A mile or so north of Cave Campground is a gravel road (called Wander Lane on the Google map) and a bridge over Hat Creek. If you follow that road you will see a couple of good campsites.
itty bitty reservoir, campground was unexpectedly full with someone's family reunion, so I drove a mile further on up the road and camped in a meadow. Worked out fine.
Small campground on a little strip of hillside between beautiful Odell Lake and busy Route 58, the through-fare between Eugene and the interior. There's a nice boat launch, fish-cleaning station, some pull-through sites - all the amenities for your grizzled old fisher-dude. Site 15 is a not quite level site facing right on the lake (down a 40' embankment). No sounds but the lapping of the waves and the wind in the trees ... and the semis on Route 58. It faces west. Sunset reflected off the lake and through the trees is spectacular. This would be a perfect place to launch a kayak.
very pretty, nestled in the bowl of a lovely alpine lake
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.
A lonely outpost of Mendocino National Forest - a little chunk of federal land next to the diversion dam. The parking lots are huge, making it seem like it was full of action back when the dam was being used create the diversionary lake. Emptying the dam a couple of decades ago was sad for the boaters of Red Bluff, but great for the salmon, who were being killed off by the salmon ladder. This beautiful campground suffers from being too close to the town of Red Bluff. The bathroom has a security code to prevent random weirdos from moving in.
on a little creek near the busy road = occasionally sketchy neighbors
In the Lakes District between Graeagle and Bassett. The other campgrounds on this road are $20-24, but this one is $10. It has no water, and is pretty rough around the edges, but it's on the lake and pretty sweet. The boat launch area is in the campground. There are a few select campsites right on the lake, but they are close together and crowded with big rigs, so I elect to go down the road a bit. By rule all sites are on the away from the lake side of the road; but the lake is still very close. I did not check it out, but I think there is a trail all the way to the Gold Lake Highway, and maybe even all the way around the lake.
Small but very handy campground 50 mile north of Susanville. Very near the road, but the road is not heavily traveled. The stream is very small but pretty
bad: right next to a dusty, gravel road good: right next to a happily burbling brook I am here because the campground a mile away is closed for the season, so my hope is there won't be much traffic on this road tonight.
About 6 miles from Fowler's Camp. I've not stayed here, but I did a drive-thru and it looks very nice. Big, level shaded sites. It lacks the cool factor of being on the river near multiple waterfalls but there is a "swimming hole" a couple of miles away,
perfect spot to camp for the beach. On a small bluff, so you're camping off the sand in the pines, but the beach is only about 30 steps down the hill. I will come back here.
Been here twice, and it was a little bit weird both times. Drive for six-ish miles up the side of the mountain, then get to a quiet campground on the point of land between a creek and a smaller creek. Both times it has seemed gloomy here. Both times I have been really happy driving back down the mountain to get out of here.
Finally stayed here, after driving by so many times! So far, I like Cave CG better, but it's quiet and big enough to find an uncrowded spot, and Hat Creek is perhaps even more awesome here!
Pleasant campground a few hundred yards uphill from Lake Almanor, restaurant/bar within walking distance.
About a mile off the highway. Pretty crowded on Memorial Day weekend, considering there's nothing here. I am here because it's only 11 miles from Pagosa Springs.
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.
The place to go to when you can't go to Glacier NP. On US 2 which skirts the southern edge of the park. Nice campground, recently renovated, but somehow they couldn't get the brand new parking pads level.
The most Difficult thing about this place is getting a site! ha,ha. 4.5 winding miles from Aspen make this the budget way for the rest of us to be able to exist for a few days in Aspen.
13 miles up the Chetco River from Brookings, then 1/2 miles straight down a steep bluff to the long, wide stony gravel bed which is Miller Bar. The Chetco in front of my site is about 10 inches deep at it's deepest, but about 40' wide. The rocks are covered in bright green algae, but it's not too cold so I had a pleasant horizontal soak. Just drive along the gravel, park wherever you want, and you're home free,
at the end of beautiful Silver Lake. Probably has great lake swimming/kayaking in the summer. Sites 16-27-ish have best lake access. Spectacular fall color spot. All the June Loop campgrounds no longer allow checking yourself in at the kiosk. A stressed-out concession employee must come and personally check you in. A step backwards, IMO.