knmtravel

Camping during COVID has been a challenge and this is definitely one of the nicer places we’ve stayed during this time. The entire campground is primitive camping and the only amenity is the several vault toilets. Plan to bring what you need and pack out your trash. With that in mind, it is an incredibly serene environment, especially up in the A and B loops which are winding narrow lanes surrounded by lush forest and well spaced private campsites. C loop seemed a little more rowdy the entire time we stayed. It is a bowl shape with an open field in the center which looked like a great place for kids to play. B loop is reserved for horse camping during the week and it was mostly deserted during our stay. It made for a lovely very private path to walk the dog.

We stayed in A5, which is the sunniest campsite in the entire campground and our solar was not sufficient. Between the tree cover and the nearly perpetual clouds, we ended up having to drive to plug in at a friend’s house to recharge. We would not come here again without a generator to keep the batteries charged.

The camp hosts Steve and Ginny are the nicest people you’ll ever hope to meet in your life but they do seem like a stickler for the rules, so be sure not to burn trash in your campfire, display your Discover Pass properly, and keep your dog on a leash or they (or worse, the warden Barry) might have a talk with you. We didn’t use the campground bathrooms (vault toilets) but they seemed very clean and well maintained when we checked them out.

The Capital State Forest itself is idyllic with streams and a waterfall and an abundance of trails, which are used by hikers, bikers and horses. The nominal price of camping is free but parking requires purchasing a Washington State Discover Pass for $30 per vehicle, so in reality, it cost us $60 to park our bus and car for six days. If you don’t park a car, camping is free. But though it is free, there is a seven day camping limit in all of the Capital State Forest so that others can also camp for a week for free in one of the several campgrounds. So plan to leave the forest after seven days.

We had virtually no cell signal while we were camped here. We did hear C loop has better signal, so it will depend on where you camp.

We never actually registered, and we were’t sure whether we were supposed to. We had a reservation and our site was marked with our name and dates of stay when we arrived so we just pulled in and stayed.

There was an abundance of wildlife - deer, snakes, squirrels, butterflies and many BEES - and the trails and parking area are heavily used by horses and riders during the day so prepare to encounter horses throughout Margaret McKenney and the forest. It actually provided a great opportunity to train our dog not to bark at the horses since there were so many of them.

I drove ahead in my AWD small SUV to scout this out before taking the road in my bus. Maybe the road has deteriorated since other reviews were left (recent hard rains, road is split in half with deep rutting from runoff) but this is definitely not currently suitable for campers and motorhomes. I turned around about a quarter mile in (after backing up because there was no room to turn around in my car). Might be ok for tent campers or a van with 4wd. Definitely wouldn’t camp here in anything during fire season. Wouldn’t want to have to try to get out in a hurry at night.

There is definitely soft areas on the way in but both buses and the car made it through fine. Not very quite, road noise all day and night. Lots of long term locals living in vehicles here. Great cell signal, though. Great proximity to Havasu and 40.

We stayed here one night. Our site was difficult to access. We checked in in the afternoon, found what we thought was a good way into our site and overlooked that it was on a diagonal hillside because the views were so perfect.

We left and came back after dark only to discover the way we had intended to enter the site was blocked by a truck parked in front of it. Luckily a neighbor was still up and pointed us to another way in. However, because the site was a soft forest floor, we spun our tires trying to drive over tree roots in the dark and nearly got stuck rocking our van back and forth trying to get into the site.

Our neighbors sat outside for several hours chain smoking, their dogs barked at us every time we went outside, and they left their outdoor lights on all night long, bathing our bedroom in bright led lights.

We were awoken at 5:30 am choking over the fumes of an idling diesel truck, and the noises of multiple sites packing up to leave.

While we were able to connect, The advertised wifi never loaded any websites, presumably too much traffic.

The only saving grace of the entire ordeal was that the office staff didn't give us any hassle when we asked to cancel our stay and didn't charge any cancelations fees when we explained our issues, hence three stars instead of one.

