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...
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.
On the eastern side of the Great Smoky Valley,You could probably see it from US 50 if you knew where to look. Turns south off 50 onto 376, and almost immediately there is a turnoff to a pretty good gravel road heading straight as an arrow south into the flats. Follow that 6-ish miles, and you will find the hpt springs!
It's actually free, but there's a suggested donation of $5. Climb >4,000' of narrow curvy road out of Bishop to get to the Bristlecone Pine Forest, and your bonus is this sweet little campground. There are no numbered sites, it's all kind of freeform in a nice way. Short walks get you spectacular views west to the Sierras across the Owens valley, and east into the interior of Nevada.
Sites sprinkled around giant rocks. Nice little 1.7 mile loop trail. Beautiful, restful place, even when crowded.
If it were 30° cooler, this would be spectacular, but it's just too hot tonight. It's set up as a tents-only area on a little peninsula on the lake, but there's no one else here, so I'm hanging in the parking lot. The bathroom (with shower!) seems to be of recent construction and is very nice. The stifling heat and stillness became kinda neat after a while...
A quiet little loop of campsites right off US 158. The rest of the park - Visitors Center, access to the Millpond, trails - are a couple of miles to the west then south. Very pleasant place.
The is the campground of the North Unit of the TRNP. It's quite pleasant.
Old, charmingly decrepit place on the Snake River south of Boise. The hot springs is basically a spring-fed indoor swimming pool. It's a nice temperature, especially after you find the 3-4 spots where the hot water comes in. There's a basketball hoop and 20-30 little beachballs floating around, so one can pass the time shooting hoops.
east of the highway, by farther than I thought! No hint of the ocean nearby, just the peaceful babbling creek and the mid-growth coastal redwoods. Site 12 is super-sweet as long as no one takes site 11. Those people will cut into my buzz :)
Right on the Umpqua, at the very edge of the little hamlet of Oakland OR. It's small so it could fill up fast, but darn it's a sweet little spot tucked away in an unlikely part of Oregon. I came here on an August Friday and it was FULL. It's a perfect place to go tubing on the river, so I'm (sad but) not surprised.
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!
The park has stunning Utah-like weird-shaped colorful rocks, and it is a treat to stay here overnight.
Your two choices are tent camping and parking lot. It's a small lot, and everybody but me was running their generators till 10. Whatever is special and interesting about this park is not apparent from the road.
quiet, road nearby but it's not busy, in a young redwood forest, at the edge of the National Forest. First good place to stop east of Red Bluff.
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.
Nine miles south of beautiful Utah 12. Yet another scenic red rock wonderland. Basin Campground is the main one, with a paved road, hookups and running water. This one is a short ways off on a gravel side road, pit toilet and no other amenities. But it's quiet and very pleasant.
Aquatic recreation paradise. swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, scubaing. You can swim or snorkel in the mouth of the spring Checkout is 3 pm.
Odd place. Separate bathhouses for men and women, nudity required. Camping is available in glorified parking lot across the road overlooking the settlement pond. No potable water, must drive a couple of miles for that. Really interesting salt flats area at the edge of town. In the last couple of years a pair of restaurants have opened. And breweries!
Somewhere between Natural Bridges NP and Lake {Powell (Hite UT) there is a sign to turn off for a Historical Marker. On that turnoff there is at least one really quite nice place to camp. There was already a fire ring, so I know it's OK! A couple of miles south of the Jacobs Chair sign.
This is Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and every site in all three campgrounds along Route 199 is taken. Somewhat depressed, I turned on the newly paved road on the other side of the creek from Patrick Creek Campground, and surprise, there was an area where clearly folks had camped before a few miles up the road. It's quite nice, right by the creek, and no one has bothered me - woo!