At the mouth of the John Day River. Mostly families with big boats and big RVs. Like Army Corps campgrounds in general, it's a highly controlled place. I-84 is 1/3 mile away and it is line of sight with nothing but water between it and you, so it's pretty noisy. Quite pretty though, looking right out on the bay ... between the parallel parked big rigs and all their big toys.
How have I not known about this place?! It was nearly perfect in every way for what I like to do on the road. Common Room next to the office with satellite tv. The pool is awesome. Maybe 100' across, 2-4' deep mostly, with incredibly, life-threateningly hot water comong in from the southeast end, and cooling jets shooting out from the south, so you simply ewade in and find your spot!
Stayed here twice. Once for a quaint little folk-rock/garage-rock festival across the road (Hickeyfest!), and once on a sultry August night returning from Eureka to Reno. The South Eel River is 200' below, US 101 is about 100 away, and quite loud if a loud truck or motorcycle goes past.
Keyhole State Park covers quite an extensive corner of the Keyhole Reservoir, and there are 6-ish separate campgrounds. The main road is paved, but the campground roads are gravel, leading me to deduce that the bigger the loop, the more gravel dust will cover you as the diesel trucks go round and round. So I am at Arch Rock Campground, the first loop and one of the smallest. Also, no boat ramp means fewer trucks.
20 miles north of Ketchum Route 75 opens up into a beautiful, wide valley. The road follows the west side, the Big Wood River is on the east side, and along here there is a big, flat open area in between, with good-ish gravel roads over to the edge of the river where many dispersed campsites are set up. Pretty cool! This is the same river that flows through Ketchum and Sun Valley.
lovely spot in the valley beneath the cape. Lots of little hikes, and the rocky coast.
A simple loop campground on an east-facing hillside above Frenchman's Lake. I like the inside of the upper loop with my living room facing the lake. It's quiet and pretty and the sun is on the other side of the van. Eight very scenic miles north of Chillcoot. For much of the drive the beautiful Sierra Valley spreads out to your left. Then you enter the canyon of Last Chance Creek, the outflow of the lake. Hundred foot lava cliffs, dramatic formations. Then boom! you're at the dam. The other two lakeside campgrounds have flush toilets. Maybe they are more deluxe?
Very handy, right off US 50 on a really long, really boring road with the only other option being roadside pull-offs. Far enough off the road to be very quiet. The short petroglyph trail takes you to a west facing view over a the Big Smokey Valley, and a nice sunset.
Developed yet rustic and primitive, if that makes any sense. It's laid out nicely, but seems terribly underused and under-maintained. There are non-working no water spigots and a "No Water" sign. The fact that the Forest Service charges only $5 tells you what you need to know about the condition of the place. I however am liking it just fine and am happy to be here! Yellow Pine Campground is 1/2 away, much bigger and more open, but also underused and under-maintained. Six campers in a 40 site place on Fourth of July
Heading north out of Moab, take a left before the Colorado River and head upstream. There are a string of BLM campgrounds along the river. This is the sixth one, about eight miles out. It is more deluxe than Drinks Canyon, it actually has a bathroom and a dumpster! Campsites here are bigger, RV sized, but equally Spartan -- a picnic table and a fire pit, that's it. But you are on the Colorado River!
Elevation 9,800' No wonder I'm a huffin and puffin A real gem of a campground, at the edge of a high mountain meadow. Today there is one a-hole running his totally unshielded generator all afternoon. Other than that, a really, nice, almost perfect campground. A google comment says the Continental Divide Trail runs through the campground. Explains those two "Trail" signs.
no assigned sites, just a big field. hot springs are in an old barn-like structure, very pleasant
Fifth spring in a row! Also a fishery. This may be the fishiest yet! Quite large, there is a lodge with a nice restaurant up the hill. There is wifi strong enough I could use it from my van ... but it only worked for the last 6 hours of my two days there. There was live bluegrass music in the Lodge on Friday night!
Elevation 8,800'. Small, very handy campground in the high mountains Route 12 traverses between Boulder and Torrey. All the other campgrounds up here are closed for the season.
Pretty, spectacular view down the length of Walker Lake. You can hear the neverending semis on US 95, but they are pretty far up the hill. You come to the main campground first. I find out later this is the only unlocked bathroom. It's nice enough, but the sites are not level. After you wind down a few more hundred feet, past the boat ramp, there are more camp sites, a couple of which are nice and level. If only the bathroom door was unlocked...
Lovely spot at 7,000'-ish on the south side of a little alpine lake. On the north side is Summit Lake North Campground which costs $2/night more. It has flush toilets and sinks with running water. It has the shambling, kinda charming disorganization I associate with National Park campgrounds. Sites are not very level, but there's a lake to swim in and you're in an awesome place!
The park has stunning Utah-like weird-shaped colorful rocks, and it is a treat to stay here overnight.
The campground is quite nice by western National Park standards. It isn't very exciting per se, but the greater CCC-built Big Meadows complex and Skyline Drive is awesome! The lodge, the trails, the trail signs all have that 1930's feel to them. I love it.
Here three days, for a Labor Day party with friends. Sites 7 and 9 are the PERFECT sites, roomy and shaded, and adjoining the lake. Everybody else has to walk around the edges of us to get to the lake. Pretty excellent place to hang out for the three day weekend. The only drag for me is that $25 is pretty steep for little ole me to hang out in the van. For me and six of my friends, whole different story!
1.6 miles of unpleasant washboardy gravel road. The same turnoff as Collier State Park - cheaper, and you get what you pay for! Flat, featureless, 3' tall undergrowth and 60' tall ponderosa pines scattered about. There is a trail to the Williamson River about 1/3 mile away.
I have used the hot springs without camping, and lately I have been camping without soaking, so I'm breaking them into two spots. This is the camping spot.When the hot springs road turns left, take a right and park at any of the several rough camping spots. The hot springs is a little less tan a mile further on.