We stayed here for 5 nights from Sunday-Friday. We had been on the road for several days and the park ranger on duty graciously allowed us to check in around 10:30am.

Our first day was stressful as there was a very loud family with three barking dogs and four teenagers a couple of sites down. The two adults seemed to be encouraging the dogs to fight each other. However, they left early Sunday evening and it was significantly nicer experience from that point forward.

The campground itself is fairly small, just one loop with the bathhouse, the camp host, and an ADA site in the middle. All sites are next to the water’s edge with steps down and water access except for the camp host and ADA site. Sites were kept very clean and the camp host cleaned out the fire pits and used a leaf blower on each site almost immediately after campers left the site. Sites included a sand pad, fire pit, hanging pole, and picnic table. The bath house was very clean though the shower setup is a little awkward with only one shower in each bathroom having private space to change. Laundry costs $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry and the machines were clean and worked well.

There are several walking trails and the road outside the campground was barely traveled, making it ideal for biking. There is a lake with boat rental. We rented a pedal boat for an hour at a cost of $16.40. There is a sugar cane field, syrup shed and an annual sugar cane festival held on park grounds. There is a working Mill house and dam with historical information posted which serves as an entrance to one of the park’s walking trails.

There is currently ongoing construction on a new building next to the bath house. There is a fair amount of construction noise during the work week and at several points, we had to close up the van in order to drown out the noise of the heavy equipment. On Monday morning, a delivery vehicle ran over a water pipe and water was shut off for the entire campground until early afternoon. Otherwise the construction was fairly unobtrusive.

We had excellent data reception on both AT&T and Verizon allowing Mark to work, minimal voice reception on Sprint and no voice or data on T-Mobile.

Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable stay and we would certainly revisit if were in the area.

We enjoyed our time at this campground. Due to off-season, there were never more than four other campers in the campground. It was very quiet and peaceful. This is a great place to camp in the off-season. However, cell signal is very sparse. We ended up leaving a day early due to difficulty connecting to any cell towers, making it hard for Mark to work. There is zero T-Mobile or Sprint service here. Several times, we got a signal of -140dbm on AT&T but virtually no data transfer. Verizon data strength ranged from -75dbm to -100dbm, though at times it cut out completely as well.

Minus one star because we checked out a day early so Mark could get back to a good signal area and were not given a refund for our last night, so we ended up paying for our site here and our site in another VA state park, making our per night cost at Fairystone higher than the nominal per night charge.

Great park rangers. Very clean showers. Nice paved trails great for biking. We would definitely stay again if we were vacationing and did not require cell data or if the park installs reliable wifi.

I loved this campground. The sites on the pull-through loop were very large and offered abundant privacy which was just what we needed. Everything was clean. Generally, folks were very quiet as well. Having a gate code meant we weren't locked in which allowed us flexibility to go to events and arrive back to the campground later at night. And we had excellent internet! Red Top contracts with Brightlan to offer high speed internet to every campsite. We paid for two weeks at a cost of about $43 and we had wifi speeds better than we used to have at home for about the same price as what two weeks of home internet costs. We had a wifi speed of range of -36 to -42 dBm and Verizon data speed of -77 dBm. Mark could not have been happier with the conditions for working his day job.

The dump station was easy to access and was so discreet we didn't see it at first. There were trash can stations placed in between every few sites that were emptied regularly, so no long walk to a dumpster with trash. We loved the bathhouse! It was just a short walk from our loop and had men's and women's rooms as well as two unisex shower rooms. So far, it is the nicest bathhouse out of the few campgrounds we've stayed at. We really liked having a private shower room to share rather than have to use public shower rooms.

