sandy2send2

This campground is nestled among the red sandstone formations of varying heights, with each rack face being its own beautiful sculpture. Everything appears well maintained, although I did not check out the vault toilets. I noticed the Ranger drive by periodically during my stay to check on bathrooms and waste bins. Mid-week in early January was not crowded and I had my pick of a number of spots, but lucked out in getting #24 which is very private and has its own backyard canyon. Campers who use solar to recharge should take site selection into account since many will have a lot of shade from the sandstone cliffs. I occasionally had 1 bar of unreliable and unstable signal with T-Mobile, but a few other areas of the park had better service.

If you're planning to explore the unsurpassed offerings of nature and scenery in the Banff/Yoho/Glacier area, this is a great place to camp. I stayed in mid-September (with a reservation) and was pleased with the quiet aspect of the surroundings, despite being in such a large campground. I don't think I could have gotten better than the site I had (I-12), since I was surrounded by enough forest to be a generous buffer between neighboring sites, most of which were not visible from my trailer windows. Bisecting this large campground are pedestrian thoroughfares to aid in getting around. It was a quick walk out the front gate to walk along the Bow River, with trails along the shore on both sides of the bridge/entrance. Although it was a little walk to get to the shower building, it was clean and I didn't have to wait. I had some usable cell signal (T-Mobile) from my site. One thing to note is to make sure you have an axe larger than a hatchet if you plan to use your fire pit. The firewood corrals provide firewood (included in your camping fees), but the pieces are just quartered logs. It was nice, dry seasoned wood and with my medium-sized camp axe I was able to cut it into some starter size pieces, but it would have been much more challenging with just a hatchet. Lake Louise is a quick drive from the campground, Morraine Lake is about 20-25 minutes drive, Yoho National Park about 30 minutes, and Banff is about 45 minutes. If you plan to see Morraine Lake, I suggest the shuttle system if you don't like getting up at 4 am to be one of the first 150 cars to get the only parking (they close access to the road as soon as it's full).

What a beautiful campground! I arrived on a Sunday afternoon in mid-September and there were very few occupied sites. I chose site 26 in the B-loop and there was only 1 other camper within site down the loop road from me. Even if the other sites had been occupied, there was a nice buffer of distance on either side and behind me was just miles of low pine and juniper forest with mountain views. Due to being so late in the season, there was no longer any host, and it appeared that the forest service possibly doesn't get in there daily to remove out-of-date reservation signs from the site posts, since there were many from earlier in the weekend still posted. Campsite structures were obviously relatively new, with long wooden picnic tables, large fire rings, and barbecue grills. The pit toilets were relatively clean and maintained. Walking around to explore, I found lots of amenities in the campground and the group areas as well, like swings and a horse corral. There is an extensive trail system for hiking/riding/mountain biking (but seems geared towards mountain bikes) right from the campground. I will definitely be back for more time here. The only sounds heard was wind in the trees and crickets. Great for star gazing too with a sky unblemished by city lights. The road in from the highway is gravel, but access is very easy. Cell service was solid (T-Mobile).

Things to like: Very close and convenient to the trailheads and viewpoints that bring people to Bryce. It was quiet and peaceful in the surrounding high elevation pine forest. There are a handful of sites that do offer more space and privacy.
Things not to like: Most of the sites were small and close together, with very little privacy. Two of the three bathrooms on the side of the campground I was in were closed and locked (one had a sign saying permanently closed), which meant a long walk to the tent loop to use the facilities. No firewood available for sale in the campground.
Things to know: Yes, this campground has 100 sites, however 50 are for tents only. If you arrive in a camper van/vehicle and all the "RV" sites are taken, you are not permitted to park and camp in a tent site. When I arrived in April, things were still FCFS, but even arriving relatively early in the day (1:00pm) I managed to snag the last available site.

I stayed 1 night here in May 2022 as part of a northward road-trip up the coast and immediately wished that I had more time in my itinerary. I stayed in site 43, which was adjacent to a rushing creek which provided a welcome constant bubbling of the white noise of nature. Just one site over was the trailhead for the 1/2 mile trail to the beach. Although the campground appeared completely full, it still was peaceful and amazingly quiet for the occupancy level. The trail to the beach was like a beautiful, lush, green tunnel which then opens up onto miles of open beach and shoreline. The other trails that leave from the campground were nice as well, and even with a full campground I only saw 1 other person on the trail in the late afternoon. Everything I saw appeared well-maintained and well-managed. I did have this reserved ahead of arrival, and it was one of the more expensive campgrounds I stayed in, but I would definitely return.

I pulled in here without a reservation mid-week in September and had a choice of several spots. I took A-5 (which happened to be neighbors to the host) because I loved the surround of tree coverage and it felt nice and private. My little 15' rig fit the space just fine, but anything much larger and you'd probably have to park your tow vehicle somewhere else to not block the loop road. The pit toilet was close to my site (convenient), yet screened by the trees; it was also the cleanest I've encountered. The host was friendly and helpful when I was first getting settled into a spot. The only maintenance issue I noted was that the mapped hiking trail from the A-loop across the hillside and down to the water was a bit overgrown and obviously underused. Once I got into the B-loop the trail was much more walk-able without brush scraping my legs. I could hear some traffic/truck noise from highway 93 from my spot, which is probably a little less prevalent in the B-loop. I also noticed that my cell signal was better when walking through the B-loop than it was at my particular site (only 1 bar there, if that; T-Mobile). Even with the forest-muffled roadway noise, this campground felt peaceful and I loved the mature forest.

Price included fees from recreation.gov; stayed in May 2022. Small campground with easy enough access while taking into account the narrow road with close trees. My pop-roof type trailer is 15' long and no higher than my Tacoma and I had no uneasiness with the single lane entry road. I stayed in site 8, which felt like I was alone in the place due to the spacing before the next site. There was more than enough depth in that site for my truck and trailer, with some minimal leveling needed. If you choose this site and are towing, the easiest access is to drive through the campground and turn around in the small loop at the end and back in while facing back out towards the highway. The trails are beautiful right from the campground. Lots of trees, shade, and a creek in a ravine. The drive out to the beach was quick and easy.