roadtripper2266952

We had reservations for 2 nights and only stayed one in Aug 2016.

Check-in was at the park entrance. We were told to drive in a loop to the parking lot and come inside to check in. The parking lot was not designed for towing vehicles. Larger rigs should park in the beach parking and walk over.

The campground has two sections. What they call shaded grass sites (I'd call partial to full sun sites.) Then there is fully wooded sites and I'd agree to that description. The wooded sites are labeled as tent camping and the sites on the grass can accommodate trailers and RVs. There were a few wooded sites that we could have gotten into with our 21 foot trailer, but not many. The road in this section was narrow which is also a consideration for anyone towing. There are also 5 yurts that are in a separate loop.

Sites have a picnic table and fire ring. It is dry camping, no hook-ups. No generators, no pets, no alcohol (yeah, right), and no flying drones. The bath house was modern, clean, and had free showers.

There are MANY signs and notices that you are camping in bear country and must store food and coolers properly. Even their dish washing station at the bath house is inside an enclosed room. The swimming area doesn't have trash cans, but they give you a garbage bag to carry out your trash.

There is a sandy beach for swimming in Swartswood lake when lifeguards are on duty. I think the times are 10 am to 6 pm Memorial day through Labor Day. There is a concessions stand at the beach. The park offers boat rentals for something like $15/hour.

Quite hours are 10 pm to 6 am. The reality was that the campground was still rocking at 1 am on the Friday we were there. We were glad quite hours ended at 6 am because we packed up and left as soon as we could. I would not stay here again on a weekend. I doubt I'd stay any other time either. We were hot without hook-ups, the lake was okay but not enough to keep the teenagers entertained, and it's really in the middle of no where. I do think if it wasn't so hot and during a quiet weekday the experience could be better.

We found this "recreation area" listed online. We arrived late at night after driving up a scary steep grade road into the campground. In the morning we discovered "recreation" means the Mazda Laguna Seca road course race track on one side and a pistol shooting range on the other side. We fled after discovering the notice in the bathroom from the County Health Department stating that arsenic was found to be at unhealthy levels in the water.

Access: one star, crazy steep grade in and out of campground
Location: two stars, beside a racetrack and shooting range, but it IS in Monterey country
Cleanliness: one star, ARSENIC!
Site Quality: three stars, sites were ok
Noise: one star, again racetrack and shooting range!

First the positive... the park ranger was nice. We were given a list of available sites and we drove down to choose one. We could return to the office to register or call in our registration and pay over the phone by credit card. We found this convenient while setting up. Site was gravel and included electricity, picnic table, and fire ring. The bath house included a coin laundry, dish washing sink, and two showers. To access the second shower you had to walk through the dressing area of the first shower. So really only one shower was private.

Campground had a nice playground and trail along a creek leading from it.

Now the negatives.... the sites have no privacy and are out in the open. I found that disappointing for a state park. Both the bath house and the camp host had a spot light shining on our site although the host eventually turned his off. The bath house light stayed on all night. The campground is parallel to a state highway and there is constant traffic noise during the day. At night the traffic is sporadic so it is a random loud rumble of a diesel engine occasionally breaking the silent night.

My husband says it was fine for a one night stop. There are other campgrounds including a second state park nearby. I would try other places before returning here again.

We stayed in Aug 2016 and in addition to the $20/ per night fee we paid $9 to Reserve America for the reservation.

We liked the large wooded sites at the campground. Our site, #15 was very large and private. Our trailer is only 18 ft so we could back in and then angle the trailer behind a boulder for more privacy. There is drinking water available a couple places in the campground. Port-a-potties are located in the campground. A bathhouse is currently under construction. Camp sites include a picnic table and fire ring for the dry camping.

The campground is located on a lake. There is a sandy beach and roped off area for swimming. Signs say swimming is only allowed when a lifeguard is on duty which is late morning into the afternoon. There is also a boat launch. I don't think any camp sites have a clear view of the lake, but some are close.

