Pardee Reservoir Recreation Area

We stayed here for two days as a respite spot on our way down to Yosemite. It was 110 degrees while we were there, so the conditions were not idea. We had hoped to rent a pontoon boat, but decided the pool was a better option.

There are a few things to know about this campground that might turn some folks off:
1. There is no swimming in the lake. It is a no body contact reservoir.
2. They do not allow out of state boats on the lake, not even inflatable rafts fresh out of the box.
3. The sites are not particularly level, nor are they very private. Our site felt like the meeting of three sites. You kind of had to talk to people, but at least the people were nice.
4. There is a cafe, according to the website, but it was "closed for the season" when we were there Labor Day weekend. It was hot and smokey, so maybe the season is, technically, fall and spring.

There area also a few things to be said for this campground:
1. There are two swimming pools, both small, but with a nice picnic area adjacent.
2. They stock the lack with fish more often than I have ever seen at any lake in Oregon, and I think catching one's limit would happen quickly.
3. They do rent boats, both pontoon boats and outboard rowboats, but we found the marina hard to reach and heard from a couple at the pool that they "overbook" boats, so having a reservation is not a guarantee.
4. It is a very pretty area. If you like rolling grasslands with oaks and wild turkeys, it's quite scenic.

The lake is for drinking water for SF Bay Area, so no swimming. They allow boats but in the horrible summer heat, why go. I hear fishing is okay. We had to stay in the camper with the air conditioner on because so hot even at night. The trees are scrubby, not shade type. The place had many trash cans and was clean. Maybe okay between Oct- April.

Don't miss entrance or you are stuck on a windy mountainous rd.

We spent the first weekend in March camping here. We came we are still getting used to our trailer, and this is about an hour from our home. Based on the reviews, we were not expecting much, but we were quite pleasantly surprised. The reservoir setting is really lovely if - like us - you just want to take your dog on a nice walk on some trails and watch the birds in the trees. We had a full hook up site, and while our neighbors were close enough that we could talk to them, we were not up against each other, and there was no noise issue at night. The grounds were immaculately kept, and there were trash bins and lots of porta-potties for those tent camping. Big surprise was we had amazing AT&T cell coverage - four bars at all times of 4g LTE, plenty fast enough for us to stream netflix. I can see this may not be a great choice in the heat of the summer because of the "no swimming in the reservoir" restriction, but I am sure we will be coming back in either the Spring or Fall

Was here in April 2021, camped is site 128 (dry) - which is about as private a site as is there. I prefer privacy, so this was a nice site. Most other sites get pretty cozy with your neighbor. And even though the CG was only about 20% full, it was loud. Had a group of fishermen a couple of sites away, and all I heard was the F word for hours. As far as I could tell, all restrooms except near the big parking lot were porta potties. I didn't see any showers, but there are probably some somewhere. I did not see any vault toilets.

There were a ton of fishermen there. I fished from shore, and in three days caught one trout. No one else from shore was even getting a bite, and even some of the boaters came back empty handed. You pay $7.25 per day to fish, whether from shore or a boat, so if you're there for a week it adds up. Plus the $5 per dog (I have 2) - that meant I spent $17.25 per day for my dogs and to fish. My neighbor fished for days from a kayak and didn't catch anything.

There's nice trails that are good to hike and bike. My Verizon and Sprint coverage was barely a bar...but I did get phone and internet service.

We took Wanda out for her first trip. We’ve heard it’s called the “shakedown” and all went great. Pardee Reservoir is close to home and had a full hook ups so we could test all the systems and get things set up. The camp staff was very friendly. Our site was easy to get to and easy to back into. There are two sections for RV camping. One is short-term and one is seasonal or residential. We were in site #102 with a partial view of the lake and marina. There was partial shade, paved site with picnic table and fire ring. Short easy walk past residential RV spots to the marina and shoreline. There is a nice trail around the shoreline and this reservoir is very popular for fishing. They stock the reservoir with fish on a regular basis and they were hosting a tournament on Sunday. There is a café/gift shop and a swimming pool for summertime. Since we were here on a rainy weekend in March we did not take advantage of those features, but the café was open and we heard the hamburgers are great. We hope to come back with the family and take advantage of their boat rentals, fishing and hiking trails. This property is owned by Eastbay MUD and has a no swimming policy. The campsite was very clean and trash removal was frequent. There are public restrooms and showers near the marina and trash cans, and Porta-potty’s along the shoreline trail (unfortunately, there was still a fair amount of litter). we will be back.