing dog things and there was another family making being absolutely obnoxious and cussing after talk (thankfully they were right next to my site 🙃). Sites are really close together with no privacy. But they're clean and fit small tents pretty well.

Planes fly by constantly but if you have noisy neighbors it's kind of nice haha Bathrooms are super clean and there are 3 showers, also really clean. Host seemed chill.

Functionally it's a good campground. People just make it kinda weird.

Average

Camped here for 3 nights - it's not a bad campground, but it's just average. Also kind of depends on who's camping around you.

There's a bunch of sites and they're decently spaced out. Privacy is alright, if you can tuck your tent back then you can probably stay out of sight of other groups.

Bathrooms looked new and were actual bathrooms, but got dirty pretty quickly. The showers aren't in the main tent loop which is annoying and there was only one shower that I saw? You also had to pay for it too, using tokens from the entrance booth. Kind of a weird set up, but the shower was clean. Only one place to get water that I saw, which was at the entrance.

There are a few trails in the loop, I did one and it was short but alright. Not bad but not impressive.

You'll probably hear planes pass over but honestly it wasn't a huge annoyance for me. What was worse was the group across from me made noise every night until 10/11pm which kind of sucked, but obviously that's always a gamble when at a big campground.

The cell service was pretty spotty too (i know, you're camping, but just feels like it should be better at a state park)

Just felt like for a paid site it could be a lil better, but it's not a bad campground.

Free camping in Bend

This site is open, you just have to drive a lil farther back to the sites and get out of the restricted area.

The entrance to the sites is about 10 minutes from the middle of Bend, so it's really close which is nice. From the entrance it's maybe 5-7min farther back until you get out of the restricted area until pullouts for camping become noticeable. I took a left at the fork; I think the right side also has sites but I'm not sure how far back.

The road is really dusty and not the smoothest, but my sedan made the trip a dozen times so it's doable, you just have to go slow. Plenty of people were van camping, but an RV/trailer might have some trouble getting back.

I stayed here for 2 nights, then camp back to do some longer camping since Bend is so close and has everything you'd need. It looks like some others might be doing some long term camping; between when I left and came back (bout 5 days) two of the campers were there, but it was van campers who were quiet and respected the space. There was one setup that was gone when I got back, but it was on the messier side and I could never tell if it was a permanent set up. However the area is a hotspot for mountain bikers and people generally seemed to respect the area, so I felt really safe.

The sites also are pretty small and right off the road. They're not the smoothest, but some are definitely better than others. There isn't a ton of privacy between the sites (I can see both my neighbors) but if you just need a place to crash this will do. There's cell service which is nice.

The biggest cons of this site is that the road isn't amazing and it's super dusty. But it's really hard to beat the location. There is supposedly other free camping off the Cascade Lakes Byway, so if you want to try and find something else there are still other free spots in the area.

Great remote camping

This is one of the best campsites I've been to while traveling cross country.

It's a little far from the highway (about 30-40min from the 101) but it's a peaceful drive up. The road on the mountain is paved but can be a little bumpy at times. The GPS had me go farther than I needed it to - once you see the dual signs for Laguna Upper Sweetwater Rec Area, turn left and you'll see the dirt road down to the campsites.

I'm not actually sure if this is a different campsite than the one listed here. However, the road further done was flooded, so proceed further only if you really want to.

The road down into the sites is totally fine. There are 6 sites, all which have a decent bit of privacy and are spaced out well. The sites are clean, and each one has a shaded table which was nice.

It is really buggy here so make sure you're prepared! Had tons of flies swarming my tent. There's also a lot of wildlife here which is nice.

There is 1 bathroom at the start of the road which was pretty clean. No water though.

Didn't do the trails on the mountain, but if you just want a place to camp this place is great. Easy to get to, peaceful and clean.

Easy camping off I-10

This site was really easy to find and only 3 minutes off I-10. The road in wasn't too bad, a little bumpy but my sedan went slow and found a spot.

Not sure how many spots there are. Despite the other reviews it seems like I'm the only one camping here (although it's raining).

From my site you can see the highway, but it's still pretty quiet and the views are great.

Overall it's an easy spot to find, and even if you don't want to venture back to find an actual site, it's all BLM land so you can really just camp wherever.

Close to I-40

Be careful taking the road past the parking lot! There is a deep mud pit on the right that looks just like normal dirt. When going in stay to the left, and when leaving stay right

GPS led me to the wrong location as I'm sure it did many - route yourself to Six Mile Canyon RD instead, it should take you to these coordinates:

Lat: 35.439524 Lon: -108.545567

You'll see the lot at first. I couldn't tell if there were campsites there or not (looked like they were at least walk ins, but it's so quiet I'm sure you could do whatever here).

I took the road back. I was skeptic because it looked real beat up and I'm driving a Kia Forte, but it took me back to a campsite when I took a right at the fork. It only took about 3 min to get there, no idea how far back you need to go if you take the left at the fork.

