Stephansen

State Parks are my go to choice when looking for reservations, unfortunately this State Park isn’t up to snuff with many amenities we have come to expect in an electric site. There are no paved sites. Even for electric you are parking on grass and many are not level. The picnic tables are old & the sites are not well defined. Each site does have a fire pit. Showers & bathrooms are ok (some bathrooms are newer but showers are not).
I would try hard to get another location before selecting this State Park.

Super nice campground. The trees in this campground are so wonderful! Very clean. Level sites w/water & electric. Nice showers & bathrooms, sinks. The bath houses could use an upgrade but what they have is very nice. Friendly, helpful staff. They obviously take pride in their park. Cell / internet not great for us but we don’t have the best set up. Great for boaters on the Colorado River. We only stayed one night but would definitely count this as a win.

We arrived after dark (sunset is at 5:15 this time of year) and did self check in after checking out the sites. Many had a Reserved sign on them but were unoccupied. There are pull through, back in, and handicapped sites. Each has a covered picnic bench. Some have electricity. I think they all had tent pads too. Nice, clean bathrooms w/flush toilet & sink/water. No showers. There is water and dump station. There is a campground host on site. We were just passing through but this would be a nice place to stay for a few days. Hiking & mountain biking trails across the street. Also looks like the park may be expanding to accommodate more campers.
NOTE: Gate closes at 9PM so get there before then or you won’t get in.

Traveling through and visited the Yuma Territorial Prison, walked Old Town Yuma & enjoyed our day. Needed a place to overnight and decided to check out Paradise Casino.
There is a large, gravel lot with plenty of room for big rigs & trailers. The casino is open 24 hours and is very clean and there was no smoke (yay!). We felt very safe. Parking lot for RVs had some lights but not so many that it bothered us when sleeping. There can be occasional noise from aircraft & trains but again - not a bother. We were very happy with our first casino overnight.

Previous reviews have covered most everything just wanted to add that the sites could be considered pretty close together. We were in Site #3 in a Class B. That was perfect for us. Noted Site #11 would be a nice one too. Water, electric, sewer at each site - wonderful! The electric posts have a nightlight on them (never seen that before) which, if you like it dark at night you may want to cover with a towel. Very clean bathrooms. Separate shower needs quarters to use, but so nice. Only drawback is ZERO cell coverage. Multiple people had Starlink (including the camp host) and reported good signal w/that.
Ranger came around to check on reservations. No hiking trails leave from the park directly but many are nearby as is a County Dog Park.
Fun to see peacocks on grounds. Large, private archery club shares the location. That was also neat to see. Overall excellent place to stay if you have Starlink.

This campground is in desperate need of funding for maintenance. The first bathroom I went into was atrocious. It looked like it hadn’t been improved since 1950. The flushing mechanism didn’t work, the door didn’t lock - there were signs on the door that said the showers were not operational. I really needed a shower and was fit to be tied! $35+ for no services! Thankfully another shower building was working, however the shower was by no means nice.
There was rain in CA when we visited which the area sorely needs. MANY of the sites do not drain and I felt bad for the tent campers who woke up to a lake in their sites or on their parking spots.
There is no water at the sites, no electricity at the sites. Bathrooms have outdoor sinks presumably for dishwashing, but the sink was so small it would not be feasible.
The dump station charges $10 for service. Fresh water spigots throughout the campground do not have traditional threaded spigots so you can really only fill a jug or bottles at this campground.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression and CA State Parks gave me a very bad first impression with this location.
The “upper” loops seemed slightly better in terms of site quantity but it was very windy up there.
No cell coverage.

We travel in a Class B and we’re able to convince the staff to let us take a tent site near the bathroom. We don’t need services so that was wonderful at $20/night. Dump & water on site. Highway & trains not an issue for one overnight.

We made reservations online with recreation.gov which was very easy. They even have QR codes on the site posts so you can reserve that way. So even if you show up without a reservation and a site is empty you can reserve. Great cell coverage.
Stayed in the Upper Loop on flat asphalt with a nearby bathroom with flush toilets and sink. No showers, no electricity (even in the bathroom). There are sites in the Upper Loop that have metal structures over them. We are about 10’ tall but didn’t want to risk it. We have a fantastic view in Site 54. Each site has a picnic table too.
Nice walk to the beach, but if you are coming to use the beach you might want to be in the Lower Loop which is closer. Mostly tents and travel trailers down there. Sites on grass/gravel. Not particularly level.
Lots of boating opportunities here. Nature trail. Dump Station near entrance to CG. Water in the Loops.

Some of the previous reviews gave me concern but now that I’m here - I’m glad I took the chance.
Foster Residence CG has two sections - 10 concrete pad sites w/electric, water, sewer at each site - and an area that at one point in the past was probably nice for tent camping. There is a newish bathroom in between them (no shower).
The 10 sites are very nice. I would not recommend the other area. As noted, there are big gaps between the road and the camping area that we would not try to drive over. That being said, there was a rugged looking van (lifted, more aggressive tires) parked there this AM and that worked for them. The no service area is not well maintained. The CG called Red Mountain CG which is just up the road is also pretty much best suited to tents. Very glad we did not book there.
Comfortable, clean, safe & internet/cell coverage.
Sites 1 & 2 are off by themselves. Sites 3-7 back up to the road. 8-10 are very nice. We were in #10 and the only bad thing I could say is that the trash dumpsters are near us. Overall excellent site.

This is a small CG with a great location and good services. Nice bathrooms & shower. Electricity at the sites, picnic tables that are pretty new! Gravel sites mostly level. There is a CG Host and park nearby. Grass for the dog. WiFi provided by CG was great. The train is very close but didn’t bother us for one night. That was the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars. Recommend reservations in the Summer. We were here in early October and had no problem getting a site. We paid a “Winter Rate” but I think the CG is closing soon.