Set up as a horse camp, but regular horse-less citizens can camp here also. Plenty of horse shit around, so it appears that horse people do use it!
Very cool state park a little south of Fort Bragg. There's a waterfall two miles up the canyon, something called Devils Punchbowl on the rocky shore, and lots of other hikes in between.
They moved from a tiny one bedroom on a busy corner to a more spacious two bedroom on a quiet cul de sac in a better neighborhood. Even better, there is an upstairs where I can: 1. sleep, 2. barricade the top of the stairs so the cat can't sleep with me. So woo!
Spent two nights here in two rooms with the extended family for a sixth grade basketball tournament. Every room has a kitchenette. Continental breakfast is very well-stocked. Quite nice!
This place is super user-friendly. There is an RV parking area at the back of the lot, and another across the road behind the reservation gas station. The second one is more level but seemed a little sketchy. I am going for the first. Glad to be here! Wifi was dead for most of the evening, but when it came back it was pretty good. There are a couple of stations in the casino with free coffee and even a cappuccino machine! You can hear the surf at night when the traffic is gone. The ocean is right across the highway, complete with a bench on the bluffs to watch sunset. Sweet little fountain with colored lights to entertain your inner stoner. Nice, friendly place.
Pretty campground and park on a little lake made from damming Putah Creek, the outflow of Lake Berrysea. The park is long and skinny following the south side of the lake/creek for quite a while. On the north side is the fairly busy road from the lake to the freeway. Some trucks and a lot of noisy motorcycles.
On the Pit River, which is a pretty good sized river for Nor Cal in a drought. There are seven campsites and a picnic area next to the river. It's almost exactly 2 steep miles of paved road from 299 to the campground. We are in a HOT spell, 111° in Redding, 100° in the shade right here at my campsite, and I am not digging it. Some of my neighbors give off an aggressive prison vibe, others are creepily too friendly. I guess there are normal neighbors also, but I haven't noticed them.
My friend Jeff lives and works in Reno until Memorial Day, then he commutes to Chester every weekend to run his fruit stand / pie shop / ice creamery / burrito place. It's really fun to hang out here.
Conveniently located next to Interstate 5, which somehow adds to the experience. You can see the semis rocketing along less than a mile away, but you're in another world. There's a nice hike through the marshes and along a tiny creek, and a very nice auto tour with a viewing platform stop in the middle. Sometimes I do the drive then the hike, sometimes the hike then the drive. Sunset looking back across the marshes from the viewing platform can be spectacular.
It pays to call the ranger! I called about spring flowers on these riverside trails (not yet he said), and as long as I was there asked about staying overnight. He said the all the other parking areas were day use only, but the one at the end of the road - Perry Riffle (cool name!) - allows it. So here I am, feeling very pleased about life.
Due west of Chico, about 12 miles on the west side of I-5 is Black Butte Lake. It has two ACE campgrounds, this is the secondary one, it closes in early September. It's a few miles closer to Orland and on a bluff 100 or so feet above the water. Very pleasant.
Not strictly an NWR, but think of it as a wildlife refuge for trout! I didn't have the energy or inclination to explore very much, but they are very welcoming of visitors, and encourage strolling around. It's a lovely drive to get here, along Gover Road, a quiet two-lane hugging a scenic stretch of the Sacramento River. Nice views of Mt Lassen along the Fishery Road.
On a bend in the Trinity River. The main deal here is the heavily used boat ramp, I think the campground was built as an adjunct to it. Just seven sites, a couple of which are really nice. Busy Route 299 is only 30 yards away, so when a truck passes you hear it. Fortunately, the road is not busy after dark. Not quite as torrid as Redding, but still pretty darned hot until the sun goes down.
Nice little resort motel in the Reno getaway party town of Graeagle.
on the South Fork of the Yuba River. very crowded in August. There is an excellent, deep pool in the river right here. The river is shallow and kinda boring at the next campground west - Indian Valley. Sites 6,7,8 are the best, right on the bluff overlooking the river. Best sites: 7 and 8 are on the river, 6 is best site and most private yet convenient to the bridge.
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.
A real find! About a mile off Route 123, at the deserted top end of Eagle Lake. Its a beautiful scrub and pine forest looking out over the lake and the wide valley. Pretty close to Susanville.
busy but pretty quiet, very scenic. nature trail. a short hike past the swimming pond to a great sunset over non-swimming Sardine Lake, shining off the Sierra Buttes to the left.
Nice little spot, 1/2 mile off of 70, on the North Fork of the Feather River, near where it joins the main river. It is not well marked that the campground is at this turnoff so it's easy to drive right past. Once you make the turnoff it's well signed. $25 seems like quite a high price, but the concessionaire needs to make a profit I guess. $12.50 ain't so bad!