tracywaldon

Nice dump station at a great price. My only complaint is that the sewer inlet is a little high.

Access the dump station by turning into the main entrance of the casino and take the first right. You'll go through a parking lot with RV pads around the edge. Go to the back of the parking area and loop back towards the highway.

Conveniently located in downtown Eureka, right across the street from the Exxon/Town Pump dump station (which is free with purchase, $2.00 otherwise). The benefit of this dump station is that access is much easier. The Exxon can be tight for larger rigs. Potable water was difficult to find in Eureka. If you need to dump and fill your water tank, I would recommend the Rexford Bench USFS campground about 5 miles out of town. It has a very well laid out dump station with potable water for a $5 fee.

It's the dump station for the twin peaks campground in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Two lanes for two sewer inlets, however the potable water station on one of the lanes was broken in February of 2022. The outside lane may be a tight exit for particularly long rigs. There is no attachment on the rinse water station for flushing your black water tank, so you will need a bucket to get a bit of water in the tank. There is a garbage can available so no problems with trash left laying around as the staff cruises by to keep things in order.

There are about ten dispersed camping areas located along Fish Creek Road between the Big Pine Fishing Access Site and the Forks Fishing Access Site. Most of the land is owned by the State of Montana. A few of the spots will fit the largest rigs while others will only work for vans, tents, and truck campers. The access road is gravel in good condition with a few washboard areas. Camping pressure appeared relatively light. However fishing pressure is heavier. On the weekend you may find some spots taken up by the parked cars of fishermen out for the day. I did not drive farther than the Forks Fishing Access Site, but the road appears to get rougher past there. There is plenty of space to turn around at the Forks Fishing Access Site.

One note on access. Take Lower Fish Creek Road for the first few miles. This means when you come to the fork in the road about a half mile past the interstate exit, keep to the right. This will meet up with the main Fish Creek Road and is in much better shape.

It's a good dump station. To hurry people through they have a dump hose, rinse hose, and fresh water hose already attached. No need to pull out your gear unless you want to filter your fresh water. The dump lane is a little narrow, but not unmanageable. It's an easy in and out as you just loop through the RV park. Only complaint I have is that the water pressure is a little low so it will take a while to flush and fill. Otherwise it works great. The managers are right there by the station and are friendly and helpful and see to it that everything stays clean.

Sunlight Bay is a fairly standard Corps of Engineers Campground where the activity is focused on the lake. There is a boat ramp and a playground, unfortunately there does not appear to be a beach. The site quality varies but most of them are spread out in a park-like atmosphere with mature trees but little ground cover. Some of the sites are a bit narrow and can be difficult to back a trailer into, however most are just fine and there are a handful of pull-throughs. Plus there are a number of shared sites in the family area which is nice if you are camping with friends. The sites themselves have very nice fire rings/grates and concrete tables et into a gravel pad. Water is nearby, but you may need 50 feet of hose to reach it for some sites. Many of the sites have an awning over the picnic table. The one annoying thing is that the dump station does not have a fitting to allow one to use the black tank flush, it is simply a hose with the fitting cut off and no access to the hose bib.

Like some CoE areas, this one is subject to flooding when the lake level is allowed to rise. It was on its way down when we were there, however a number of campsites were still underwater when we arrived. The campground staff does a great job of restoring power and cleaning those sites once the water has receded. They were also very accommodating in moving us to a different site. However if you are making reservations far in advance I would recommend a site away from the water to ensure its availability when you arrive. Because of the flooding, there area can be a bit muddy/dusty and lacking in ground vegetation in the sites closest to the water.

Ruby is a privately-owned former mining community. It is open for day trips as well as overnight camping. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and had a great time meeting the town's caretaker. Camping or day trips are arranged via email or webform on the town's website. When we visited, the town was open for visitors Thursday through Sunday with camping available Thursday through Saturday nights. It is best to travel to Ruby via the road from Arivaca. It's about 15 miles of gravel road and you'll want to take it slow and be aware of the Border Patrol vehicles traveling the road. I would not recommend coming in via Nogales, that road is rough and quite a bit longer.

All of the campsites appear to be separate from each other and are spread through the mining town and along the lake. A few are suitable for RVs and the remainder are intended for tents. When making reservations the caretaker can help you decide where you would best fit. When we arrived, the caretaker met us and showed us two spots that would fit our 28-foot trailer.

