dianagraham

Yes, this Cracker Barrel has RV parking behind the restaurant

We camped here November 1-3, 2020. We were looking for a less crowded alternative to Telephone Cove, NV so we could ride Christmas Tree Pass on our adventure bike and thought we'd try Six Mile Cove. It is a lovely, small cove on Lake Mojave with some small "hills" on the north side that we walked up on to get an overview of the area.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and there was one other camper. It appears that this location can get crowded since there are several vault toilets and huge dumpsters. Six Mile Cove is smaller than Telephone Cove and, at this time, the water level of Lake Mojave is low; higher water levels would further reduce available camping space. Unfortunately the dirt road into Six Mile Cove is badly wash-boarded, or at least, our F-350/truck camper combination had a hard time; we had to go extremely slow and even on the motorcycle, the road was not fun to ride on. Other than the washboard, the road in is actually a straight shot from Searchlight and Google map directions were correct. In the cove itself, I did not have a usable Verizon cell signal. I did discover that when I walked down to the water and turned right, south, my Verizon cell signal was strong enough that I could open news apps. We arrived with water from our previous camping spot and dumped our tanks at our next spot, so I don't know what services, if any, are available in Searchlight, NV. Unfortunately, the combination of the road and no signal means we won't return.

As of the first week of February, 2020: DO NOT type the street address into Google Maps, use the GPS coordinates in the Campendium header. Turn in at the driveway by the Saddle Vista Ranch sign. Drive straight back and stop beside the small nursery and feed store. The cost for water and dump depends on the size of your rig. For a fee, there is trash disposal. In the little feed store, we also bought fly paper and fresh duck eggs. As another reviewer commented, you can use the ranch address for packages - make arrangements with the owner - at no cost.

The owner is a nice guy, Dave, who is just trying to spread some good karma and make a buck here and there. Unfortunately, the giant, industrial egg farm, Hickman's, is immediately behind his property. Dave showed us the tiny house he is building for himself and invited us to pick up and pet the baby ducks and chicks under the incubator. This is the kind of small business we love to happen upon and support.

Big Foot Adventure is part of the bigger Baggenstoss Farms; RV park, zip-lines, a wedding venue, clay/skeet shooting and a nature preserve in the rolling hills of Tennessee. The RV park appears to be fairly new. There's a combination of FHU and E/W and all sites are pull-throughs. It's nicely laid out with pretty standard spacing between sites. The bathhouse consists of only one ladies room with one shower and one toilet and one men's room with a shower/toilet. Nothing fancy but the RV park backs up to the zip-lines and a dirt/gravel road leads from the camping area back to a nice area to walk or ride bikes. Excellent wifi.

We stayed here to attend a concert at the acclaimed The Caverns, home of Bluegrass Underground. The Caverns is only about five minutes away.

The only thing I can add to the other reviews is that there are really some of the best bicycle trails we’ve encountered immediately accessible from the Archway. They’re concrete, level, and go for miles. Very beautiful as it follows the Platte river. Also, (almost) directly across the street from the Archway, is a small circular dirt lot that is right on a lovely, small pond. We had views of a beautiful sunset and were away from semi's.

This spot would have ranked 5 stars if there was faster Verizon coverage and water. But since it's free and the trails are excellent, it still gets 4 stars. We have a KLR adventure bike and had a blast on the trails. The entire area behind Lake Pleasant, off Castle Hot Springs Rd, is gorgeous and great riding.

Thanks to other reviews we knew to continue past the vault toilet (the only service on site) and then go around to the left and back to a large circular area. We were easily able to get our big rig lined up with the fence that surrounds the area and separates it from a nice natural area so that it felt like we had a really private spot; our windows and door opened up to the natural area and no other rigs were in sight. There are absolutely no size considerations. There were plenty of huge toy haulers and even some Class A's comfortably parked. There were also several tent campers and some other folks who were not there for the riding - no toys. The one mile dirt road from the highway to the staging area is rough but OK.

Since there's no water on site, we stopped at the Escapees North Ranch RV Park in Congress to fill our water tank. The other alternative is to pay the day use fee at Lake Pleasant Regional Park (about 10 miles to the East) and fill water tanks there. This is where we dumped tanks after a 14 day stay.

Whatever you do, do NOT set up in the large staging area, which is the first open area you come to. This is where all the day-use folks park and off load bikes and Razrs and it's pretty busy on weekends. As I mentioned above, continue past the vault toilet and then turn left. There is a large open area there and, if you continue to the left, we see the dirt road that leads to a nice cul-de-sac.

Additional info: There is zero signage on Highway 74 to mark the turn off. But Google Maps is dead on. Even though we didn't see anyone checking for permits, we paid for the AZ Land Trust Permit (purchased on line). If you will be driving in from the west and going through Wickenburg, be aware of the low clearance RR bridge in downtown. We have a 5W that definitely exceeds the height limit (another reason to detour through Congress enroute). There's a great little restaurant at the marina in Lake Pleasant Regional Park.

Another great National Forest campground. Crane Prairie CG is one of the largest NF campgrounds in the Cascade Lakes area near Bend and it gets lots of use on summer weekends. Apparently the days of arriving on a Friday and having the CG to yourself, as the reviewer reported in 2016, are long gone. The CG was not at capacity over the weekend but every site with a view of the lake was occupied.

There's a combination of reservable and walk in sites. If you're a tent camper or small rv owner you could probably find something workable even on the weekend. We arrived on a Sunday and had numerous choices for our 40' 5W. We set up in site 18 originally, an extra long pull through. But, with measuring tape in hand, my husband felt he could get us into site 76, a spacious waterfront site with a sandy beach. It was really lovely to have views of the water and snow capped mountains.

There's a threaded potable water spigot on the right just as you turn off the road and numerous unthreaded spigots scattered around. No dump on site. We went to Gordy's Truck Stop on Hiway 97 in La Pine, which is very easy to access, $8. Vault toilets are clean. There's a boat launch in the CG and a bigger one in the adjoining day use area.
With a MIMO antenna, Verizon was good right on the lake at our site, 76, but basically nonexistent away from the lake.

Misc: Cultus Lake Resort, about 10 miles away, has a nice little cafe and terrace with views of the lake . We enjoyed a surprisingly delicious Shrimp PoBoy. The absolute cheapest propane in the Bend area is Oregon Pet & Feed in Bend ($1.70 in Aug 2019)

Crane Prairie CG has a really friendly, fun summer vibe. This past weekend, there was a bluegrass community play along and a church group in the yellow loop. Lots and lots of kayaks and canoes. Lots of young families.

Scotia Pine Campground was the perfect place to explore the Bay of Fundy Tidal Bore and Burntcoat Head Provincial Park. It is also convenient to shopping, gas, etc. The transient campers have their own area, a long row of long pull-through sites. There was nice shade from large trees. The seasonal camper sections are separated from the transient campers by large areas of green space. I appreciate that the campground has security 24/7 in the form of an entrance bar that requires a token from the office to operate. The individual campsites are pretty typical of most RV parks with a picnic table and fire ring but not much separation from neighbors. $48/night reflects the American exchange rate. I didn't make a note of the Verizon speed, but it was good.

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.