The scenery is something out of an outer space movie, making you feel more like your on a distant planet of bright red sand, black mountains, and crystal blue water.
This is a great place if you are looking to combine fun in the water with 4x4ing in the sand. This is not the place for quiet solitude, there are a lot of camping groups out here, looking to have a loud and rowdy time.
I stayed in the dispersed primitive camping. I thought I had found a quieter place away from most of the big groups. However, out here people are used to camping right next to their neighbors, so within a few hours a caravan of huge diesel motor homes with super long trailers pulled in within 5 feet of the bumper of my truck. Walking the area, this happens a lot. But, the people are super friendly and made sure I had a clear exit for my vehicle.
I drove through the camp grounds. One is close to the entrance with full hookups and level hard packed parking areas. The other is directly across from a pedestrian only beach. Both are nicely laid out, with typical spacing for a state park.
Put toilets re abundant, as are fire rings and picnic tables. There is a cute beach side store for any odds and ends you might need, a quick bite, or to rent off road and on the water toys. This is truly a wonderful family get away!
Make sure to mind the signs about staying on the road. There are designated trails you must take until you are out in the sand dunes. I saw two different groups trying to get vehicles unstuck that had dug in to the sand up to their frames by going in undesignated areas. The sand is super deep and very soft.
The vegetation is mostly low, with very little protection from the wind. There are larger trees right on the waters edge. If the wind picks up, you will find out if your rig is air tight. I had a pretty thick layer of red dust everywhere in my pop-up A-Frame. But, it’s light and soft, so nothing felt gritty… again another example of how this place is out of this world.
Beautiful location! All camp sites overlook the lake. There are flush toilets and outdoor coin showers. If the camp ground fills, they allow primitive camping in the parking lot for a minimal fee. They have tent camping on the beach. All spots are pretty flat and very easy to access, this was a well planned out camp ground.
Pets are welcome in a leash.
The dock for non-motorized water craft is easy to access from the parking lot next to the camp ground. If you do not have gear with you, there is a rental shop in site
There is a motorized vehicle dock, but it isn’t near the campground, I didn’t see it coming in or going out. But, I did see a couple of motorized boats on the water.
The stars were pretty and I didn’t hear it see a single bug while walking outside at night.
This is a hidden gem just outside of Hurricane, Utah. I was there during Spring Break, the weather was mild, but very few people were on the lake or dock. I will be coming back soon.
This KOA is located as close to the water as you can get. It literally shares a wall with the boat docks and boat dock parking. You can see the sandy beach across the street.
You are minutes from launch points for both power or paddle sports. If you want a site seeing tour, they take off from the parking lot next to the KOA.
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is 30 minutes to the North. Monterey Bay is 30 minutes to the South. There are lots of places to explore in between each.
There are multiple restaurants within walking distance. There were always lots of people waiting to be seated, so I’m guessing they are the place to go. One block away is a huge farmers market with fantastic prices.
The sites are super deep, all are 50’ in depth. There are lots of super rigs that are pushing the 50’ they have available. Each sites has a picnic table, grass between the sites, and beautiful landscaping. They offer all the amenities you could need.
The staff is amazing. They were able to get us in early and sent someone over to help guide us into our site.
Cons:
- Every site is a back in site.
- The park is tightly packed.
We happened upon this RV Park as a drop in when our other park was not available. What a pleasant surprise! We’ll be making this our go to spot when traveling through the Gilroy area from now on.
For starters, the staff is wonderful. So friendly. Just an FYI, if they have open spots after the office closes they put out packets for up to 2 pull thru and 2 back in spots for late arrivals without a reservation.
Pros
- Great central location!
- Roomy spaces, by RV park standards.
- Water, sewer, electric, WiFi, and trash.
- Propane on-site for purchase.
- Laundry mat on site. Prices more reasonable than going to a laundry mat off site.
- Showers and restrooms.
- Truly dog welcoming, with multiple dog poop baggy bins and a dog run so your best friend can run leash free. They even gave my dog premium dog treats upon arrival. Wow!!
- A really nice pool.
- Wide back in spots, with wide roadways. Even a novice RVer can back it up with out concern.
- This place can accommodate truly large rigs, there were quite a few of them during our visit.
- There are likely long term rentals, but I couldn’t point them out because all the sites were neat and clean with flowers and landscaping. The park was super quiet.
- Open, lush grassy area.
Cons:
- It’s an RV park, so there is a lot of smooth new concrete and the sites are close together. If you want natural turf and more space, you’ll need to give up the amenities and go to a State Park or Forest.
We stayed for one night as we were passing thru from Oregon to Central California.
Pros
- No cell service
- In the trees, very secluded
- Flush potties.
- Nice swimming hole, the water was warm in mid June. This seems to be the primary attraction for this area. Most of the families were gathered along the shore and playing in the water.
