Bill Kinyoun

The one review made it sound….shall we say….interesting so we gave it a shot. I’m a guys guy and it takes a lot to turn me away but I fled this spot while making sure my 9mm was locked and loaded. It is WAY off the beaten path. The road in is uneven, ungraded dirt. The sites are small and very tight and there are mongrel dogs running loose throughout the area. I checked in with the manager(???) who gave me the lowdown on how many squatters and tweakers are camped there and how she has been unable to evict them. FFS!! This is Texas….get some local boys to help and clean this mess up. Bottom line….DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME unless you are into homeless camps and meth heads.

Needed a place to drop anchor for a night and this really fit the bill. Pulled off I40 and set up at the abandoned gas station. Boondocking only!! Expect some traffic but it really died down after dark. We had ZERO issues but I do admit to keeping a firearm where I could reach it if needed.

The owner is a so called “sovereign citizen” who disrespects law enforcement. The campground itself is a haven of insurrectionists. Avoid

I am very impressed that the city of LaMesa had made this available. Free water and electric!! I hope they police it so it doesn’t devolve into another transient camp. We spent one night here after running from the “In The Pines RV Park” which is pretty much a homeless camp. Anyways….this is a great spot to spend a night or maybe two. Please please please be respectful and not make this a long term stay.

I highly recommend this place if you ever find yourself in or around Dallas/McKinney TX. Yes…the roads could be better but they work fine. And yes…a bit of a drive to any services. Six miles to a Dollar General and 11 miles to Walmart but who cares when you have views to die for, lots of space between neighbors, as quiet a CG as I’ve ever been in with full hookups, showers and toilets and all for $15/day with out Senior Pass. Some shaded spots and some open. Excellent cell service and tons of television channels with just your antenna. We will be back.

Needed a break from COVID distancing so booked 3 nights. We live just 2 hours away so we decided that I would drive the Class C down and the wife would follow me in the Lexus so we would have transportation. Woke up this morning to find an orange card on the windshield of the Lexus telling me I had to pay the $7/night fee for having an “extra vehicle”. I looked around and saw numerous other motor homes with a vehicle so what gives?? I went to park website and read this:

“Only one vehicle is included with standard camp fees. A second vehicle kept at a campsite (or alternate parking area) is subject to a nightly Extra Vehicle fee.
The nightly Extra Vehicle fee is currently $7.00.”

Contacted the ranger and was told that other campers were ok because they had “TOWED” the second vehicle in. We had “DRIVEN” ours in and were therefore subject to the fee. Now think about that for a bit. We had one RV and one vehicle....same as at least 20+ others but since we drive vs. tow we had to pay. Absurd. I told the ranger that it was not fair and I would not pay. He then threatened to issue me a citation. Now I would have loved to have a judge see this but decided to just pay the fee and address it through my elected officials. Nice park....great location...crappy public relations.

UPDATE: I emailed the Director of ORPD and cc'd my elected officials with my concerns. I felt their rules were arbitrary and unfair....especially to those who live close to the parks. We used that the "extra" vehicle to do some shopping and since the campground is only a couple miles from Brookings we also spent a lot of money on take-out at local restaurants to help them during this time of COVID shutdown. I suggested that they change to rule to simply read:

"All Motorhomes are Allowed One Extra Vehicle"

Problem solved. Was told that they would look into it at the next round of rule making.

The Forest Service has contracted with American Land & Leisure, a private company to manage the park. We were there for 2 nights. I was trying f to figure out which sites were available. There were multiple sites marked as reserved or occupied even though they had been vacant for 24 hours and longer. The rules clearly state that they must be occupied the first night! When I asked the manager about it his well thought answer to my inquiry was “So?” He was rude and condescending and I let him know so Even worse is the condition of the manager/employee sites. Vehicles partially blocking the parking area in front of the check in area and RV’s covered in mold. The park entrance is starting to look like a homeless camp.

