Thousand Trails Lake Minden

We stopped here on our run from the snowy weather up North and pulled in late at night, parked in the dark and still managed to get a good site. Our stay was brief and we barely took advantage of any amenities.

The select your own site is a little frustrating in the dark. But after unhooking and driving around a little we found a good site overlooking a wheat field.

In the morning we were happy to see that we hadn't run over any small children and still parked relatively straight for a pitch black parking job (always a good test of a partnership). We enjoyed a walk around the lake in the morning and breakfast on site (cheap and good). We were able to eat outside and enjoy the view.

Propane was available, but the hours for fill up were very limited and we were not able to get any. We had partial hookup (water/electric) and plenty of dump areas on the way out.

We needed to use the Sacramento airport twice and decided to snag these spots in a 30% off sale on Thousand Trails. After our first experience, we wouldn't have gone back except we already had the reservation and it was near the airport. Our second experience was better.

You don't reserve a specific site here and there are a limited amount of full hook-ups in the front, w/e on the opposite corner of the lake and two areas for dry camping. I think the dry camping spots looked the best, but it was going to be 100, so we opted for w/e. When I asked at the front, they said usually you can pay less for dry camping, but that wasn't an option online when I booked. The website really doesn't tell you much and you could expect to come into a nice full hook-up spot and be disappointed and mad you paid full-price for no hook-ups.

The small area for full hook-ups is right in the front and the spots seem a little close together. The weirdest thing is their dump schedule. The plumbing is old, so they can't have everyone dumping at the same time, so they have alternating days and times when you can dump (no Sundays). You cannot leave your hose hooked up in case of back flow. There were only a few spots open in that section when we arrived and they didn't dump on our departure day, so we would have to use the dump station anyway. The only dump station that is working is in the w/e area. The other two are out of service. Our day of departure, the water was turned off in the morning. The notice being on the bathroom doors which we had not used until that morning.

We did not use the lounges or cafe up front, but they all seemed to be in good shape and used. The laundry was fine and the bathrooms are decent. The sports courts shown the map are overgrown and the dog run was dirty and had Easter eggs in it (why?). They do seem to have a list of activities going on as far as special events, but we were not there for them. There were a lot of people fishing.

The other frustrating thing to happen was we wanted to add one day onto our stay and the lady at the front couldn't add one day without it taking away my discount for the whole stay. The next morning when we went back to try again all the computers and phones were down. This lady made it sound like it would have been easy to make a new reservation, but because of the downed system we had to call the 1800 number. We got the day in the end, but it just seemed ridiculous. I was left the night before not knowing if we would have to move just because of some computer glitch.

Cell service was odd. We got along ok working, but Verizon was better although it fluctuated. I would lose AT&T on my phone in different parts of the RV.

Knowing the lay of the land helped the second stay be easier. We also had some beautiful sunsets.

Always have problems with the staff. They don’t communicate with another. Get offended when you call them out on it. Mess up the reservations and fees, not only for us but our extended family. It’s a quiet, peaceful place to stay, the lake is beautiful. Love the birds and geese. Beautiful weather. They regraveled and are mowing the lawns and keeping the sites maintained. No sewer so gotta pay for honey wagon! Water went out several times. AND BE FOREWARNED, ABSOLUTELY NO AT&T RECEPTION, and Verizon is quite spotty. So don’t think you can get any work done there.

The area is lovely. 25 minutes north of downtown Sac and 40 minutes from Roseville. You are on a lake amongst orchards. A beautiful one mile loop to walk around the lake. Those are the pros. The cons are vicious mosquitos, if you want full hook-ups, you will have zero privacy and 3 neighbors in your personal space. If you open your curtains, be prepared to wave at your neighbor as they sit on their couch. There is a bigger section in the back of the park if you don’t mind going without sewer hookups. Pretty old and rundown...but the adult lounge was well-kept up on the inside and was a great place for my husband to do computer work and make business calls. The only reason to stay here is if you have a Thousand Trails membership, so the cost is zero for your stay.

Being that we were traveling south through CA and trying to save money with Thousand Trails, this park was okay - but just be cautious here for the bugs and such.