Our only problem were some other campers (who were camping together.) Around 10 pm they began yelling at each for a few minuets off and on. This went on for 20 min and escalated to every other word being profanity. I Goggled and then called the local police after hearing "I'm going to kill you" and "Let's end this right now." The police, stationed 5 miles away, were there in 3 minuets. We didn't hear anything else after that. That was unnerving and I would like to think this was a nearly isolated incident. I've only called the police one other time and never when camping. (The campground didn't appear to have a host or staff at night.)

I liked this campground very much and in spite of the two guys threatening each other I'd give it another try.

We stayed here in Aug 2016 and paid $27/night plus a $9 reservation fee to Reserve America.

The campground is large with over 200 sites. They are divided into 6 loops. Site quality varies quite a bit. There are a limited number of sites with water views. The majority of sites are in wooded areas. Some sites are very large, some small. How level they are varies quite a bit also. The campground is dry camping with drinking water available in each loop. Limited hours for generators is allowed. Our site wasn't very clean. Lots of bits of littler on the ground, glitter craft paint on the picnic table, and egg shells in the fire pit. The bathhouse also wasn't ever cleaned well during our stay. The showers were gross. (Think soap scum and lots of hair on the walls.)

The North-South lake is sometimes referred to as two lakes, but it's really connected, there is just a more narrow spot in the middle. The park rents canoes, row boats, kayaks, and paddle boards. We rented single kayaks for $15 per "day" (a day meaning 9 am to 4 pm.) There is a boat launch available. All watercraft must be non-motorized on the lake. There are 2 roped off swimming areas with lifeguards. We didn't swim but could hear the lifeguards with bullhorns and it sounded like there are a lot of rules about swimming there.

While I was not thrilled about the cleanliness or the size of the campground, the rest of my family loved it. I think we had one of the best campsites with a view of the lake. The kids spent a lot of time by the lake. My daughter found a outcrop over the lake and spent time reading there. We could launch the rented kayaks from our site. The view was beautiful.

Sites I'd try for water views include 178, 171, 170, 167, 151 (large site that sat right on the water but looked like a parking lot from the back, a large rig could fit here,) 150, 148, and 147.

There are black bears int he area and the campground takes proper food storage seriously.

I had 3 bars of 3g on my Verizon phone in some areas of the park. It was not consistent everywhere.

Because we were staying over a weekend we had reserved a site online. That wasn't necessary since there were plenty of sites open. Additionally, we unknowingly chose one of the worst sites from the online map. We stayed here in 2012 in a pop-up camper.

This park has several positives, but I still wasn't able to give it a good review. Check-in was easy. Nice ponds for those who enjoy fishing. My husband enjoyed running on a flat well marked trail. Bathhouse was fine with affordable pay showers. Electricity at the site.

The bad: very few water places to get drinking water. It was a hike to get water. Our site wasn't set up well. We either didn't have a fire pit or it was nearly in the next site. Our site also seemed to be a major path to swing sets behind us. Kids and parents constantly wandered through our site.

The gross: Garbage dumpsters were located right across the street from us. By morning we were driven out by the stench of rotting fish and flies everywhere. Really gross.

The scary: It was wild waking up at 7 am on Sunday morning to the sound of a low flying plane. Then it was scary to realize it was a crop duster spraying the field beside our camper. Not something I want myself or my kids breathing in.

The crop dusting is what would prevent me from staying here again. Otherwise, I would consider trying a different site, but not knowing what they were spraying is a deal breaker for me.

Well maintained and heavily used state park.

We stayed 3 nights while visiting family in the area so most of our time spent in the campground was early morning and late evening. Cedar loop of the campground was nearly full over the weekend but the camp was quiet and peaceful. Other loops had more availability and were not a crowded. Cedar Loop where we were is the only pet friendly loop and also has 30 amp hookups. Water is available at spigots in the park and there is a dump station at the entrance of the campground.

Camping sites were small. The camping "pad" was tiny crushes gravel and most of these areas were level. Some sites had quite an incline to back up into the camping "pad." Sites have a fire ring and picnic table. The bath house was clean and maintained. The camp host cleaning fire pit between campers. He also raked the crushed gravel making the site well cared for.

