On the east side of the lake, making for spectacular sunsets over the water every night. Very quiet and beautiful and delightful. The big north-south highway and train tracks are pretty close and carry big noisy trucks and trains respectively.
spent more time at my site this time - very pleasant, woodpeckers and that nice pine tree smell!
hyper-busy tonight, first night of the season, Memorial Day weekend. It would be restful and pleasant next to the happy little creek most nights I think. As a campground, this is nicer than Sardine up the hill. I walked up to Sardine Lake, which was a very pleasant hike, with some excellent sunset views ... if you don't mind walking along the highway. They raised the price again this year here too.
Pleasant but boring BLM campground a couple of miles west of the tiny town of Junction City. Lots of road noise. A particularly boring stretch of the Feather River is right across the highway.
Elevation: 9,700 ft The first campground after leaving Yosemite at Tioga Pass. You see the lake pretty much when you leave the park, and the campground is near where the lake level used to be before climate change and the LA Water Authority stole all the water. There is a spectacular view up the valley and some way down the valley. It was full at 5:30 on a September Monday, Most of the sites are paired up, their two parking places together then separate paths to the picnic table and tent area for each. Not the greatest for van living, although the parking spot net to #2 is good.
Kind of a shabby little place. But very handy on the Pagosa Springs-Durango run. I'm hatin' because I think $18 is too much, but that's Colorado.
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 third one, about six miles out. It is three sections, the pay station is in the middle. A campsite consists of a picnic table and a fire pit close to a busy road, that's it. But you are on the Colorado River!
between I-5 and the Rogue River, a very pleasant, user-friendly place. The only loops open happen to all have full hookups, but the nice folks agree that if you don't use 'em you don't pay for 'em, so it's a $15 tent site! Great hike along the river, followed by my first shower since the hot springs, so I am feeling pretty good!
A few short miles up the canyon from lovely Logan UT. The next campground up, Spring Hollow sounded nicer, but was FULL on Labor Day Friday. My modest little campground is NOT reservable, so there were still two of the ten sites available. I feel lucky.
on a little creek near the busy road = occasionally sketchy neighbors
A very handy spot, right outside St Marks Wildlife Refuge. A great place to spend more time someday.
A really low-tech campground, a handful of sites carved out of a gully right next to the highway.
At the Rainbow Road exit off I-80. On the South Yuba River. Super nice place, even if the freeway is 200 yards away. If you're familiar with the Bay Area to Reno run on I-80, there's a place where it crosses some beautiful rapids. This is about ½ mile downstream from that.
on a lovely little aspen-lined creek a few miles above Bishop. You can go even farther up either road and come to a lake, but this is a nice compromise, in the valley below the fork in the road. Save a few miles of driving straight up. Behind a big-ass moraine which cuts the valley in two. It's open and very pretty, with the annoying corporate management that most (all?) of the Inyo Forest campgrounds have.
Smack on the way from Reno to Eureka, where CA 44 meets CA 89. A geologically interesting valley. A giant, recent lava flow that feels like the recovering disaster area it is. The Lava Cave is a short walk across the highway. The Forest Service keeps one campground open all winter, and it is this one. A deep blanket of pine needles makes it quiet except for the occasional truck on 89.
Beautiful, idyllic spot on NV 208 right on the West Walker River. In the shade of a row of stately old cottonwoods, it's quite spacious and has at least four really nice RV spots right in the river.
Elevation 7,800'. Across the valley from busy US 40. Open, well-maintained, paved roads. Pretty deluxe as these things go, but nothing to do that i could see. From here it's straight downhill for a long time to Heber City There's a resort with restaurant and store right up the hill, but you gotta drive to it.
Making their way back to the Bay Area. A nice house on a busy street walking distance from user-friendly downtown Petaluma.
On good ole CA 89 a few miles north of Truckee. Drove by here many times, finally staying. Boring but handy! There are two campgrounds here about a mile apart, Lower Little Truckee and Upper Little Truckee. Theis not difference between them.
Driven past many times, finally stopping! Good news: It's in a lush, peaceful crevice in the mountains along a little burbling stream which opens onto a driftwood-strewn beach 1/2 mile away. Bad news: US 101, also runs through the same narrow crevice so you rarely hear the burbling stream. You hear semis rocketing past 40 yards away all night. In the summer, you can camp in the Lower Loop, 600 yds from the beach. In the winter you have to walk (or bike!) an extra mile from the Upper Loop.