Visiting all of the old buildings and museum will easily fill an afternoon, but there are a number of additional activities. There are fish in the lake, a trail to the old cemetery, as well as a bat cave (viewing only, no spelunking).

You will need to bring your own supplies to Ruby. While there are a few outhouses, that is it. There is no potable water, electricity, dump station, or cell service.

A note on pricing: at the time of this review, camping was $20 per person and daytime admission was $15 per person. So camping was effectively $5 a person if you were planning to visit the ghost town anyway.

It's a casino parking lot. They ask that you park in lot H, which is in the back on the east side of the casino, near the dog track. The lot is reasonably level, well-lit, and quiet. There was no one else staying here when we stopped. We checked in with security and they didn't care as long as we were in lot H. Occasionally they would do a walk through the parking lot. The surrounding neighborhood is a bit sketchy, but we did not have any issues.

Other than the casino and dog track, there aren't many amenities. There are small patches of grass. It's on an island in the Ohio River so you might expect it to have lovely river views. No, there is no access to the river at all in the casino area.

Access can be a bit tricky. If coming from the east, you can take the I-70 Wheeling tunnel, but you'll need to make a right exit shortly after the tunnel (but not the first exit after the tunnel!). Beware of Google trying to route you over the suspension bridge. That bridge is not open to traffic. If coming from the west, you'll need to come in on US-40/250 because there is not an I-70 exit onto the island. You do not want to miss a turn and find yourself pulling a trailer or driving a class A in downtown Wheeling, so plan your route in advance.

Well laid out dump station, though it has no potable water. Rinse water is available. It is located behind the store. Come in via the truck entrance and you will see it surrounded by 4 red bollards. There is no sign, but it is definitely a sewer dump station. Be careful with Google directions as Google routed us down some strange back roads thinking that the dump was located in a hayfield. This is the Cenex Zip Trip fuel station located on Hwy 59 just south of the I-94 intersection. Easy in and out.

We stayed at Lincoln Beach Campground in early October for four days (Monday - Thursday). This is the low season for the campground. The camp host was no longer present and the outside water had been turned off (water in restrooms was running). There were no other campers our first three nights, though two over-nighters showed up on our final day. A handful of folks would come in during the day to hunt, launch boats, or fish. And a few late night (3am) visitors rolled through to park down by the lake and do who knows what. But for the most part we had the whole park to ourselves. I suspect the experience at Lincoln Beach is quite different during the busy season, at least judging from the garbage that has accumulated on the ground. My hope would be that the camp host would discourage the late night visitors and possibly discourage the extensive littering.

We made our reservations online a few weeks before arrival and all 9 of the campsites were available. The website limits reservations to three days. After we arrived we made another reservation for the fourth day. There is a sign and iron ranger to allow you to pay on arrival (or pay the camp host according to the sign). However, there were no payment envelopes and the box to hold the payment envelopes was stuffed with trash. I would also note that despite our reservation, there was no notation on the campsite post that the site was reserved. I don't think the county pays any attention once the camp host is gone for the season. The only county employees we saw were turning off the outside water on a 75 degree day and on another day mowing the small patch of green grass during a rainstorm. They did a great job of ignoring the garbage laying around the park.

The sites themselves are a mixed bag. The parking pad is asphalt and most appeared to be quite level. There is a spot for any sized RV though most of the sites are about 40-foot long back-ins. There is separate parking for a tow vehicle nearby if needed (though the current mountains of gravel in the asphalt lot limit the number of parking spaces). There is also a concrete pad for the picnic table and a fire ring sunken into the concrete. There has been no attempt to manicure any of the rest of the campsite. It's a mix of dirt, rock, scattered dying grass, and sand burrs. However, sites 1-3 back up to the restrooms and there is a well-manicured patch of green grass at the back end of these sites. The sites are well spread out, but separated by small picnic pavilions for day-users. During the busy season I imagine that is quite annoying, unless they share their birthday cake.

The lake itself is quite scenic from a distance. Up close it's less so, being off-colored and emitting a slight odor. Contrary to its name, there is no beach at Lincoln Beach Campground. There is no swimming here and the shoreline alternates between mud flats and rocky shores, so getting into the water would not be pleasant. We did not encounter insects during our stay in October, however one of the disclaimers when making a reservation warns about insects. The mud flats apparently provide excellent habitat.