Casa Rocinante

This is a beautiful state park, right at the northern tip of Whidbey Island. The campground here is wonderful.

Everything about this place says, "Camp here!" That is, until the EA-18G Growlers from nearby Whidbey Island Naval Air Station scream by at extreme low altitudes. We were there for three nights and every single night, we were serenaded by these jet jockeys from roughly 8:00pm to midnight. At low altitude. It was so loud we could not even be heard by shouting at each other. It's even possible they damaged our hearing. It was truly that bad.

This is not to say that you will have the same experience. Their flight patterns and times vary, and are never announced for military reasons. We have friends who stayed here for several days and said they never heard any jets. We, on the other hand, had an awful experience with the noise. So, your experience may be better if you camp here. It's a crapshoot, and we wish you the best! We, however, will camp elsewhere on Whidbey next time we visit the island. Perhaps Fort Ebey or Fort Casey!

We camped in the Quarry Loop, across Route 20 from the park. This loop is quite nice, with plenty of trees, shade, etc. However, the streets in this loop are gravel and throw a ton of dust into the air with each passing vehicle. Our site, #361 is very nice and easy to park in with an RV, but it has streets on either side and thus a double-helping of dust. Traffic volume inside the campground wasn't an issue, but the dust was annoying. Oh, and when the jets weren't overhead, we heard plenty of road noise from our site. Camping loops inside the park have paved streets and thus less dust and are farther from Route 20.

We definitely recommend a visit to this park. There are nice easy hiking trails everywhere, it's a great place to ride your bike, there's plenty to see and do, and the scenery is absolutely beautiful.

There are two beaches, West and North.

At West beach you can brave the surf to swim in the ocean, or turn around and take a pleasant dip in Cranberry Lake at a lovely sandy little beach. You can also rent a kayak, canoe or peddle boat and take a spin around the lake. There is plentiful parking and they have plenty of picnic tables. Also a great place to watch the sun set. Bring a sun shade and make a day of it!

At North beach you can see the Deception Pass bridge from below, watch the currents push through Deception Pass, perhaps see a bald eagle fishing, and maybe even see a marine mammal (seal or sea lion) sunning on the gravel. It's also an easy hike up to the bridge, which you can easily walk across to enjoy maximum scenery. The hike to Goose Rock summit from the south end of the bridge is particularly nice, with great views from the top to the south and east.

Verizon signal in the park is pretty much non-existent. We were occasionally able to squeeze out some 1X, and on rare occasions a little 3G. Once our phone was even welcomed to Canada, so be careful that you don't accidentally do some expensive international data roaming. Oak Harbor, with plenty of groceries, 4G and wi-fi hot spots, is 6 or 7 miles south.

For more details and photos, see our blog post under the Blog tab above.

We found this gem on Campendium, and reviews were on target. Its a lovely spot. It’s quiet, the campsites are huge, and there are only seven sites. Each site has a concrete pad for your RV, an area for your tent, and a fire pit with a couple of benches. Electric and water hookups as well, with a dump station on the way out. It’s a bit of a walk to the restrooms / showers, but the facilities are nice once you get there. Even more amazing, here in the middle of nowhere, we have full bars on both Verizon and AT&T. Add this one to your list!

The bath house and plenty of shade are this campground's only redeeming features. Bathrooms and unisex showers are nice and they were clean.

Site 42 was huge for our van, and we were able to get approximately level with a little fiddling.

Folks at the entry gate are both nice and helpful.

However:
Access is via a nasty muddy washboard potholed dirt road. The sites are all dirt and pine needles. Signs in the bath house warn against air conditioning during truly hot weather because the campground electrical system can't handle the load. Showers are an extra $0.25 per 2.5 minutes, not a deal-breaker, just annoying.

We stayed here in early March, shortly after they had opened for the season. Sites were of usual width for a KOA. Given the campground was largely empty, it still felt very spacious. Our site was on the grass, a level and easy pull-thru spot with full hookups, though we didn't use water / sewer as we were camping dry to avoid the risk of freezing.

This KOA was a surprisingly pleasant campground - with goats and chickens! It's pretty remote and has a mix of open areas and a second growth forest with some of their own redwoods growing there among the stumps of their parents, cut down by loggers many years ago. It has a nice mix of different campsite types, with plenty of options for tent campers as well, back in the trees. It's also very close to Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park (less than 15 minutes) where you can conveniently visit the really big trees and go for nice walks in the woods.

The bathrooms were pleasant and very clean, which we appreciated. The staff were also very pleasant and helpful. We'd definitely stay here again, even though it's not a destination resort, because it is so convenient to the Redwoods and price competitive with the state park while offering more amenities.