The daughter, her hubby + 3 grandkids acquired a new to them 17 ft. R-Pod travel trailer and asked us to help them with a shake down trip. Lavern County Park was ideal in that it is relatively close to home, so we booked 4 nights, and they booked 2 in adjacent sites. It was PACKED and it was LOUD. The wife and I are older and retired. We prefer things a little on the slower....and quieter side. During our stay there were numerous dogs that barked all day long and frequently at night. There were also several party groups who thought it was OK to blast their music throughout the park. The park is also long and narrow. It is immediately adjacent to the main road and has one very narrow, one lane road that winds through the park, so the sound of un-muffled diesel trucks was constant from the front and the back. There was also a fair number of "Trump Won" and "Let's Go Brandon" banners to be seen (Welcome to Coos County). We gave up the last 2 days of our reservation after the kids left for fear of who might pull in next. The last thing we wanted was to spend a couple of days next to a party group waving Trump flags and blasting music while their pit bulls barked all day. On the bright side the restrooms and showers were clean and well stocked. I had a nice visit with the long-term camp host who said things really slow down after Labor Day, so my recommendation is this....This is a great choice for young couples who like to party to take the kids for a summer camping trip. There are a couple playgrounds and lots of kids playing in the river or riding bikes through the park. For those who prefer a slower, quieter pace I recommend visiting during weekdays during the Spring or Fall months. I would also like to mention that the description here is not accurate. Yes...there is dry camping available but most of the sites have water and 30-amp electric. No sewer hookup but there is an onsite dump station.

$35/night for dry camping!! Pulled in to find numerous empty sites…..all with a little white sign saying “Reservable”. I should have read the fine print telling me that I had to go online myself to verify it it was actually available but I wrongly assumed that staff and/or hosts would have hung a tag saying if it was reserved on the post next to the site……like pretty much every other campground does. Set up camp….paid the fee and 2 hours later a guy showed up with a reservation. No problem….my bad so we pulled anchor and moved to another site in the A loop. Nice spot good location so we kicked back for the night. Up in the morning and headed for the showers. Showers at California State Parks all require tokens so back I went, got some cash and purchased some tokens. Stripped down, dropped in 3 tokens and stood there for almost 10 minutes waiting for hot water that never showed up. Returned to the RV and told the wife to use the house shower and use all the water you want because by this time I’m thinking that the dump station and potable water are the only things that would make feel good about this deal. Pulled anchor and headed to the dump site to find out that they want another $10 for me to dump. So $35 for one night of parking with ZERO hookups, Showers with no hot water and a separate fee to dump tanks. Not a good experience and on par with what I’ve come to expect from California State Parks. The only good thing is that it’s close to Hearst Castle.

Needed a break from COVID distancing so booked 3 nights. We live just 2 hours away so we decided that I would drive the Class C down and the wife would follow me in the Lexus so we would have transportation. Woke up this morning to find an orange card on the windshield of the Lexus telling me I had to pay the $7/night fee for having an “extra vehicle”. I looked around and saw numerous other motor homes with a vehicle so what gives?? I went to park website and read this:

“Only one vehicle is included with standard camp fees. A second vehicle kept at a campsite (or alternate parking area) is subject to a nightly Extra Vehicle fee.
The nightly Extra Vehicle fee is currently $7.00.”

Contacted the ranger and was told that other campers were ok because they had “TOWED” the second vehicle in. We had “DRIVEN” ours in and were therefore subject to the fee. Now think about that for a bit. We had one RV and one vehicle....same as at least 20+ others but since we drive vs. tow we had to pay. Absurd. I told the ranger that it was not fair and I would not pay. He then threatened to issue me a citation. Now I would have loved to have a judge see this but decided to just pay the fee and address it through my elected officials. Nice park....great location...crappy public relations.

UPDATE: I emailed the Director of ORPD and cc'd my elected officials with my concerns. I felt their rules were arbitrary and unfair....especially to those who live close to the parks. We used that the "extra" vehicle to do some shopping and since the campground is only a couple miles from Brookings we also spent a lot of money on take-out at local restaurants to help them during this time of COVID shutdown. I suggested that they change to rule to simply read:

"All Motorhomes are Allowed One Extra Vehicle"

Problem solved. Was told that they would look into it at the next round of rule making.