roadtripper3869961

We van camped (6/7/2017) in a non-electric site at Raccoon Ridge Campground which has both non-electric & electric sites. The other 2 campgrounds - Buffalo Ridge & Taylor Ridge - are electric. Buffalo Ridge is a more open, park-like setting. Raccoon Ridge has trees and some open areas. Taylor Ridge is mostly wooded. Our site was larger, sloped slightly downhill, but flat in the back. When reserving, I did pay attention to the grade description. A few sites in Raccoon Ridge were mounded for level parking, but the fire ring and tent spots were down the hill, below the mound. We noticed in Raccoon & Taylor campgrounds, many sites had more space between them, but some were fairly close. Non-electric was $16/night, but $19 Thur-Sat.

Bathrooms - vault toilets were totally enclosed, like new (or newly painted), clean, and had air fresheners. The shower house had flush toilets and 4 shower stalls. They also had soap dispensers, mirrors, hand dryers, electrical plugs. Two shower stalls had nice shower heads; 2 had what looked like water saving heads. Shower was nice (I used the non-water-saver), but the water temp seemed to be only hot & hotter. Water spigots were in various spots; there was a centralized trash bin & recycling bins for cans & plastic.

Phone service - most all the time, 2 bars LTE (AT&T). Free Wi-fi was available but spotty; it was accessible at the Nature Center, Park Office and at the lodge.

We arrived during the week (Wed), and even though it was about half full, Raccoon Ridge was peaceful, with birds & squirrels about. There was fan noise from the shower house, so we were glad we picked a site at the end of the loop.

This state park is beautiful, with lots of great hiking, an interesting nature center, two small lakes (no swimming in them though), awesome vistas, mountain bike trails, Olympic-size pool, a camp store, even a horseman's campground. We'll be back!

Camped 5/9/21 (Sunday night). Seeing the sign once we arrived, we were unsure if we should stay or not. Not a lot of camping options around though. There was a big gravel area ("dog run area") on the side of the parking lot, so we set up there. The whole time, we were kind of apprehensive that we'd get a knock on the door and told to move on. (It didn't happen.)

The parking lot is big, has picnic tables, vault toilets and trash cans. It's right along the road, and the road was fairly busy. The gravel area was level like the paved area, and we didn't unhook in case we were told to leave. We did see a "this land is your land" BLM sign along Hwy 278, and also saw some spots north of the rest area where perhaps we could have pulled off had we been told to leave.

We had no cell service driving Hwy 278 from Eureka and didn't get a signal until we were nearing I-80.

I gave this an overall rating of 3 because we didn't dislike it and it was a convenient overnight spot for us (a half-way point to where we were going). But due to the sign, we probably wouldn't camp here again if in the area.

Camped Sunday night, 2/3/19. As per the other reviews, it was crowded, even on a rainy Sunday evening. However, we found a spot, and surprisingly, it was level. This boondock site is sandy gravel with dips and hills, and no marked sites; you just park wherever. Being rainy, there was some mud and soft areas where people drove, but mostly it was hard-packed. There were a number of larger to smaller RVs and some tents. The area is enclosed in barbed wire fence. No porta-potties or trash containers provided, and people left their trash laying around. While the road noise wasn't bad, someone ran their generator all through the night.

On the flip side, the views and landscape are amazing, and the location convenient. My husband had to catch an early morning flight out of Gateway Airport in Mesa, which was a half hour away.

A fellow camper said the weekend was noisy with partying. We'd stay here again, but only if we had to.

Camped 5/3/21 (Monday night). When we arrived we pulled in by the BLM sign and spoke to a guy who had been contemplating camping there. He had driven around some and warned us the roads were soft - he was moving on to camp elsewhere. Our truck has 4WD, so we decided give it a go anyway and followed the road straight back to get farther away from the highway noise (non-stop). Yeah, it was VERY soft gravel in a lot of areas and rutted.

We chose the first spot that looked pull-in-able, and it happened to be right next to a fence. On the other side was the cement company. They started the equipment the next morning, oh right around 5 am.

Our view in the other direction of the cement plant was nice. There was a fire ring of rocks, and our site was actually fairly level and big. I think there was one other camper in the distance; it was understandable why we had the place to ourselves. The 2014 road pictures here on Campendium do not reflect the roads as we found them, torn up by ORVs. I took a picture in the evening light to show how the road we took looks. In all fairness, based on what the guy told us, we did not explore other roads in this BLM area. Some may not be as bad. There was one that went right along the fence and it was not soft, but where it intersected with the road we took, it was super soft sand/gravel. The front area where you pull in from the highway was not soft.

With the continual road noise, the cement plant noise and soft roads, we'd choose another place next time.

Camped Thursday 3/14/19 & Sunday 3/17/19. Many sites along the road, but a low gully may discourage large rigs from going farther back. There are sites before the gully however. Being in van, camping down the road aways was our option. Sites were large, most without trash, and were fairly level. No ATVs at the time of our visit.

