dianagraham

The dump station is one of the amenities in the NPS great cabin camps complex. There’s a small NPS office where you can pick up your off-road permit (mandatory), get rid of trash in the large dumpsters, air up your tires and buy ice There are approximately 20 rental cabins and a bath house as well. I don’t recall any signage to direct you to the dump station. If the NPS office is open they can direct you to the dump station but if not, and you are getting off of the ferry, at the NPS office, make a left, go past the long-term storage parking lot, and follow the road around to the right toward the beach. I believe there is another dump station near the lighthouse, but I did not actually see it. There is no additional cost to use the dump station. Your offer a permit covers use of the amenities.

We stayed at this park in September, 2019. The park is a mix of grass, dirt, and asphalt sites of all sizes. A little tight but workable. Bathhouse is dated but clean. We had a nice pull through right next to the creek. Convenient to Ashland and I-5. Verizon: 22.3 mps download, 24.1 upload. It is an older park, which, unfortunately, is what $38/night will get you.

If you're arriving in Leadville from the north, be prepared to turn left on College Road and then make a quick right into the parking lot. The dump/water is right on the corner. If you're coming from the south, and are a big rig, you may not be able to make the turn. We had to go beyond the water/dump, make a U turn and come back from the north. There is a sign that ways the potable water is not for big tanks - turns out that is not referring to RVs but to large tanker trucks. Honor system for payment.

We stopped off at Chiriaco Summit for a quick overnight and ended up staying two nights, in Jan. 2020. We tow a 40 foot fifth wheel and could have backed into several sites but realized the first campsite on the left is a long pull-through. The site is level and we didn't unhitch. We arrived with enough water to get us to our destination, so I don't know if there's fresh water or dump facilities at the Chevron. There were quite a few tractor trailers parked for the night just beyond the Chevron. The diner was quite good. Verizon was fast: 48mps download, 53 mps upload.

We did not end up staying here, but I called the restaurant to confirm that we could stay here if we chose to do so.

A couple of additional Pieces of information: use the GPS coordinates in the Campendium description. My husbands Apple map brought us in the long way around, but I think Google map had a better idea of where the campground is. There’s a very nice playground immediately accessible from the campground if you’re here with kids. Also if you go out the back entrance of the campground you have access to a miles long bicycle trail which is very nice. I did not see another campground employee the two days we were here. Unlike most state parks there are pull through sites. All sites are full hook up.

Yes, this Cracker Barrel has RV parking behind the restaurant

We arrived on Oct. 10 and left on the day the CG was closed for the season, Oct. 19. At this point in the season, only two loops were open for camping. Site 155 in the Gull Loop was long enough for our big rig and wide enough for our rig and Ford dually, but just barely. Site 155 was easily accessible, as all the sites in the Gull Loop appeared to be. Unlike most National Forest CGs all the sites are small and close to each other. The tent campers next to us were literally right outside our window. The bathrooms have flush toilets and cold, running water in the sinks - nothing special, for sure, but functional. The water/dump station is convenient and easy to access (first left immediately after the entrance). Verizon speeds: 11.1 Mbps download, 10.7 upload. It was very cold at night at this time of year: teens at night. Solar was excellent.

The main draw is the location. June Lake is postcard perfect and big enough to make it worth our while to set up our inflatable kayak. From the campground, it is a short walk to June Lake and a nice beach area that is open for Day Use. The little market in town is pricey and pretty basic. We arrived from Lake Tahoe well provisioned and just needed to pick up a few things. Propane is available in Lee Vining. From June Lake, we drove to Mammoth and visited the Devil's Postpile NM. It was a fun ride on our dual sport bike (KLR-650) to the warming hut on Bald Mountain with 360 degree views of Mono Lake and the surrounding Sierra Mtns. The incredibly gorgeous drive over Tioga Pass was open so we made a day trip to Yosemite Valley. The Mono Lake visiter center is worth a visit. June Lake Brewing and the Hawaiin food truck in the parking lot was excellent, although the parking is really tight.

At 5300 feet, Balsam Mountain CG is the highest elevation campground in Smoky Mountain NP. This is a small, busy campground with a camp host. There are no FCFS sites, reservation only. The campground road follows the narrow ridge line with almost all parking parallel to the road. The sites are a combination of RV/tent, RV only, and tent only. Tent pads and picnic tables are accessed from the road. We were in site 43, the first site on the right when you enter the campground; so, all traffic in and out of the campground passed our site. It was a bit of a pain to navigate down five stone steps to our "sitting area" but it was out of sight of the road and gave us some privacy. Farther into the campground, past the camp host, it feels a little congested.

IF YOU ARE IN AN RV AND YOUR CLEARANCE IS HIGHER THEN 10', then you MUST access Balsam Mountain Road from Highway 19. This route puts you on the Blue Ridge Parkway a few miles (3 or so) north of the CG. You drive south and make a right onto Balsam Mountain Road. If you attempt to access the CG by driving north on the BRP and plan to make a left onto Balsam Mtn Rd, you will have to turn around to avoid the two lowest tunnels on the entire parkway: one is 10' and one is 11'1".

The campground road is narrow and when vehicles and RVs are camped on both sides of the street, it creates a narrow one lane road. We are in a truck camper that has a small slide on the drivers side and made sure to have our reflective roadside triangles in place.

Verizon coverage from site 43: varied from 2.60 mps to 16 mps download. 50 mps upload.

Despite some of the negatives, this is a nice campground in a beautiful area. Due to the trees, there are only limited views from the CG.

There are many dispersed camping sites on King Rd off highway 95 for any size rig. The road is rough but graded. The only drawback is the distance for groceries or other services in Yuma. We drove in about a mile, but could have gone farther, before setting up on the left with stunning views of the mountains. The area is flat and level with small stones. We have an adventure bike and there are miles of fun jeep trails that could keep you out all day. Almost daily Razrs and dirt bikes head into the mountains, but it hasnt been unreasonable. Beautiful hiking is right out the door. We dont have dogs but have noticed a small purple spiky plant that looks like it could be a problem. King Rd is just north of a border patrol station. We filled our water tank in Quartzsite.