Pine Meadows Campground

The campground was decent, some shady spots but overall nothing special. Sites were mostly level and can accommodate large rigs. No hookups and NO ALCOHOL at this campground.

The big draw here is the lake. There were a lot of motor boats, some jet skis and a few SUPs and kayaks on the lake. The shore was in terrible condition, due to a lot of water recently having been released from the lake. Mucky flip flop eating grass and mud instead of any kind of a beach. This also created a haven for every kind of biting bug I've ever seen. The mosquitoes were relentless regardless of the time of day.

Bathrooms were clean, but the shower will only run for 15 seconds before you have to push the knob again. I get the water conservation issue (I'm from CA where we haven't had water in 5+ years!) but pushing the button every 15 seconds (I timed it, I'm not exaggerating) is just frustrating.

The camp hosts (Fred and Mrs Fred) were amazing. Very helpful and friendly. I just wish they worked at a nicer park!

Overall I wouldn't recommend staying at Pine Meadows Campground.

We really liked this place -- right on the water and tons of places to launch a watercraft (we did not). The camp host was extremely kind and helpful, and our dogs had ample places to walk and be in sun or shade. We brought our teardrop trailer and used a nice pull through site.

I have nothing against alcohol, but the prohibition against it makes this an unique and safe park. No rowdy groups of college kids partying -- this is a safe family park. I think I could have had a drink or two in private and not been kicked out, but I chose to simply enjoy nature and the surroundings.

I knew there was no alcohol before I arrived and then realized I missed being able to drink! However, you can probably sneak alcohol as long as you don't make a ruckus.

Our neighbors were super friendly and fed us.

We stayed in the Primitive campground, about a half mile from the full service campground of the same name. Sites are reasonably level and graveled, 25ft. rigs should have no problems. Sites G, H, I and J are next to the lake and away from the lightly traveled road. Vault toilet, two water stations.Some sites will have you hunting for shady spots in the heat of the day, H is our favorite because it is wooded. All sites have picnic tables and fire pits. No power at either campground, so for $20 in the bigger campground you get asphalt pull thrus and back in sites and a timed shower. A local trick to know is all official directions tell you to turn left off of London Road onto the Reservoir Road to reach the campground. Don't. The road becomes steep with some very tight turns as it winds up to the dam top. Instead of that left, stay on London Road until you reach the southern end of the lake. You will cross a bridge over the feeder creek to the lake and immediately on your left you will see the terminus of Reservoir Road. Go left and a mile in you will see the Primitive campground on your left. Much better road, wide with shoulders. Both campgrounds get very busy on warm weekends with boaters, jet skis and fisherpeople. About the no alcohol...on paper, that is what it says. In practice, it means no loud, brutish, or obnoxious behaviors. We enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner and a pint in the afternoon, no problem

I agree with another reviewer that coming in round the south side of the lake is better, since one section of the road in from the north is narrow with tight bends and a rock wall right against the road.

I made a reservation at the primitive campground because it looked more spacious, and I'm glad I did. The main campground looked very cramped. Of the available sites, K looked best for solar power, but when I got there, I found that L was mislabed as K on the recreation.gov map, so I had a huge tree right in the site. To make matters worse, it had thick branches hanging right in the site entrance, so it was impossible to back in. I had to drive right out into the grass in the middle of the loop, back in at 45 degrees to the site direction, and then jiggle back and forth to realign. I complained to the camp host, who said he would report it, but nothing came of that. During the week, I saw a couple of maintenance men and told them - within 30 minutes a bucket lift with two more men showed up, and they trimmed the tree.

The site sloped badly downhill. Even with the foot off my tongue jack, I had to retract the jack within 1" of its limit. Other than that, the site was pleasant, with a good view of the lake. The campground was full Memorial Day weekend, empty except for one other camper during the week, and almost empty the next weekend. It was all very quiet and peaceful.

Verizon 4G was poor, with 2 bars, -104 dB, 3.4 Mbps down and 0.3 up. Other reviewers had 4 bars, so I wonder if there was a problem with the tower.

I paid $7/night, with 50% off for my NPS senior pass.

Great place to go if you just want to chill and fish, not much else to do, no close hiking (that we could find) there is a small swimming area but it was to cold. Just not much for kids to do. But it was calm and quite and I like it for those reasons.
Campsite 0 in primitive area was perfect. My daughter left flowers on that table to spread happiness.

Decent campground. The sites are a good size. No hookups, so you’ll hear people’s generators. The reservoir is pretty big and not too crowded with boats. A bit windy.

Just was looking for a spot to break up a longer drive. So glad i did. My first COE site. Not the best site in the campground but still roomy and open. Several closed sites due to covid regulations so not as busy. Select the lakeside sites if available. Had rafts so went swimming and enjoyed just relaxing. Did not use their bathrooms so cannot speak to it.

We had a good stay in the “primitive” campground (which has vault toilets and water spouts, but no hookups). Our site was very sunny, which turned out to be great for testing our new solar panels. The site was super off-level, but long and had a huge area around it. There was little privacy from other sites, but some newly-planted trees might help in a few years’ time.

One of the other sites had a huge group gathering that was quite loud into the night. It was strange to see that many people together given the pandemic. The frequent patrols by park rangers didn’t lead to anyone quieting down. However, all the other campsites were friendly and polite and overall the experience was good.

The nearby boat ramp and beach were awesome; we biked to Wilson Creek Park and enjoyed the water. There were lots of families and the water was wonderful.

Note that Garmin maps lead us the wrong way (to the regional office); Google Maps had good directions.

Traveling in 40’ 5th wheel. Roads in are very tight. Sites are far from level and all pull throughs are small radius curves that make the stated length (online) useless. Great place for tents/smaller bumper pulls.