Bear River Casino

Although this was just a paved parking lot with no amenities, we really enjoyed staying at this parking lot – when it comes to parking lots. It was a nice clean parking lot with a decent amount of privacy where we were parked at the back left of the lot. Check in with security by heading to the casino and talking to a security person at the doors. You will have to fill out a form with your info and be given a piece of paper to put in your window stating your arrival and departure date. RVers are allowed to park for free for 3 days. You can stay longer but will have to earn a certain number of points on your player’s card.

The hotel lobby is nice, clean, brightly lit and smoke free - unlike the casino. There is a lounge area by a fireplace with free WiFi. The restaurant and bar had reasonable prices, considering it’s inside a hotel. We had dinner and drinks there one evening. A cheaper restaurant (not as nice) is located inside the casino.

There is a gas station across from the casino and a coffee/cigar shop across from the gas station. Aside from that there isn’t much in the area. The town of Fortuna is about 5 miles from the casino.

Yes, it's a parking lot, but it's a nice parking lot. You're in the back away from most other customers and you can position yourself to have a pretty nice view looking over the fence. You can go ahead and pull into the RV parking in back and then go inside the casino to get your player's card and sign up for your stay.

As mentioned below, the hotel lobby is nice and they have a decent restaurant. This is a good base to explore Loleta (cheese factory!), Fortuna, Eureka, and Arcata.

Verizon and AT&T both worked well.

This is our first experience casino camping. As the other reviews mention it's a nice one. You now have to join the player's club to camp but you get $10 of their money to play with. We ended up with $13 and cashed out. Great $14 prime rib dinner on Tuesdays.

Staff was friendly and helpful. The only downside was that it's at the top of a hill and exposed in high winds. The bago was rocking a bit.

Ok place to park not far from the ocean and about a 35 minute drive to Humboldt Redwood State Park. As with all casinos you need to get a players card and check in which is easy. Did not find a place to dump and refill here, but I never did ask. Was a little noisy on the Saturday night we spent there, but not bad. There is good cell reception, didn't hand at the casino, but seemed nicer then the Blue Lake Casino. Overall a good free spot to stay while you explore the park.

Spent 2 nights here in June 2017. Plenty of room in the back of the parking lot for RVs. It was nice and quiet and security patrols the parking lot. Good Verizon signal and grassy area to walk dogs. Overall a pretty good experience.

Stayed here in our way through all the Redwood forests. Like previous reviews said, get players club card, then check in with security. Even had slides out and generator running since it was hot. Would stay again on the way through.

While not quite desperate... there were no available state or federal campsites for a hundred miles on Labor Day weekend.

We needed to get Player's Card for free stay, but got $10 house credit to play on machines or tables. Pluses included nonsmoking game room and bar area, flattish paved parking, grassy area for dogs and plenty of room for RVs. This was the furthest south of three greater Eureka are casinos we were considering to beat the forest fire smoke. Better but still smoky, but obviously not the casino's fault. We had plenty but not too many neighbors. The best parking spots are along the northern edge.

Great place for Casino Boondocking, parked in the back there's a level spot and dog walking area.
David & Kristy
Safe Travals
NO-HURRIES-NO-WORRIES

We just came by here on the way to Redwoods. After reading reviews we decided to call ahead, the person who answered was super friendly and he said it would be great to park overnight - they just ask if we would come in and register with security. When we arrived we went in the side door (Got I.D’d, we are pretty young so this was unsurprising. Keep this in mind if you are under 21), the door attendant directed us to the players club area. You must sign up for a players card first. It’s an easy process just requiring an ID and basic info and you get $10 free play for tables or slots. After you get the players card go to the big front entrance of the casino (not the hotel, we went there first and the lobby clerks were VERY confused) and look for a kind of inconspicuous door on the right hand side. There should be a security officer there that will give you a little form to fill out that includes your license plate # and drivers liscense # and basic info. After initialing that you’ll park in the right area and won’t make a ruckus, you are given a big pass to put on your windshield. The parking area is flat, the left hand side looks like it’s near grass to walk dogs. The night we were there, there was only two other overnighters so all was quiet. In the morning the view was very nice. Keep in mind max stay is 3 nights unless extended by staff.

We read the reviews and it seemed like a great place to pull off and sleep for the night. We’ve been camping in a Subaru Outback from Maine to California and nobody has ever had a problem with it until this place. Apparently if you’re in an SUV or van or RV it’s fine to stay the night but they were very strict on the “no car camping” policy. Luckily, being young women, we were able to convince the supervisor to let us stay the night. But the struggle we went through just to park in a lot with no WiFi, no amenities besides walking across the lot to the casino, was not worth it. Our original plan was another casino near Arcata. Wish we had just gone along with that plan. The plus to this is that it’s free and seems to have security cameras all along the parking lot.