Mad River Rapids RV Park

We've stayed here a few times as both a stopping off place en route to somewhere else and as a home base to explore the area. It is close to the beach, close to a kayak launch area (Mad River) and close to downtown Arcata. We haven't really used the facilities (showers, restrooms, pool), but appreciate the level sites. There are quite a few people living here, but they are mostly parked on the perimeter. Visitors are parked in the center sites. The Mexican food restaurant that is virtually at the front entrance is good too. The only real drawback is a lack of a real dog area. There are plenty of places for short walks, but no fenced in area.

We stayed at Mad River Rapids RV Park because our targeted park, Azalea Glen, had a No Vacancy up. It turned out just fine. Mad River RV has a number of full timers, a lot of them are Humboldt State students. We expected a noisy night, but it was really quiet. Of course, staying there in January was a factor... Didn't use any of the facilities, but the park was clean and well kept up. The wifi was slow enough that I ended up using my phone as a hot spot, but I can live with that. This is not a park that I will aim to go back to on purpose, but I will definitely stay there when traveling up and down 101 and need to stop over in that area.

We stayed at Mad River Rapids RV park for three nights during our fishing trip in Eureka (August 1-3, 2020). It turned out to be perfect for us - very clean and well maintained facilities, plenty of space between sites, and just 10 miles down the road to the marina and our fishing charter. The park is easy on and off the freeway. It has some permanent homes but not a lot of traffic going through the park during the day. The staff in the office was friendly and helpful. During our stay, the heads were closed overnight because of Covid, but I appreciate the extra attention to sanitation. I would stay here again anytime.

This is a great option for spending time in Humboldt County. Sites were nicely paved, full hookups with decent WIFI and good OTA TV reception. Sites were clean and well maintained with an asphalt pad, grass on either side and a picnic table. Cannot speak for the ladies room, but the mens room was clean, although restrooms are closed at 7pm and don’t open again until 9 am. Not a big deal for most RV campers, since we have our own. Did a few loads of laundry, machines did a good job, they charge $1.50 a wash and $1 to dry. Be sure to being quarters. Access for larger RVs was great within the park. You do have to go through one (Southbound) or two (Northbound) very poorly designed traffic circles when exiting highway 101 to get to the park. We got through them fine, but it makes you wonder if transportation planners ever drive on the roads they design. Location is awesome for exploring the area can be in downtown Arcata in about 5 minutes, Safeway in 7 minutes, downtown Eureka in less than 20 minutes. No road noise or other noise to speak of. There is a small market in the park office that looked very well stocked and a Mexican Restaurant which we did not try right next to the park. Would definitely stay here again. Its very obvious that the folks who run this park care about what they do and about providing a nice place for us RVers!

We used this as an overnight stop over. Very clean park. Safe. Full hookups. And lots of sites with pull throughs. We didn’t even need to unhook. We came without reservations in the evening and there were 4 sites open to pick from. There’s a beautiful Community park about 1.5 miles away where I ran and my husband rode his mountain bike the next day before we continued up the coast.

Loved it here. Though we didn’t spend much time in the park itself… when we were there is was sooooooo quiet!!

The pads are asphalt and level. Cable was out at our site but didn’t use or want it. Plenty of space between your neighbors who were also super nice!!

This park is rated too high for what it is. We thought we were getting a five star park but it's not. The positives are they are big spots, the lady at the front was very kind in helping find a spot big enough for our 40' rig, it has minimal sound pollution (just a bit from highway 101), the internet was decent and we were able to work and stream TV, and you are pretty close to a grocery store and gas stations, which is convenient. The cons: we've lost power 3 times in one day so be sure to have a surge protector! There's a man that was working the desk on Monday that, in my opinion, has no business working with customers as he was short and quite rude. There are a lot of people living here and you can really tell. The sites are paved but the pavement is very narrow (our tires nearly touch the grass on both sides but we do fit). I guess I would stay here again but it is CERTAINLY not a 5 star park!

We came in on New Years Day. No one is working in the office which is expected but there are instructions of 4 available sites for us to choose. Number of nights available for each site is marked in the envelope. Rates posted on envelope are for summer to end of October so we had hoped that our one night rate would be less. But no it was $59 plus tax. If you have AAA or Sam’s membership you would get a slightly lower rate. Sites are full hookup and level enough that we didn’t have to work hard to get our AIRSTREAM level. Nothing spectacular, sites are next to each other with not much in between. We took showers in the bath house. Roomy shower stalls with lots of hooks and small bench. Hot water but pressure was puny. In a pinch and 1 night, it’s ok but to me it’s expensive.

Nice spaces, not too close together, well laid out. Bathrooms are warm and have plenty of hot water. Bathrooms are older and could use some TLC. Only had one operational laundry that needed TLC too. In their defense they were upgrading both laundry areas in few days.
In general, there’s not a lot to see/do in the area. It was a good place to stop after taking 299 from Redding. That’s another story!

We stayed there to work “from home”. Internet is good enough for video call. Nothing fancy. Spa and community rooms looked good but were closed in mid April?