- Hiking straight out of the camp ground. But, it is a very steep trail, so make sure you bring a walking stick(s) and wear proper gear. This is also a heavy bear area, so pack your bear spray.
- Best for tent or car camping.
- Nice fire pits, wood for sale at office
- Fantastic place for kids… so many families with young children.
- The camp host and other campers were really friendly.
Cons
- Close to the road, we heard vehicles all night. We were in a hard sided camper two rows away from the road and could hear them inside. It’s got to be really loud for people closer and in tents.
- Tight spots and everyone is packed closely together (Check out the video).
- No electric, site water, dumping, or showers.
- Not suited for most RVs and travel trailers, you need to be very small and fully self contained. Our 19’ A-Line barely fit into our spot. The sites are close together, short, with roots coming up in the road and parking areas, and sharp angled turns to get into your spot. A lot of spot have over hanging tree limbs. We made it in our spot because our camper is super low profile during travel mode. Would not have been able to fit under the tree limbs with a normal camper.
- Hwy 36 from the 101 is very curvy with lots of narrow areas and very few turn offs.
- Not a good place for dogs, very few areas they are allowed other than your camp site. Upon arriving we receive a yellow sheet letting us know why our dog was a problem for wildlife in this area and all the reasons we should not bring him with us next time.
Over all, I this campground would be a fun place for families, wanting to disconnect from technology for a weekend of tent camping.
One of the best places we have camped at in the Oregon Coast and so close to amazing attractions. The bathrooms have flush potty’s, the showers are no fee, and super nice. There is no sewer dumping at the park, so plan accordingly. They do have grey water dumping, trash, drinking water, and electricity.
If your going to stay at this park here’s some tips for sites we thought were the best and worst, along with some fun places to visit.
Avoid sites: 22- Floods 33-If you have small children due to the water runoff being directly through the camp 34- Floods 36, 6 and 4-if tent camping it turns into one big wet spot
Avoid 52, 12 and 13 there horribly packed together
Best spots: 47- seems like one of the best spots with a fan hobbit hole at the back nice and level parking fairly secluded looking forest area and centrally located near the restrooms and other facilities 11, 10, 9, 8, 25- are fantastic spots pretty far from the bathrooms 16 and 17- are nice locations and near facilities
Best places to visit: Harris Beach had the best tides pools and sunsets. Use the top parking lot and walk down the long path for the best tide pools. Use the bottom parking lot for the best sun set.
Lone Beach was a great place to wander around, had some tide pools, and great picnic areas.
Pistol River Scenic Viewpoint was so much fun. One side is a calm river, on the other side of the sand dunes you have the ocean surf. There were so few people my kids and dog ran around for hours.
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park was a maniacal place to explore. We enjoyed hours of easy hikes through the trees and groves.
All of these places were about 30 minutes from the camp ground.
I stayed at this park with my daughter and dog for one night while passing through.
The facilities are very clean, showers have nice hot water for a minimal fee.
The dog park is small, but well maintained with poop bags on site for your use.
The RV Park workers were fantastic, checked on us during set up to make sure we had what we needed.
There are obviously quite a few long term renters at the park, but they showed pride in there homes and area. Everyone’s areas were clean and orderly, and the park was incredibly quiet.
Only down side is the sites are tightly packed together. My door was only a couple off feet off of my neighbors hook ups. When the camper next to us packed up in the morning, we were outside by our door. The smell of sewage was pretty strong, we just went in our camper and waited for him to finish up.
Worth a stop for the money if your going to be in the area.
My daughter and I are camping in an Aliner travel trailer and are on a 3 week trip from NV to OR. This was one of our primary stops along the way.
The campground is in a beautiful setting, easy to get to, and right off the Highway. The other reviews that say it is noisy are correct, but we reserved a pull thru spot next to the river, the sound of the water helped to drown out the road noise. By dinner time the traffic was light and by bed time it was not an issue. You have direct access by pathways to the Truckee River and lots of places to set up and relax by the river for the day.
The bathrooms are clean and well maintained. The camp just was friendly and nonintrusive. There are near boxes and dumpsters. Fresh water is available at a couple of locations around the campground.
We drove to Tahoe City in 20 minutes, beautiful view of the Truckee River the whole way. We also went to Truckee, downtown was a 10 minute drive from the campground.
We will be coming back again many more times in the future.
My daughter and I stopped here on our way from Las Vegas to Reno. The campground is easy to locate, directly off the Highway. The vault toilets were out of service due to broken locks at the hill top location, they maybe functional down below. There were very few people there, so we had the pick if locations. Be prepared that the sites are on a slope and very rough condition, so you need levelers. However, the view of stars at night were amazing. We had a gorgeous view of the Milky Way around 3am, only rivaled by the view in Great Basin NP. The weather was a good 20 degrees cooler than Las Vegas and then evening breeze made for a comfortable even.