I had an initial bad impression because not only do I not get a shower for $24, I don't even get a flush toilet! There is water for RV hookup, but no indoor plumbing, just a clean, unisex outhouse. The lady makes the very good point that everyone is here for the hot springs, and they have showers. On the other hand I am in a nice, grassy, spot a three minute drive (or a long walk) from the Lava Hot Springs pools. So all in all, pretty good. There are some heavily used, long haul train tracks a few hundred yards away that shake the earth a couple of times in the night.
A dusty little municipal park conveniently located right off I-25 in a sad-looking part of New Mexico.
Not real happy here. I am tired and there's no other good options around here, but this is a lot to pay for a place to park. Once I get past check-in, it turns out that the mosquitoes are almost too vicious to deal with. Despite the heat and humidity I live with all doors closed. On the other hand, it's nearly full moon, and along with mosquitoes they have fireflies! So I bundle up i my long pants and hoodie and go on a delightful moonlight walk around the gravel roads of the park. Staying in the open fields of course - the bugs are truly unbearable when you venture into the wooded areas.
Right on scenic Fish Lake. Very pleasant. Next time I will try Fish Lake Campground, which is very close and only a few hundred yards from Fish Lake Resort.
Adventurous spirit and 2 bumpy miles of gravel pays off! All to myself on this warm Friday night. Beautiful spacious canyon and a fast flowing river. Reminds me very much of the river and canyon outside Yakima WA. Similar climate and similar geology (400' thick basalt lava flows as far as the eye can see). We are on the Deschutes River - a Wild and Scenic River at this point, right across the river from the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.
Pleasant, well laid out, reasonably priced campground.
On a gentle downslope between I-84 and the railroad tracks and then the mighty Columbia River, between Hood River and The Dalles. They have a ton of tent sites (80-ish?), so I easily got a nice spot at 4 PM on Fourth of July Friday - woo! Downhill I can see the river between the trees, and hear the train when it comes through, and uphill is the constant sound of the interstate - as regular and monotonous as the Pacific surf I tell myself :)
Hot water pops out of the ground at numerous places around here. Get the Cal/Nev Hot Springs book for details. Today I went to the first one off Whitmore Tubs Road, called "Hot Tub" in the book, "Rock Tub" on the PDF. It was just excellent for one or two people. This is BLM land so I think you can camp. I did not this time.
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.
They have a parking lot dedicated to overnighters and trucks carrying boats/trailers. There's one very comfy stop next to a tree. It's really handy for me as an overnight before Harbin.
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.
Nice welcome center with big parking lot where you can part pretty far from the semis. Free coffee in the morning!
expensive, but quite nice really. great beach, little nature trail through the swamp, gazebo.
Finally, an easy place to stay in Tonopah! I guess it's been here all along, I just never noticed it. The Banc Club is a modest little building full of slot machines, and they have a large gravel parking lot next door with a sign that says RVs welcome! An easy walk to downtown Tonopah ... such as it is.
Another Inyo County campground along one of those "Creeks" controlled by LA Water Authority. Dusty and low tech, but very pretty. If you come on a summer weekend you run the risk of real asshole neighbors.
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.
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.
Cafe conjures up an image of a modest little restaurant. This place is HUGE! A multiple tour bus handling, multi-roomed dining hall and entertainment complex. I was kinda put off by the style, but the servers were nice, the food was good and plentiful, and it was fun! As part of their hillbilly hospitality thing one is welcome to sleep in the parking lot! For all my snobbishness about it, it was actually very pleasant. Everything about my night and morning in Sykesville was very nice.
Oh, this place is soooo nice! It is now the same management as Miracle Hot Springs, so for your $10 ($8 for senior) you can go to both. Camping over here is both cheaper and way nicer. The Miracle soaking setup is way better (see their Spot entry), so driving to Miracle for your soak and staying here the rest of the time is the best bet. Banbury is a very large concrete pool, with very hot water coming out one place and cold water as many other places as needed. It is next to the river. No wifi.
Modest motel with a Perkins restaurant in downtown Great Falls. Checkout time is 1 pm!
Campground is less than a mile off 395 on a good gravel road. It's free and the campsites are quite spacious.