There were a couple of downsides for us. The campground is completely isolated from the rest of the state park and it's amenities. There isn't easy access to the park office except by car. The main road was a narrow two-lane road with no good shoulder for walking and too windy/hilly to feel safe to a novice biker. There is a posted speed limit of 30 mph in that area bit it's a main thoroughfare and most vehicles drove significantly faster, including the school buses that came barreling through each morning and afternoon. There also was nothing to do in the campground except camp, ride a bike, or walk around. There was no public access to the lake for boating or swimming. The public beach was more than a mile down the main road with the cars. We ended up driving to the park office several times to buy more firewood and would have had to break camp if we hadn't had a car with us. Since the car is now in long-term storage, we will have to consider this as a potential issue if we camp there again. Additionally, we would have loved to rent a boat or at least had a picnic or two down by the water, which wasn't possible in the campground. Red Top could go a long way toward improving the amenities by just installing a dock by the water so folks without waterside sites could enjoy the lake views without encroaching on others privacy.

Another downside were the number of people who were in the campground area unauthorized despite the gate with code. Several times, people drove in the open gate behind other campers. One of these folks asked us about leaving their car parked in one of the two parking spots outside the bathhouse while they went on a day hike. A large group of loud motorcyclists simply drove their bikes around the gate to get in and then had a rowdy picnic in one of the open campsites. Overall though, these were isolated incidents and did not effect our stay or decision to return in the future.

The last downside, which didn't effect us but could effect other rigs was that the pull-through sites are not at all level. The entrance and exit to each site is hilly and curved, with ruts in the gravel at the exits. They are located on a ridge and longer rigs may have trouble getting their RV truly level. Because we are so short in a van, it was not an issue for us. But I can see those with longer rigs experiencing difficulty getting into and out of these sites as well as finding a level spot.

Overall, it was a very pleasant stay that met our needs despite the few complaints. There were very few bugs, the weather was perfect, no barking dogs. You really can't beat it if you are a working traveler with heavy internet demands and a strong desire for privacy and peace and quiet.

We discovered McKaskey Creek Campground while searching for a dump station. We were charmed from the moment we arrived. After spending 30 minutes talking to the camp hosts, we took a look around and decided to return the next day to camp. We stayed for the rest of our time in GA.

Our site was adorable, set down into a private dell with no nearby campers within sight after our first night there. We had a 50 amp electric hookup and clean tasty water with a low 54 ppms. The bathhouse was fairly clean and directly across from our site. There were recycling facilities and a large playground. Down the road at the creek was a boat ramp and even a cordoned off swimming beach.

One drawback for us was the campground gates being locked from 10:30 pm to 7:00 am. We went to a Braves game on one night of our stay and ended up renting a car and parking outside the gate and walking in. We also weren't thrilled with being locked in in general. Wish they had a gate with a code.

Wifi would have been a bonus but otherwise, we had zero complaints. Our stay was lovely and we will definitely return.

Our site was directly across from the bathhouse and one of the playgrounds. We were there on a weekend and there were a ton of families. At one point, there were as many as 20 children at the playground. So it was very family friendly.

Cell service was great on all four networks. This is a large campground with two sections and they are prepared with two dump stations at the entrance, plus potable water. Many unpaved makes trails for mountain biking with bike repair stations located on the trails.

We would definitely return if in the area, though it was easily one of the most expensive places we’ve camped.

We originally wanted to stay at Assateague State Park but they were full and the rangers directed us to Shad Landing at Pocomoke River State Park. Oh are we glad they did. It was our first stay in a campground and we asked them to place us in a quiet area. There were only two sites occupied in our area, and we never actually saw people at the sites - only tents. We were conveniently only three sites away from the bath house, which was very clean and well kept. A ranger drove by a few times so we felt like they were keeping a good eye on things. One person rode through on a bike and one drove up to use the bath house. Otherwise, we had that whole corner of the campground to ourselves. Check in was a breeze and the camp store was well stocked with all the amenities you might need. It was very peaceful and absolutely what we needed to recharge and refresh. We were only there one night but we will definitely be back for a weekend and plan to go canoeing next time.