This time I brought a friend who hadn't been here before.
As usual, the staff was great! Very friendly at our arrival and in the evening while performing their drive-by checks.
This time I actually tried the showers and I was not disappointed. Great water pressure, plenty warm and cleaner than you might expect. Sure, there are some bugs that get in, but it was way nicer than showering in my van.
The bathrooms are well maintained and stocked with paper towels and tp. They really do a nice job here.
The riding was great. We were in awe of how empty it was. Father's Day weekend and we never came across anyone else on the trails.
We did have to relocate. My buddy couldn't get his RV into the hillside spot we'd reserved - M49 I think it was.
For BLM camping, this was a great option. Close to town so we could go get our 5% beers on tap (or real beer to go) and some great food at both Moab and Proper, and close to most of the MTB trails we were there for. In fact, at the end of this road is the KlonZo trail network. That's a really nice set of trails if you don't want to drive.
I mention selection because if you show up late, you'll be left with some of the spots close to the road. Those will get noise and dust from the passing vehicles and UTVs.
The spot we got was okay. We arrived on a Wednesday and it was mostly empty. Friday night was when things filled up and people doubled up in some spots. Good way to make friends and share beers. We didn't mind.
If you go about 1 mile in, there are some nicely sheltered spots to the right. The tradeoff is that your view of the sunset is probably blocked.
Pit toilets distributed adequately and a trash dumpster near the exit.
We also had fair Verizon cell coverage.
Since my initial visit in 2021 I've been back 4 or 5 times now. I guess that means I like it.
Generally, it's a great place - especially for mountain biking fans. Perhaps also for fishing and other activities, but that's outside my scope of interest.
On my first return visit I went to the same spot as the first visit. It was a bad choice - crowded and full of RVs who ran their generators all night long. The next morning I scouted out some better spots. The ranger was quite accommodating and allowed me to move to a quiet spot on top of a hill. This area has become my "go to" as it's close to the Exchequer trailhead and away from boaters.
Subsequent visits have been much better.
Could be a 5 star place, but shade is hard to come by in some areas and some clusters of camp sites get noisy when they're used by groups.
None of my complaints will stop me from going again - the trails are great and keep getting better.
The photos are from various visits.
Having visited Lake County many times, I wasn't expecting much from this camp ground. I had intended to camp at Boggs Forest - my usual hangout for mountain biking when in the area. Turns out it's closed to camping now, so I took a flyer and looked at this park. I managed to grab what appeared to be the last spot available for the Friday and Saturday night stay I had planned. And it was a spot next to the water!
The spots are a bit close, but there are many options available - from waters edge on the creek or lake, to hilltops with views of the lake.
The bathrooms were clean, but I showered at the back of my van and didn't need to obtain any tokens to use theirs.
There are hiking trails, a boat launch, bbq pits, food storage lockers and a pretty good amount of trees to shade the camp sites.
I think next time I'd opt for a spot along the creek instead of the lake. They look to be better shaded, but may get more drive by traffic.
I did happen to be here during a heat spell - 104 was the high yesterday. The shade definitely helped!
I will be back since it's a convenient location for me - 20 mins from my father in Lakeport, 30 mins from Highland Springs and 40 from Boggs Forest. Oh… and the bugs are not at Al what you might expect. At least for me. They weren’t bad at all. I didn’t even need the screens on my van, but the zapper was busy at dusk. Update as I’m still here: for some reason the toilets no longer flush. After all those beers I figured it’d be polite to use a toilet to return them to their maker, but the first bathroom had a large deposit waiting for me. I tried to flush it, but nothing. Went next door. Only per in this one, and it wouldn’t flush either. Oh well. I added to the color of the bowl. Oddly, the faucet worked. At least I was able to wash my hands.
To be honest, I didn't experience much of the campground, but that parts that I did were above my expectations. A friend and I went in March of 2021 to ride the mountain bike trails. I reserved our spots on-line with no knowledge of the layout aside from the PDF map. It turns out I picked a nicely isolated spot with great hill top views.
Down the hill from us - about 1/8 mile - was a nicely maintained bathroom. as my buddy said, it was a 4.5 of 5 stars. It was clean, smelled good and, get this, had nice toilet paper! This was a pleasant surprise after a night of tacos and beer.
Our spaces were basic, but included covered picnic benches. These came in handy for drying our wet biking clothes.
Shortly after our arrival the nice ranger rolled by to say hi. I imagine he may have had other objectives, but since you can't get in without passing through the ranger station I can't imagine it was to check our permit.
The place was not crowded (rain was in the forecast, and the forecast was accurate), so we can't tell what it's like when full. The rain didn't impact the trails much - they drain well and have a lot of sand it seems - so we rode upon arrival, again after a few beers that afternoon, again the next morning and again after a couple beers that afternoon. On day 3 I stuck around by myself just to enjoy the solitude. It was a good move.
During our stay I think there was a fishing competition. Down the hill and around the corner was a boat launch and that place looked to have some activity. Regardless, the lake wasn't obnoxiously noisy as some lakes can become.
Overall we were very pleased with the camping and the trails. I know the area gets really hot in summer, so it may not be great then. We plan to return in the fall after the height of camping season subsides and the temps becomes moderate.
I used to be a Boggs regular, so it’s sad to see what remains after the fires five years ago. None the less, I still come here to enjoy the new growth, the impressive new trails and the new views of the valleys below.
It’s Labor Day weekend and I’m one of maybe a half dozen campers. That makes me the loudest and most obnoxious one here I imagine. College football streaming and beer drinking after mountain biking? And it’s midnight while I post this. I’m the problem. But when I mute the tv it’s crickets and gentle breezes. I love this place still. Will be back in spite of the $25 per night fee. It’s worth it.