A few things to note:
*The park has a gate at the entrance which is locked at night. You need to call ahead if you will be arriving late for the code. The lock is difficult to see at night, it is a combination code with the numbers imprinted into the silver metal. When hit with light from a flashlight the whole thing reflects light back at you making it difficult to see the numbers. This gate was being locked about 10 pm while we were there.
* There is a second gate at the entrance of the campground operated by a keypad. The campground office closes at "dusk." If you arriving after (or near) "dusk" and have reservations call ahead to get the code.
* There is a swim beach and large picnic area which are heavily used by local folks on weekends. The park did close the park to day use once the parking lots were full. They blocked off the left hand tuning lanes on Rt. 40 into the park. As campers they allowed us in, but we had to pass the park and turn around to make a right hand turn into the park. Not a big deal, but would have been a pain if we happened to be towing.
* Finally, we made online reservations ahead of time. Our paperwork said we were in site 15. Every loop has a site 15 but the registration paperwork didn't indicate which loop we were in. We arrived after the office was closed. We found our site by finding the only pet friendly loop and were thankful there were signs about that.

Overall, this is a great well maintained park. The registration process and getting in at night could be improved. An emergency first responder would have difficulty having access to the park at night.

Park is located near an Appalachian Trail parking/trailhead.

Yes, that is correct, we stayed 5 nights at a 3 night maximum park. The last two nights were mid week, the park wasn't full, and we asked permission. There is an on site campground manager who makes frequent rounds and seems very aware of what is going on in the campground. He granted us permission.

Camping is first come, first available. We arrived early Saturday and grabbed one of the last two sites. It was one of the worst sites, but we didn't move when other sites opened up. We spent most of our time out sight seeing and the campground was more of a landing place.

Our site was very close to the restrooms/bath house. There were two showers in each side (men/women.) Signs were on the bath house that showers were for campers only, but this was not enforced. In fact there was a steady stream of folks in the evenings parking beside the bath house and going in to take showers. Most parked right beside our site and it was clear that these were folks who were living out of their cars. That might bother some people, but it was very orderly and didn't bother us at all . The campground manager was really on top of it and he would appear anytime someone loitered too long and told them to move along. A camper at a site further way may not even notice this activity.

Sites have a picnic table and fire ring although fires were not permitted due to the drought. There is a dish washing sink behind the bath house. Road to the park is one mile from the center of town, up a hill, and through a residential area.

This is a multi use town park with birthday parties near the playground, dog walkers, and joggers on the trails. Our 9 year old loved the playground and all the kids he got to play with here.

There are so many things to do in the area. We enjoyed the Monterey Warf and seeing the sea lions, seals, and otters. We took a Whale watching tour and saw humpback whales. We spent a day at the Monterey Aquarium and found some good restaurants.

We stayed in Aug 2016 for two nights.

Molly Stark State park is a small park. It is mostly the campground, a picnic pavilion, and a trail to a fire tower. We enjoyed our short stay here.

Sites 2 - 24 are wooded with good separation between them. There are also camping lean-tos scattered in this area which are named after trees (Cherry, Poplar, Maple...) Sites include a picnic table and fire pit. The updated modern bathhouse is on the hill in this area. The showers here are free. The dump station with fresh water fill is also near this bathhouse.

Sites 1 and 15 - 23 are on the edge of an open field. All sites in the whole campground are back in except site 16, which is a pull through with partial shade. The rest of these sites have full sun and no privacy from neighboring sites. The bathhouse in this area is much older. There are pay-showers here.

The office sells firewood, $6 for 10 pieces. Ice is for sale at the office. A small book exchange (take a book and leave a book) is located on the side of the office. Recycling is also available on site.

There was some distant road noise from State Rt 9 which diminishes to an occasional vehicle at night.

The mile hike up to the Mt Olga fire tower lookout was nice.

We stayed here one night while traveling through so we did not get to use many amenities. The campground was quiet and the bath house clean and newer. The bath house closest to our site did not have shower facilities, but another one a short walk away did.

Most of the RVs we saw were 30 ft and under. We did see one 40 ft Class A near the entrance. The roads in the campground are narrow with some turns that larger rigs should consider before making plans to camp here.

There was no Verizon service at our site. The camp store did have working WiFi.