digitaljake

If any part of your rig isn’t solid (IE: a popup) like ours then you are required to stay in the Lake Louise tent area that is guarded by an electric fence. The benefit is that other than the fence surrounding the grounds this area feels like you are camping in the woods with lots of foliage covering the area. We drove through the RV side and it is much more open and starts to feel a bit like a parking lot. The downside here like most Banff campgrounds is that there is only 1 shower house and it can be a long walk from your campsite but it is nice and clean.

While you can get a cell signal here it isn't worth anything more than a phone call. Maybe when they upgrade to 5G visitors will be able to grab a signal.

This place books up early so make reservations well in advance (in January). I also thought it would be closer to the lake... it is not! Expect to have to drive or take a bus to Lake Louise or Moraine Lake.

First off we really liked this spot because unlike many other boondocking spots in this area of the country it wasn't overly crowded and only one dune buggy showed up the entire time we were there. If you like desert landscapes and creatures this spot has an allure to it with the jagged hills and mountains rising up around it. The wildlife for a desert was abundant and we had several birds who constantly visited us. We even got to see a hawk take off with a lizard for lunch.

The access road to the dispersed sites is in need of some TLC. We traveled about 2-miles down the road where we found our spot and while it wasn’t a challenge for our F250 I would have probably been more concerned had we not had the 4x4 capability. We never needed to switch into 4 wheel drive but it was peace of mind just the same. The road consists of broken asphalt mixed with short sections of sand. The road is dilapidated but to be fair if you are going to camp here you will have to drive off the road either way so the likely hood of getting stuck is about the same as if the road was in perfect condition.

My real complaint about this site is that the road noise is louder than expected. It is far enough off the interstate that it wasn’t an issue but highway 95 has constant travel even during a pandemic. We were here during the Covid19 outbreak. We are full-timers so we did our best to social distance in some fairly remote areas.

T-mobile: 50 Mbps down and 21 up
Verizon: 50 down and 4.5 up

A forested campground with hiking trails to the hot springs and the town of Radium Hot Springs. We loved our time in this quiet campground. Easy access to the centralized toilets and showers in the E-loop. Although we arrived to a long check-in line the attendants streamlined the process and we were through within a few minutes.

The access road is a paved steep road which the truck was able to climb easily. My wife and I road our bikes into town and on the climb out we regretted the decision. The truck made it seem easy... it was not.

Verizon (Telus) 1-bar LTE. T-mobile (Bell) 2-bars LTE. The WeBoost really helped shore up the signal to make this a viable work area for us as digital nomads. The beautiful library in town also has good internet speeds.

This is California, so $30 for a powered campsite is a steal. That being said the grounds are dated but functional. The sites are very close together but there is foliage so it isn't a parking lot. The bathrooms and showers while clean are run down (understatement).

The guy who runs the place is very nice and a character. Expect to be razed (in a nice way) when checking in.

All in all, there are nicer places to stay nearby but expect to pay a lot more. We needed the cell service and decided to take the opportunity to top off our batteries.

Verizon - 2 bars but not great data speeds even when boosted.
T-mobile - 2 bars. Solid when boosted.

We were here in mid-May and it was snowing! We love the snow so that was cool but it is a remote area so come prepared with plenty of supplies. The campground has pit toilets and water although in May the water was still winterized. Drinking water was available at the Lehman Cave Visitor Center. The sites are spread out and most are adjacent to the creek which is really nice. Verizon service isn't worth much here but T-mobile worked fairly well especially with the WeBoost up and running.

A very nice but small campground. The bathrooms and grounds were clean. The price is reasonable. We got the non-hookup site B which was the best site in the place with foliage on both sides making it more secluded than the other sites. The showers like most on the west coast are coin-operated which is annoying but at 2min per quarter are reasonable. All-n-all a very nice tree-covered area not too far from Mt. Saint Helens but outside the blast zone… just in case :).

No useable cell service on Verizon or T-mobile.

We don't usually stay in RV Parks but the cell service in this area of the world is very spotty and Caliente is the only place to get resupplied for nearly 100miles. Young's RV park is very nice with adequate shower facilities and full hook-ups available. They allow boondocking as well which is what we did for $18 for the night.

The spaces would be tight for a big RV but hey it is free. The city provides water hook-ups and trash cans at each site which is very nice for a free campsite. They do request donations. We were the only ones here which was surprising because there were several rigs at the Cathedral Gorge State Park down the road.

We loved the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife especially birds are abundant although I also walked up on a skunk coming up from the lake shore. The campground is spread out along the eastern lakeshore so most sites don't have neighbors. There are 3 drop pit toilets spread out along the gravel road. The only downsides are the proximity to the highway and that the cell service is spotty. We used our WeBoost to make our Verizon connection reliable enough to work here. T-mobile is non-existent.

This is almost the perfect campsite. It backs directly up to the water of the Columbia River. We had a beautiful night with a full moon and a gorgeous sunrise that lit up Mt. Hood. We even got a visit from a river otter which was amazing. Perfect!!!… except for those dang trains. The tracks are very close and the trains come by about every 15-minutes throughout the night and because of the road crossing they lay on the horn. It sucks! So close to perfection but we had a few rough nights of sleep.