Rad

Loved it! Highly recommend all wheel, as some sites are rocky and/or steep, but don’t let your sedan stop you—you’ll have options. The place has eyes— but not mean ones. Very likely wildlife (or phantoms? Eek!) and the bears were my main concern, though I didn’t see one in the flesh. Saw old tracks at my campsite, saw waaaay too much scat when hiking around, and in the morning, though I hadn’t seen or heard anybody, there were extremely fresh tracks leading from the stream on the bank. I had my dog and bear spray with me so I felt secure, but in hindsight, maaaybe should consider extra precautions! Like more people or a firearm… still, it’s a special place and I highly recommend it. I went midweek with the express intent of avoiding other humans, which worked for the most part. Saw some humans but campsites are really private and the place feels just wild. Which I dig. Just be careful with your tasty foods! I keep my trash in a separate cooler to minimize the smell— not sure if it works but it feels safer. Lots of birds, no other critters. Probably because of ALL THE BEARS. 🙂

Perfect

Get your supplies and firewood ahead of time! Takes too long to go get more and you’ll want to stay in the canyon the whole time you’re there. I could easily spend every day for a month hiking around and still not feel like I’ve seen it all, so I didn’t want to have to bounce out and spend a few hours getting more firewood. That said, it’s a magical place with amazing stars, and even the more wide open campsites are far enough from others to feel private.

Happy place

I just really enjoy the layout of this campground, the nice big bear boxes, and the park ranger who has a cat in his truck sometimes when he cruises around.

Stunning views, friendly skunks.

Read a book in one sitting watching the sun set.

Loved it

It rained the whole 3 nights I was here in October, but that isn’t the campgrounds fault! It was beautiful and not terribly busy which I liked. I got the bejeezus scared out of me by what appeared to be maybe a bobcat walking back from the bathroom to my campsite—never saw it but it sounded like a crying baby?! Which, honestly, just made it all more awesome.

Good stuff

Had to switch sites because of a rattlesnake den. EXACTLY what I wanted, frankly.