Overall they're quite sites tucked away. My site has a very primitive fire pit, not sure if it's like that at every site. It's also super buggy out here so make sure to bring spray!

Saw a lot of people saying it's right off the highway, it's maybe about 5/10 minutes back once you get the right exit, so not bad at all if you need a night to just crash.

Remote mountain camping

Not sure where the GPS will take you, so make sure to route yourself to the Forsythe Trailhead!

Thought the sites would be easier to get to since technically you can drive up to them, however, once you get to the trailhead lot, the dirt road is extremely uneven and hard to navigate. When I went, there was at least one car stuck on the road and another that looked like it wasn't doing so well. I would only recommend the drive-up option if you have a high-clearance car with some serious 4WD capabilities.

However the walk to the campsites from the lot isn't too bad. It's about 10min to the first site and 20min to the 2-5 sites. There are more sites but they appeared to be much further back by the looks of the map.

Thankfully though the sites aren't typically all occupied so at worst it's about a 20min walk to you find something. Sites 3-5 all have fire pits and that's it. There's a restroom at the parking lot, and that's about it as far as amenities go.

Overall it's a nice campsite with a great view

Peaceful remote camping

Unexpectedly found this site after planning on doing some primitive camping off the road. There's 2 sites that I saw on the road with pits.

There's access to the App Trail on the road so you might see some hikers but it was real quiet otherwise. Pretty nice scenery (you're smack in the middle of the forest) so if you want to get out and away from people this is a great site.

Simple and average

It's a fine campground but nothing particularly special about it. Prices feel a little steep, and there's practically no privacy between sites.

But overall it's clean and and easy to get to. Not a bad sight for a night or two by any means, just really average.

Peaceful camping

GPS initially took me on the wrong road - make sure you stay on Town Hall Rd no matter what the GPS says.

After getting past the resident area you'll find a bunch of different pull outs to camp at. Really peaceful and the sites are well spread out.

There's a hiking trail up the road if you go to the very top (I think for Mirror Lake?) otherwise you won't have anything else to see that far up.

If you're in a pinch

Wouldn't recommend camping here unless you really want to venture into the unknown. The sites are nearly impossible to find and slow down for off a highway, and you have no idea what the road situation could be like. 

The site I ended up pulling into BARELY had space for my sedan to turn around, and it was so muddy that I was afraid my car was going to get stuck. If you want to venture into one of these sites definitely don't bring a trailer, and drive something with good ground clearance and probably 4WD. My site also ended up being right off Route 8 so you can hear all the cars go by. Not ideal. 

Of course the sites are spread out at least and mine at least has a nice view of a creek. Also somehow there's cell service? But obviously there's no amenities. Kind of a weird location honestly, I wouldn't try it again and wouldn't recommend it.

Solid remote camping

Wasn't sure what to expect, but went anyway. After turning off the highway you take a dirt road for about a mile until you see a sign for the campsites. (My sedan easily made it down the road)

There's a site immediately when you turn in, but about 2 minutes further you'll find a parking lot with what looked to me like 4 more campsites and a boat ramp.

2 sites were on the lake and the other 2 were behind the parking lot. The lot also had a porta-potty in it. 3 of those sites were taken, and none of the sites had much privacy so I took the one right off the road (I could see the road easily from the fire pit/table).

It was a little noisy from the other campers and lacked privacy, but it's a great spot for someone who just needs to pullover and crash.

Quiet and easy camping

Really chill site in a good spot in RI. A little pricey for the out of state campers since RI hikes the rates up, but the site was clean, pretty and peaceful.

Just make sure that if you want more privacy you pick a more secluded campsite, as some of them don't have much separation.

Biggest issue was the showers and bathrooms: they were really gross and had tons of live and dead bugs crawling around. For 45 bucks I'd want something a little nicer.

Secluded camping off the BRP

Needed a spot to stop at off the Blue Ridge Parkway and this did the job. There's no signs that this is a campsite at all other than the fire pits, but the sites were tucked away and you could pull your car right up to them. Some pretty great views off the mountains too and the site was really quite with very few cars passing by.

You have to travel at least 3.5mi on a dirt road (if you're coming from the south) which can be annoying, but the sites are visible from the road. It looked like there were at least 2, not sure if there's more if you go further up the road. Didn't want to try it with my sedan.

Easy dispersed camping by the river

From my limited camping experience, this is a great site! There are 5 sites that are first come, first serve across from a day use area. A short drive away from DC and it couldn't be easier to get to: park in a lot and walk about 500ft down to the campgrounds.

About 4 sites are in use during my visit so try to get here early to make sure you get space. Overall there's a great view and the campsite appears well maintained especially for free.

There looks to be a cabin available to rent in the parking lot, but not too sure about how that works.