A really nice spot, a fisherman's dream I imagine. This a tailwater campground, that is to say build below the dam on the river. Most of the campsites are right on the river, so folks were fishing right out of the back of their campsites.
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.
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.
I am in Thumper Loop! A lovely, very well maintained large campground. The area is thick grass, but a wide area is mowed around each campsite. Very pleasant place to be out of the madness of Black Hills traffic.
odd check in: 1. pick a site, 2. drive 2 miles to the office, 3. drive back. Very nice campground and park, though.
Always totally full and very crowded, but not tonight! It's another little cove, the outlet of the Little River. State Beach on the west side of the road, campground and parking for the trails on the east side. Up the canyon is the Fern Canyon Trail, a lovely hike with a lot of dramatic fallen redwoods and tall pines. The canyon is very steep and the soil is slippery so at some point they just have to fall. The beach is rocky, but it's a cool anyway. A self contained vehicle like mine can pay the $45/43 fee and park in the beach parking lot
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.
Two campgrounds in one! A nice little tent campground on a knoll jutting into the lake, and a section of the boat ramp parking lot. RVs can only go to the latter. Since I sleep in my vehicle I'm supposed to sleep in the boat lot with the big boys, but there's already a pickup camper setting up, and it turns out that this time of year with only 8-10 site taken, nobody cares..
Only thing going between Lone Pine and Death Valley. It looked a lot more alluring when driving past than it does now that I'm staying here. Maybe when I get a beer and hang out on the veranda I'll like it better. It does have showers! Register at the gas station, not the restaurant as you might expect.
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!
On the lake side of 89, a little harbor and campground next to the Native American-owned resort next door. The marina is closed because of the lake level. The highway to the south curves around the campground, so you are closer to the noisy trucks and fleets of motorcycles than you would at first think - not a good thing.
I came here 15 years ago with abalone-diving City friends. I'm not even sure that's a thing any more. Anyway, the campground is still here and it's still awesome. They have spots available when no one else does, and it's the simplest check-in ever: Pay them ($5 off for cash!), they give you a receipt for your windshield and tell you to park at any picnic table/fire ring that's not occupied. The rest of the world seems to get more complicated and bureaucratic, but this is the easiest damn check-in I've ever experienced. Checkout 2pm. Ocean Cove Bar and Grille is a sweaty uphill 3/4 mile walk away. Basic bar food, but great view of the ocean and campground.
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 Lake Mendocino, off SR 20 a few miles east of 101. Annoying access road with 6 or ten speed bumps, but a very pleasant place once you've been assigned your spot by the check-in. Nice, free showers! The bathroom lights are quite bright, so a spot that looks nice in the afternoon might be kind of annoying at night.
Beautiful lakeside setting. No alcoholic beverages allowed in Tennessee State Parks.
Looked good on the internet, and probably is good if you're a fisherman with a boat and a huge-ass RV as big as a mobile home.
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!
Way overpriced and has stupid rules. The park borders the Wabash River, but the campground itself is miles from the river. There is a public swimming pool that is an additional charge on top of the camping fee.
pleasant but too close to New York. Check in was confusing and a pain. You know you're too close to civilization when there are pizza delivery numbers at the campground office.
deluxe state park. Almost close enough to walk to town, beach and tidepools and trees and grass, pretty much everything
Overpriced campground, but a very interesting place. The actual Fort is cool, the CCC buildings around it are cool. We are right on the C&O Canal/bike path.