shannonpound

The previous reviews pretty much cover the basics. I want to add two things. First as I write this it’s 2020 and all camping has been impacted by Covid-19. This campground is open but was closed this spring during the height of the shutdowns. If there is a virus resurgence do not assume Spring Rec Area is open, check first. The second thing is the goats heads. If you have pets you’ll need to be extremely careful here because the goats heads are a problem. That said we had a great stay here. We love the price (with pass), the convenience to I 84 and the strong Verizon signal for catching up on email.

Thanks to KR for bringing this location to our attention. We planned 3 nights of boondocking in the Flaming Gorge NRA but were undecided where to go. After reading KRs review we decided to scope it out. There were several big RVs parked right by the boat launch. The launch area had a vault toilet and a dumpster. Wanting to avoid crowds we headed off on one of the many dirt roads leading out to campsites near the water. We found one about 3/4 mile from the launch on a bench above the water. There was no one else around. We had 3 wonderful quiet days. But Labor Day weekend is here so we're leaving as the unruly hoardes are pulling in. Cell service here is spotty. Our phones would get 2 bars of blazing fast Verizon 4G and then suddenly the signal would disappear. We are in our truck camper this trip. Larger rigs would have fewer site choices but we saw plenty in the area.

We left Lake Powell heading for Kanab without reservations on Thursday of UEA weekend. If you’ve never heard of UEA weekend it’s a Utah Teacher In-Service day (Friday) in October which means every Utah public school has at least a 3 day weekend if not the whole week off for fall break. Parks and campgrounds in the state are mobbed. We figured we’d have to do some dispersed camping on BLM land and listen to the ATVs. Then we found the review for this campground and decided to see if they had space. Tonight there are only a handful of rigs and 2 tenters in the park.

The location is fairly convenient to Toroweap, North Rim Grand Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante and several other attractions in southwest Utah. Zion is only about 50 miles away but we won’t go near it on such a busy weekend. Pipe Spring National Monument is just down the road. It’s a small monument commemorating Native American, Mormon and other explorers of the area.

The 3 star rating for site quality is due to Goat’s Heads (puncture vine) which have prickles that get stuck in shoes, stuck in dogs paws and generally make walking miserable. The staff is busy trying to manage them with flame throwers but it’s a tough fight. We’ve encountered them all throughout Arizona. Other than that the campground is in pretty good shape and the staff has been extremely attentive and helpful. Sites are gravel and most are level or very close.

We’re on the move so have compromised our standards a bit with convenient RV parks. For one night we wanted to get “away”. Glendo State Park on a Sunday night fit the bill perfectly. Sagebrush is one of 12 named campgrounds in the park. The main park road is paved, the campground roads and sites are gravel. Many sites here could handle really good sized rigs.

Sites S1 and S2 are set along the lake and well separated from the other sites. We chose S2 which is a level pull through. We have great cell signal (Verizon) and no neighbors nearby. We’ve seen tons of birds and probably a dozen deer. You can just make out the train and freeway sounds but they’re not bothersome.

The price above includes the $9 Day use fee plus the $16 camping fee charged to out of state residents.

The Apostle Island Area campground is in Bayfield Wisconsin. The Apostle Islands are a group of 20+ islands in Lake Superior managed by the National Park Services as a National Lakeshore. Boat tours of the Apostle Islands are available from a dock in downtown Bayfield. The campground is just outside the downtown area on a hillside above Hwy 13 off of County Road J. No water view from the campground through the trees.

You go up a driveway and enter the campground next to the office. Payment here is cash or check only, no credit cards. We paid $40 night plus tax for full hookups. Sites are assigned on arrival. We didn't have a reservation. When I called a few days earlier we were told to just show up.

The sites are down a steep and curvy gravel drive just after the office but we had no trouble navigating it. Sites are laid out on a hillside loop with some just a bit steep on entry. Most sites look to be level side to side. There's a more open loop with a grassy play field and a side loop tucked in the trees. Some of the sites in the trees might be problematic for longer & taller rigs. As the main loop curves toward the exit there's an RV dump set right alongside the gravel road. It might be interesting if a rig was dumping as you pull out as it's on a corner and the road's not overly wide.

Our site had a sewer connection, 30 amp power and shared a water faucet with the site next door. It was a very long run to the faucet and we needed 50 feet of hose to get there. There's a warning sign at the office that some sites have long runs to the power pedestal as well. There are bathrooms and showers. Showers aren't free, they take quarters.

There's no wifi but the Verizon signal is 3 bars LTE and fairly fast. We set up our satellite and found 2 of 3 Dish satellites. Very few sites here will be able to pick up any satellites due to the trees. We also found 2 channels OTA including the Fox affiliate from Duluth for local news and weather.

This campground is one of 3 campgrounds clustered together alongside the many lakes of the Northern Highlands - American Legion State Forest near Mantowish Waters. There is a State Park nearby as well as other state-run campgrounds in this large forested northeast corner of Wisconsin. Wisconsin DNR manages 863 campsites in the forest. There are tons of recreation opportunities in the area. The forest is mixed deciduous and conifer and the first hints of beautiful fall color were appearing in early October.

