Saturdays are such a trial to the hardened traveller. Every site is taken, and it has been raining for days, so the overflow lot is a soggy mess. The nice lady said I could park on the reasonably level pad next to the bathroom. The things I do for a shower.
Infrastructure is all new they say. Pretty happening little spot on a warm November Sunday afternoon. Eight-ish vehicles there when I arrived. There's a bathroom and a viewing area at the parking lot. There were lots of birds right there - mostly pintails, widgeons and shovellers. Also in the distance snow geese, the other goose, a flock of cranes overhead, and across the road, a flock of swans! Then there's a short, 1/3 mile walk out to another viewing area. Pretty sweet little spot. On hte walk was a group of grazing curlews that were kind enough to not fly away as I walked pretty close. I thought I was doing just a drive-by on my way to the main Sacto NWR auto loop, but this was so cool I spent the afternoon here.
Third spring in a row! The campsites are nice, but the place is very remote and I didn't feel good about my neighbors, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I might've. There looked like very nice sites next to the river at the end of the loop (next to the sketchy people)
The only other time in my life I came through here, I thought this place looked completely inviting as I pressed on past, so here I am four years later checkin' it out!. As soon as the sun goes behind the hill it's going to be awesome for 40 minutes or so. Nothing happening here. Sedate white people with American flags and dogs. There is apparently a path to the lake since some dudes headed off with their fishing poles and came back in a couple of hours.
quiet, except for the crows. Arrived at 3-ish on Thursday, plenty of sites. Right next to the dunes, the cool thing to do here is head due west into the dunes. The idea of walking to the beach is very appealing, but a steep hill and two miles of dunes is a lot of sand to slog through.
A shabby but very comfortable little RV park a few miles up the Alsea River from Waldport. A little landing and a snackbar that was open on Sunday.
Still quiet and cheap and convenient, EXCEPT for the generators which always seem to be running here during the permissible hours. But really, a $10 (or $5 for seniors) nice campground 16 miles from the edge of Las Vegas ... gotta take the bad with the good. Checks not accepted, so make sure to have that $5 bill!
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.
The other campground at Bryce, open longer into the fall. I like this one better, more convenient to the Lodge and Visitor's Center (wifi) and right next to the Rim Trail, which is what Bryce is all about.
Expensive for the non-resident, but a nice campground in a spectacular location, on the Chesapeake Bay just a few miles north of where it meets the Atlantic. There is a cool little boardwalk access to the beach, where you can walk along the beach to the boat ramp/picnic area/fishing pier a little south. Really fun place.
Nestled between too-busy US 395 and the West Walker River. Everybody is either a fishermen or folks bombing down 395. The first nice federal campground coming south from Reno. This place should be open more days of the year - closes too early in the fall, opens too late in the summer.
Except for a couple of "view lots" - sites 1 and 2 - the rest of the sites are in a compact bunch, nestled in a little canyon. Right across the road from Gull Lake.
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.
The TVA is almost like the Army Corps, a gigantic federal agency that builds dams then tosses in a few campgrounds around for fun. This one is below the dam, right across the road from the water. It is fun to watch the barges.
On Strom Thurmond Lake, god help me. According to the map I am on the Georgia side of the lake, South Carolina ten miles away. There are a number of ACE campgrounds on the lake. All except this one closed at the end of September.
Right on the lake! Spacious, level, wide-open sites. Stupid reservation-only Army Corps sign-up. Bar and Grill 400 yards up the hill.
This is a California State Park on the western edge of Colusa CA, on the Sacramento River, right where it takes a left turn. Post COVID it is being managed by the City of Colusa rather than the state, and it has a much more mellow feel to it. Anyway ... pre-COVID it wasn't inviting to me. Now it is. Go figure. Bathroom has a key code, shower requires quarters. Over 65 gets $2 off. We are right inside the levee, which is cool. There is a really sketchy trailer park right on the other side of the levee, which is not cool.
The park is pretty cool. It's an easy walk from the campground to the little waterfall, and the boardwalk makes some quite dramatic bridges over the chasm. Yes there is a chasm! Oklahoma State Parks did a very nice job with this. And across the chasm is a frisbee golf course!
Placid little place in tall firs. Swimming beach on the Priest River, boat ramp, kayak friendly. Road noise is not too bothersome.
Pleasant campground a few hundred yards uphill from Lake Almanor, restaurant/bar within walking distance.
Shabby but neat little Willits motel on a quiet stretch of old 101 between downtown and the Safeway intersection. Looks nice from the road, looks really shabby around back, but once inside the room is pretty nice. Next door to the Mariposa Market, which is handy on the morning.