roadtripper8384592

Just stopped for one night because I wanted to be near Sand Creek Massacre Site. One pit toilet at the entrance was bad and I decided I’ll be using my van toilet. You can drive around on tracks to find decent parking spots. Mostly sand with some grass. The lake attracts some nice birds. Fresh deer tracks along the water but I didn’t see any. Only one other person here when I was and they were pulling their boat out ready to leave. Typical fisherman trash around but not too bad. Probably would stay here again unless I came to fish.

We stayed one night on a drive through. It a town park maintained by Townsend. Old style loop with wide pull outs. Fine for a van or small trailer but not suitable for a big rig. Pit toilets, table and fire ring. NO water. No shade. Next to highway and train tracks.

I was hoping to find a dispersed site just up the road at Tongue River but all the sites were taken so I opted for this as I needed just one night on a drive thru. They call this a State Park/Historical Site but basically it’s a town park on the edge of Ranchester. The locals play in the river, picnic, and walk their dogs. It could be a nice park with a little maintenance. The bathrooms are pit toilets and they were disgusting. It’s obvious they don’t get frequent service so they were smelly and filthy. There is a train track nearby so a few times in the night you hear the whistles. It was tolerable for one night but I’ll pass on this place in the future.

We came in on a Friday afternoon and had no problem finding a site with about half the sites taken. Loop A has 13 sites and is FF. Loop B had 19 sites and is reservation only. Too bad Loop B isn’t also FF as it had very few sites taken. There are also two group sites right at the entrance to the campground. The road is a bit rough with washboard but fine taken slow. Clean pit toilets (a bit buggy) picnic tables and fire ring. Many sites also have raised tent pads.
Interesting to find out that easily accessible from the campground are multiple climbing areas. The limestone cliffs are beautiful. Views to the south are wide open for miles.
If you are considering taking the shelf road to Cripple Creek with any trailer or larger RV…DO NOT!!! The road is a rough rocky gravel road that’s very narrow with limited wide spots to pass. I drove my MB Sprinter and it was a challenge.

I stayed on a Tuesday and Wednesday night and was the only one in the campground. Very clean pit toilet and water available. Table and fire ring at each site. There are only 5 sites. Sites #1&5 are pull through. No bear boxes and it is bear country. I saw a bear cross the road near the entrance to the CG. Close to two trailheads. A 2.5mi (one way) hike goes to beautiful Mosquito Lake. It was a bit buggy with mosquitoes.

I had intended to stay at a really nice Army Corps of Engineering campground nearby but discovered it was closed for the entire 2021 year for construction. Round Lake SP looked like the closest best bet after a long day. Was I ever disappointed! I have stayed at other Idaho State Parks which were very nice, but this one isn’t worth it. $62 a night for a non-resident, with no senior discount, is way out of line for this place. For this price I got a very basic camp site with a table and fire pit. Also included was a restroom with flush toilets and showers. The restroom in the middle of the campground was clean but not pristine. For that price it should have been. The restroom near the visitors center is new, and was very clean and very modern. The sites are small and the majority of them you would be hard pressed to get both a small trailer and tow vehicle into the space. My Sprinter van took up the entire space. Some of the spaces have water and electric, but their map doesn’t indicate which ones, and the fee is the same for both electric and non-electric sites. Makes no sense. All sites do have water nearby. The camp hosts seemed more interested in sitting on their backsides than getting up and working on the sites. My site had pieces of trash and bottle caps everywhere. Also it’s close to a road that had traffic all night.

I’ve stayed in many a Forest Service campground but this place was definitely one of the very best. The FS has obviously done some major updates recently with new pit toilets, tables, and bear boxes. Very well maintained by two incredible camp hosts Karen and Randy. Karen was actually wiping down and cleaning the table at our site when we pulled in. The toilets were immaculate. The loop and sites are all paved and pretty level. The night skies viewing was awesome. We came in without a reservation midweek in the afternoon and several sites were available.
There is a train track across the valley but the noise is just the rumbling of the cars and was easily overlooked considering how great everything else was. Close to Glacier NP.

I always like finding little interesting places in the middle of nowhere. We were doing a drive through from the west coast and saw this campground listed. It’s a free BLM site with good basics, pit toilets, picnic tables, BBQ fire boxes and some sites have sunshades. The pit toilets at the trailhead just at the entrance to the campground are much newer and cleaner. We came in late in the day and there were still two open spots. It’s basically all sand that’s pretty level. A small loop. Managing a big trailer in would be a bit tough and some of the sites are too small to accommodate a bigger rig but my little Sprinter van had no issues. The interpretive trail offered a nice .6mile walk in the morning before getting back on the road.

We didn’t stay here on 6-4-22 but drove through to see what the current situation is. The FS has a sign posted saying you can stay but at your own risk. Currently there is no coat to stay. It appears that the campground had a forest fire 2-3 years ago (just guessing from the appearance) and the FS is in the process of doing repairs and renovation. Most of the trees have been cut down and are being removed. It is still needing lots of work and the posting indicates the FS is planning on major work starting June of 2022. The toilets are being maintained but I cannot say if water is available. Hopefully they will get the renovations done soon as the location is nice near the Loup Loup Ski Area and is in a nice forest.

We just loved this place. This was one of the cleanest best maintained campgrounds we’ve ever stayed out. The grounds were immaculate. The fire pit had been cleaned and raked. The camp host was the best, caring for the place like it should be. The toilets and showers were spotless with a level of cleanliness that was five star!! The site was paved and flat. You are fairly close to the other sites but many sites including ours (#20) have large bush hedges that block your view of adjoining sites. Fairly close to the highway there was some noise from the logging trucks but by evening that stopped.
Oregon State Parks are great!