We had acceptable Verizon cell service here, though we can't recall the number of bars. Photos of the cute goats and huge trees at Jedidiah on our blog: http://www.casarocinante.com/Blog/OR-and-North-CA-Coast-03-2015

We were here on 5/2/19, as we migrate north to Maine for the summer. This is in a great location, just off I-95, but far enough away that we heard zero road noise. The loudest things in the area are a neighbor’s chickens, though they didn’t bother us.
No trees for shade. Still, it’s a decent RV park with reasonably-sized spaces, worn but clean, functional bath house, a pool, a dog park, and for you anglers, a fishing dock. The pool was particularly pleasant. As others have noted, the main roads inside are paved, and the sites are sandy with concrete patios which are placed well-forward, clearly planned for motor homes, not so much for travel trailers. We didn’t try to use their wifi because we had acceptable cell signals for Verizon and AT&T.

Easy access from I-95, but far enough away to eliminate any road noise. Nice level long gravel pull-thru sites. Some sites have wooden gazebos for picnicking and shade. Power quality is very good, as we experienced no low voltage issues despite the heat. Bathrooms /showers are excellent. They are also air-conditioned, which is extremely welcome in hot humid weather. The swimming pool is lovely and they also have a large shaded shelter where folks can hang out, play cornhole or board games, or even a casual game of pool.
Less than ten minutes away there’s plenty of shopping for groceries and drug-store items, and several restaurants as well.
Rain did accumulate briefly around our power post during an extremely heavy downpour, so keep any power equipment such as surge protectors well off the ground.
We had great LTE signals for both ATT and Verizon.

Very nice folks at the front desk, great campground for our needs. It’s a little off the Interstate, but we viewed that as a huge plus - no road noise!
We got a very nice paved spot with a patio deck, super nice, with full hookups. Bath and showers very recently painted and updated. They have a nice ping pong table under a lanai, out of the sun / rain, should you wish to play. They have a nice pool, though it was closed for the season at this time (mid-September!). There are some longer term folks here as well who work in the area, but all is clean - spic and span, no junk at all - and the RVs here all look good.
So, its a nice RV park with great spots for overnighters like us! Would definitely stay here again.

We did see a few cats and kittens about, but not enough to be of any concern and had no issues while walking our dog about the RV park. We viewed them as an active pest-control team!

The RV park offers paid wifi should you need it, but given the more than adequate Verizon signals at this location, we did not try it out.

This is a city-owned campground just outside Carbondale, CO, right on route 82, which runs from Glenwood Springs through Carbondale, to Aspen. The campground itself is great. They have generous gravel, some trees, and some grass. They also have plenty of hookups if you want them. Spaces are generously wide. Despite the name, they also have a few tent sites.

Because of proximity to the road, the traffic noise can be significant. The noise does quiet down late in the evening and remains subdued until early in the morning, but if you are tent camping here it will definitely be a factor.

Stuff to do:
* Ride or walk on the Rio Grande bike trail, in either direction.
* If you'd like to walk into town, it's an easy two mile stroll along the bike path. We walked into town with our dog, ate at "Town" restaurant which was very good and allows dogs on the patio, hit the Colorado Creamery in town for gelato, and walked back. It was great!
* Drag a couple of chairs over to the bluff above the river, and you'll find a very pleasant spot to relax and watch the water go by.
* Fish in the river - we saw someone fly-casting there, and they seemed to be having a great time.
* Visit Aspen and come back to Carbondale before you spend all your money in Aspen.
* Continue on from Carbondale through Aspen and then over Independence pass, if your vehicle is small and strong enough.

We had solid cell phone coverage here, though we also use directional LTE antenna and a Mi-Fi type device.

We spent a night here as we continue our northward migration. The park is conveniently located and surrounded by restaurants, etc.
Inside the park you feel secluded, and the area is nicely wooded with plenty of shade. Sites are equipped with water and electric, with a dump station on the way out. Loop roads are unpaved, with a generous supply of potholes, so drive slowly in here. Sites are forest floor, so expect to do some leveling. Bath houses are acceptable for a state park: simple, older, showing their age, but clean and functional. Sinks have hot water, which is honestly a luxury in a state park. Showers are free, another luxury in a state park. If you have kids, be sure to check out the nearby “splash pad” here in the park, where we saw lots of littles having a wonderful time as we pulled in before the rain hit. Many sites are poorly drained relative to the downpour we got after setting up camp, despite the sandy soils. Thanks to the sand, however, the place didn’t become a mud-fest, so that’s a plus. Verizon and AT&T cell coverage were just fine.

We’re camping nearby at Mountain Valley RV park, so we thought we’d stop by and check this place out!

The good: this is a beautiful wooded county park above the town of Tehachapi. If you’re a tent camper, this might be a cool place to camp. If you’re a van or teardrop camper, youve got a shot at a good experience.

The rest:
If you camp in anything bigger than a van or a teardrop, go elsewhere.
The road up to the park is steep, narrow and winding. Its clear that small rockfalls and slides are common along sections of this access road. Once you enter the park, it only gets worse. Steeper. Narrower. Tighter turns.

Campsites are clustered in small groups as you work your way through the park. I doubt that more than one site in the whole place could fit anything larger than a van or a teardrop trailer. None of the sites even approximate level.

Most toilets are composting, though above the Tehachapi Mountain trailhead we did find a couple of flush toilets inside what looks like a run-down shed and some old tired indoor showers in a nearby building that might work.

Water faucets are scattered about the campground in a fairly random way.