noelculbertson

Kachess Lake Campground is a fantastic spot about five miles off of Interstate 90. The campground is large with several loops and two boat launches. We stayed in site 131 on the Thetis Creek loop. Our was large with a lake view, although the back-in pad was only 33'. We were able to fit our 28' Airstream but had to park our truck sideways to fit in our site. The lake is accessible by a loop trail right from the campsites. There was a great swimming beach 100 yards or less from our site. The site did not have a lot of shade, although most of the Box Canyon loop sites had a nice amount of shade (and larger sites since many are considered double sites).

The lake had a fair amount of watercraft including boats and jet skis, however there was plenty of room for those of us who were simply floating or swimming on the startlingly clear lake. We were camping over Labor Day, so Saturday and Sunday we're pretty busy, though Friday and Monday we're both quiet. There were several hikes near the campground which we did not try due to poor air quality from a nearby fire.

Many sites are reservable online, but can be tricky with a large rig. There were lots of options for our 28' (we do not have pop outs).

Cell phone reception vacillated between 2 bars LTE and 3 bars of 4G at the campsite for ATT. Reception was best down by the lake.

This campground is a lovely mix of forest and northwest beaches. The campsites are all in the woods with most being fairly spacious. Our site had water and electric hookups. Most sites are reservable online. The campground loop is narrow and pretty tight with trees. We made it through with our 28' trailer, but got out to spot a couple of corners. The park staff were friendly and circled often to keep an eye on things and offer help as needed.

Site C14 had plenty of room, though we had empty sites on both sides of us through our stay. In June when we stayed it was cool up at the campground in the shade but sunny and warm down at the beach.

There is are trails down to the beach and around the park. The beaches are more or less accessible depending on the tides. At low tide there are tide pools galore as well as a variety of sea life. We saw otters and seals as well as the typical tide pool critters. At sunset the beach is truly spectacular, there is also a grassy bluff with several benches and picnic tables as well.

We decided to hit this spot after reading a couple reviews. I am happy to say it is even better than we expected. We pulled into the parking lot of Valley River and the security truck met us and directed us to the area for RVs. You need to check in with security, but they were very friendly and offered us some info on the area. Security said you can stay up to two nights.

We parked along the river, there is a great paved path along the river and ponds full of wildlife. We spotted several beavers & other wildlife along the path.

Surprisingly nice spot for a parking lot!

This state park was massive! It has year round activities that must draw huge crowds. However, we were here midweek toward the end of August and almost every camper had a whole loop to themselves. All of the staff members we encountered were exceptionally friendly and helpful.

The trails were well maintained and the lakefront was beautiful and quiet. Obviously the infrastructure of the park speaks to the fact that it gets crazy busy. I wish we’d had several days to spend here exploring the rest of the park.

Our site was at the top of a knoll, so we had to pull all the way to the top to get level. Once we were up there it was perfect. The site was big and had electric hookups. As west coasters, we enjoyed seeing the fireflies light up in the evening.

The showers and bathrooms were older but clean. The shower curtains were a little too small for the openings, which may have been problematic if we weren’t the only campers there.

We hope to come back and explore this area more at some point!

I booked this campsite after an unsuccessful attempt to secure a site in Yosemite. It is the closest private campground to Yosemite Valley - 4 miles from the park entrance and 35-40 min drive into the Valley.

The sites are pretty tight but the manager was very accommodating and comped is a second site which turned our site from cramped to a decent pull through since we were staying 4 nights and he had the room. All sites are dirt and the level varies. Ours was fairly level with 30amp electric, water and sewer hookups. Our site was well shaded but many were in full sun. It was pretty dusty but that was true of the whole area this time of year (late June).

There was no service for ATT and paid WiFi was available but we didn’t use it. There is free access to the hotel pool next door (didn’t use). Also there is a fantastic sandy beach along the Merced River with a great swimming hole which beat the heat in the evenings during our visit.

We stayed one night here on our way across the country. The site was pretty level, if a little muddy. Water is shared by multiple sites, and we didn’t need it for the night. The site had electrical hookups as well.

The campground itself is backed up to several connected areas Johnny Appleseed’s gave, a river, meadows and ball fields. The campground was full but quiet and the hosts were very helpful.

Quite campground nestled among huge old redwood stumps and their surrounding fairy rings of newer trees. This campground has some tight turns between the trees. We stayed in the first loop, as recommended, with our 27’ Airstream. We spotted some corners just to be sure. Site 18 was large enough for our set up, we pulled into an empty site so we could back in. Site 17 would have been big enough as well. I don’t think we would have wanted to attempt the tight corners around the back loop even though there were a few sites big enough for us.

There are no hookups in the campground. Our site was a level dirt site, there are a couple of cement pad sites in the campground. There are coin showers available and both the showers and restrooms were well kept.

The campground is right across the street from one of the groves and next to the Visitor Center along the Avenue of the Giants. There is access to a swimming hole on the Eel River across the street as well.

There is no dump station in the campground. The campground volunteer told us that the Shell Station in Fortuna would let us dump for free if we showed our registration ticket. When we arrived however the dump station was out of order, so we found a free dump station at a rest stop further north on 101.

Very clean campground with walking trails to the Oregon Sand Dunes a few sites down. Our site was very roomy with a nice space a foliage between sites. Our site was party shaded and partly sunny. We had 50amp electrical and water hookups. The site was paved and level. We left our rig hitched as we had an early travel morning the next day. Even with an absolutely full campground for the 4th of July the campground was quiet at night.

This was a stop over site on our way home, so we only saw a little of what the area had to offer. We hiked to the top of one of the sand dunes that is accessed from the trail on the F loop. From the top of the dune you can see the forest and the ocean. It’s windy up on the dunes so bring a wind breaker.

There are lots of dune buggy and ATV rentals available near by. The Visitor Center in the campground had lots of information and some activities for kids.

Your camping tag works is valid for any of the day-use fee parks through the day of departure.

We were surprised by this beautiful dry camping spot. Even on a Saturday in June most of the sites were unoccupied. All sites are paved and looked level. (Ours was completely level.) Our site (18) overlooked the lake and had an amazing view of the sunset in the evening. There are trees that provide some shade in many of the sites. We were pulling plenty of power on our solar panel to run our fans.

There was lake access and hiking trails. We didn’t make use of the trails as it was over 100 degrees, but we did put our feet in the water. The area was pretty windy throughout the day and night, but it helped with the heat and kept the bugs at bay. The campground host was attentive and friendly.

This campground is close to home for us but still one of our favorites. We stayed in site 9 which has sweeping views of the Puget Sound and Whidbey Island and even Mt. Rainier on a clear day which we were lucky enough to enjoy. There are several miles of hiking trails around the park and down at the beach. There is a boat launch available at the beach and would be a wonderful spot for kayaking.

This park has no hookups and sites are first come first serve. A couple of the turns around the campsite look are tight for larger rigs. We have a 28' trailer, we took them slow and had no trouble. This is similar to other state parks where sites are more limited for larger trailers than for tents. We counted about 10 spots on the west loop that would accommodate our set up. Prices for sites range from $25-35 depending on location, with a $10 charge for an extra vehicle.

The park fills up on the weekends, but there are plenty of spots available throughout the week. The dump station is available for campers and $5 for use otherwise.

There is a great little restaurant at Cama Beach Sate Park just a mile or so away and a little store with groceries a few miles away.

The campground host had wood for sale at $7 a bundle.