You could hear the I-10 interstate noise, but not bad. The site we chose had a fire ring and was clean. Beautiful scenery and night skies. The gas station at the exit was convenient for gas and snacks.

Camped 10/8/19 (Tue). After reading Campendium reviews and checking the area on satellite view, we planned our stop here and spots to camp at, but those spots were taken.  We were a little apprehensive about traveling further back and being able to turn around with our camper (if we didn't find something), but it wasn't an issue.  We found a great spot on Road 755A.  GPS is 37.2371,-107.5476.  Elevation 7050.

One reason for the apprehension was the deep drainage trenches on either side of the graded roads.  Our site had a "driveway" in, and the trench was somewhat filled (we filled in more w/rocks & dirt).  The site was very large, private, in the trees and had a fire ring of stones.  It was level, hardly any trash, and the ground was dirt - actually more of a fine dust.  There was an oil rig at the end of the side road along our site, but it wasn't operating. It was beautiful and quiet, but you could hear some Hwy 160 noise at times.

There's a gas station about 1 mile west of the Sauls Creek entrance road.  We didn't notice any partying locals, but people came in with horse trailers, to unload & ride the area on their horses.  Thankfully, we weren't there during hunting season.

Stopped here 5/11/21 to get gas and fill our water tank. There are two dump station lanes, and I checked the water pump nearest the gas pumps, but it didn't work. However, luckily enough, there was a water pump right at the gas pump we stopped at, pump #10. We asked an employee who was cleaning the pump areas if it was okay to fill our camper tank and he said yes, no charge.

Camped 4/30/17. We arrived at the campground in the evening just before a storm, so there was no camp host and no one came around to collect money, nor did we see any place to pay with an envelope. All the sites are back-in amongst large trees, alongside Bayou La Rose. As shown in the pictures, there are NO picnic tables at the sites. The campground/park is right next to a road that was well traveled and in a residential neighborhood.

We took the exit in Henderson to follow LA-352 until it intersected w/Henderson Levee Rd. We looked for a Herman Dupuis road sign (none) and missed the turn-off, so ended up driving all the way to La Fausse State Park (which is closed indefinitely due to flooding & electrical damage). The ranger told us it's the only paved road over the levee. So FYI - it's about 4 miles south from the LA-352 intersection, the road over the levee is paved, and there is a Butte La Rose sign.

The bathroom was a unisex bathroom and dirty, although there was toilet paper and paper towels. Trash bins were down by the boat ramp and were overflowing.

We would camp there again in a pinch, but as tent/van campers, probably wouldn't spend more than a night there.

Arrived Monday 5/14/18, left Wed 5/16/18
GPS 37.1239,-113.1102

It's about a 3-mile drive down Main St. until you get to the Gooseberry Mesa sign that points left turn. We explored some side roads (off the Gooseberry Mesa road), which were narrow & rutted, but camped at the GPS location I listed above (Thank You Grand Adventure!!). It was dry when we were there, but some campsite spots had what looked like thick clay mud, so beware if it's rainy.

Although it's farther to Zion than other boondocking areas, it was not full of campers, very quiet, and the views were incredible. There are juniper trees around, and we were able to collect some wood. Even though the road to the site was rutted, the campsite itself was spacious, level and clean.

Cattle are in the area, and the first evening we were treated to a "round-up" with 3 ranchers on horses, directing a small herd of cows down the dirt road just south of our campsite. Later the cows came back to the field they had been in, and subsequently passed by each morning and evening. Even though a cow or two would stop and check us out, they stayed on that road and didn't come near us. Don't know if this is a regular occurrence, but we
enjoyed it.

Temps were great - nice warm sunny days and cool nights. We did notice gnats that came out after it warmed up in the morning. It was breezy, but not terrible.

There's a gas station in Apple Valley, and we utilized the free water pump at the Maverick in La Verkin (corner of State St. & Hwy 9).

Arrived Wednesday 5/16/18, left Friday 5/18/18
Elevation 5105

We were glad to have arrived early afternoon, since most spots were already taken and more campers arrived after us. Number of sites states 5, but the areas are large, and when we were there, sites were being shared. There was a tent camper at the site we chose, but there were two fire rings, so we camped next to him.

It's a beautiful locale, with the river and interesting rock formations. Wind was blowing through the canyon when we arrived, but calmed down in the evening. Days were sunny, perfect and warm, but nights were chilly. Due to the colder nights, we did a day trip to Bryce from this campground instead of moving up closer to that park.

Our spot had hard sand and some grass, but other sites had soft sand. Some sites were closer to the water. We didn't see trash at the sites. There were no ATVers or hunters while we were there.

Thunderbird Restaurant was convenient for a decent meal and using Wifi. Very friendly service!

I wanted to give this 5 stars, but didn't due to lack of privacy and the amount of people going up and down the road - some not slow - which kicked up dust. The trucks may have been going to the ranch down the road. Others would go back and forth looking for a campsite, even late into the night.