Crystal Lake, Musky (Muskellunge) Lake and Firefly Lake campgrounds are administered from the office at the entrance to Crystal Lake. Slightly more than half the available sites are reservable, the rest first-come, first-served. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon in October with no reservation looking to stay only one night. You go into the office and pre-select a campsite sight unseen. We were told that if we had trouble fitting into our site we could come back and get another site assigned.

Wisconsin parks are very expensive for non-residents. A dry camping site was $25 plus you have to buy an $11 daily vehicle permit. There is an annual pass available to non-residents for $38.

The campsites are set in thickly forested loops along the 3 lakes. We lucked out and snagged a waterfront site. It was a challenge to get our fifth wheel into the driveway which was perpendicular to the narrow loop road but we made it. The dry-camping sites are large, fairly level and hard-packed sand which ended up getting into everything. But being on the water meant setting up chairs in front of your site along the lake to enjoy the sunset, birds and the kayakers as they paddled the motor-free lake. Crystal Lake campground had one centrally located bathroom with flush toilets, showers and a water faucet with potable water. Vault toilets and hand pumps for water are scattered throughout the campground. There’s a 3 lane dump station at the exit.

The Wisconsin Parks website lists a 50’ max RV size for these campgrounds but I would view that with caution. The loop roads are fairly twisty and narrow. Our tall 5er hit a few branches on the way to our site. Some driveways have trees strategically placed to make backing in difficult. We might not have made it into the site if the campsite across had been occupied.

Since it was only one night we chose not to bother with the cell booster. We could get text messages but not make phone calls or get internet.

We came to see the cranes. So did everyone else. The “formal” camping area was full with multiple RVs plus several camping vans, a tent trailer and a tent. In addition people there just for a look at the cranes were coming and going all day. We didn’t want to be far away so we headed to one of the two designated overflow camping areas...the Sportsman’s Access. It’s located a mile north on the west side of N. Coffman Road.

The Sportsman’s Access is simply a graded parking area about 100 yards off the road. There’s a cattle guard at the entrance that looks narrow but was easy enough for our wide-body 5th wheel to pass through. We set up at the west end of the lot and could see cranes from our window to the west and hear them as they flew around the area. We also saw Red Tail Hawks, sparrows and swallows.

There are no facilities here and fires are not allowed. Much of the parking lot is covered in fine dust. This would probably not be a fun place if the wind came up. The Verizon signal is 3 bars LTE and seems pretty fast. Dirt roads in the area are washboarded but otherwise in good shape.

We prefer to keep our driving to <300 miles/day so a stop was in order on our way to Phoenix. This BLM dispersed camping area was perfect for a 1 night stay. Using the GPS coordinates listed we found a narrow dusty road to the right. The road heads toward a draw that appears to go down to the valley below. We saw a good-sized 5th wheel about 3/4 mile from the road so we felt safe proceeding. The road has experienced some rutting due to the extreme amount of rain that's fallen this winter. Also the road was firm but would likely be very slick mud in the rain. We carefully drove through a few small "washouts" and found several nice large desert gravel sites with campfire rings about 1/3 to 1/2 mile from the road. There was some minor road noise while outdoors but we couldn't hear it once inside.

The desert is very green right now because of the rain and the sites have a nice view of the valley below. As a bonus, we had 3-4 bars of Verizon 4g service.

This campground was purchased by the state of Utah and totally upgraded with paved loops, frost free water, 20-30-50 amp power. There are flush toilets, showers and vault toilets.

There's a mix of back in and pull through sites and it's very big rig friendly. Each site has a ramada, picnic table and fire pit.

It's in a canyon across from I-84 which can be heard but is mostly a steady background noise. Lots of water activities on the reservoir behind Echo Dam. We were there on a Saturday night and it was as full and noisy as would be expected but quieted down nicely after 10 pm.

Our Verizon phones got 2-3 bars LTE and occasionally experienced slowdowns but was adequate for emails.

Century 2 Campground is conveniently located on the north side of Salmon right on the river. It's directly on Hwy 93 which had a few loud bikes and trucks pass by but was very quiet at night. It's an older campground run by an interesting older gentleman. I think we'd have liked this campground more if we'd been camping in a smaller (<28 ft) travel trailer or motorhome. There are 5 very nice pull through sites for rigs of that size. All are nestled under big cottonwood trees with glorious shade for a hot summers day.

For bigger rigs like ours though the only available sites were at the north and south ends stacked parking lot style. Most of these sites were configured for motorhomes not trailers. There are 2 nice sites right along the river available for an extra fee which we might have been able to fit into. Unless you were in one of the riverfront sites then the bigger rigs had no real river view. The south end had shade, not the north. Our site (16) was the only site on the north end suitable for trailers/fifth wheels with utilities on the correct side for backing in. We faced the nearby Sinclair Service Station with lights you can see from outer space. We had to cover the door window & skylights to make it dark enough to sleep.

On the plus side the (Verizon) cell service was strong and the campground wifi was surprisingly good. There are showers and a laundry. There's also a shared deck so everyone can go out and enjoy the river. The town center is only minutes away. There's a good grocery store, hardware, auto parts and other handy things in town.