Because we have a large RV, all the FHU spots were taken so we went out to D section. That was fine, but the drive out is around the lake and in the large RV I got nervous a few times. In our spot, it was pretty good and with shade, but only 30AMP power. We made due, but it was not ideal. One of the dump stations was closed so we needed to backtrack a bit to dump before leaving. Bathrooms were okay but nothing special for kids to shower in.

The bugs were pretty bad the entire time because of the lake. Actually, they were really bad - we almost spent no time outside which was unfortunate.

The had playgrounds and other activities for kids on the other side of the lake and everything was quite dated.

Sites were large and easy to get in and out.

Staff was unfortunately not too kind most of the time. On check-in the person acted a bit like I was inconveniencing him and he assumed I knew what I was doing since he did not give many directions. Oh well...

Overall, this place is okay but since it is first come first serve you are taking your chances on the site location and hookup. Good to save some money if you need to stop for a night or 2.

Horrible experience with this campground. All the negative reviews are spot on with homeless people living here. I purchased an annual site but had to cancel because of one individual person that moves from site to site(within the annual section) without leaving the campground as stipulated within thousand trails policies. The employees are fully aware of this individual and how he violates these polices. I can also guarantee you that there are many more “regulars” that do the same thing. This person walks his dogs into our site and allows his dogs to poop around our RV. We also had to unhook HIS water line from our utility box. I heard others had complained about him, but nothing was done about it. I have video of these events. We made the terrible choice of choosing this site as our annual spot. Now we are out of thousands of dollars because corporate will not refund the difference and stated we should have made a complaint. REALLY? He’s already breaking policies that you are fully aware of and other people have had complaints about him but if I would’ve made a complaint then he would’ve been taken care of? Not true at all. Avoid this dump at all costs. Thank me later.

As Thousand Trails members we are aware that many of the parks seem to be distressed properties that are bought and minimally maintained, but we have had very good experiences at several locations. So, despite the reviews here and elsewhere, we had to be in the area for a few days and decided to give it a shot. We won't do that again...

When we arrived we were lucky to get a site in the water/electric only section that backed up to a field, however, when I walked up to the electric pedestal it looked as old as I was, and the site to the right of us had a trash bag over the pedestal, signalling that it was out of service. So, I pulled out my electrical tester and found that when moving the electrical socket slightly side to side it would show a short. Our choices were to make it work, or find another park, so I very carefully inserted the 30 amp cable in such a way it wouldn't move, verifying all was well before turning on our breaker. On the way back around the trailer, I noticed the neighbor on the left had a brand new electrical pedestal, whereas most of the others looked like ours...

And, an Amazon package was stolen, or lost, one or the other. Amazon shows it was delivered, but it wasn't there. Thankfully it was only a $30. order and not critical. They do leave guest packages in a public hallway on the floor, so it's possible someone walking by saw an Amazon box, picked it up and walked out with it. That is what I choose to believe, would hate to think employees would do that sort of thing. Regardless, leaving packages in a hallway unattended isn't very smart.

There is more, but I don't want to sound bitchy. And, there are the things others mentioned, the place being somewhat run down, some unsightly long term sites, and so forth. While I am sure some people have good experiences at this park, it seems important to point out a few of these things, as we have not had these issues anywhere else, including other Thousand Trails parks.

Update: Amazon just informed me, 9 days later, that our package has been returned. My name was on the package and the Thousand Trails account, so why it was accepted and then afterwards handed back to UPS I cannot say, but it does still speak to an overall level of inefficiency in the office that should alert guests to be extra diligent when having packages shipped to the park.

It's a nice park, easy to get to, and fairly well maintained. The road leading in is marginal in spots, but the gravel road in the campground is pretty good. The A section, which has sewer, is designed for smaller rigs and is quite tight. The D section, which is electric/water only, boasts much larger and wider sites. There is a dump right in the middle of D section near the bath house.

Cell data has been overall decent, but at times was marginal. Streaming had few problems, so the download speeds seem to be fine with plenty of capacity; with only a couple of issues with downloading files while we were here. The upload speeds seem to vary greatly. Speedtest.net says Verizon is 34mb down and 18mb up at 5:48am on a Monday. After 3 weeks, I would say that T-Mobile is the best signal for my experience as my iPad mini usually has 3 bars while everything else struggles for 2 bars. AT&T often times drops down to 1 and sometimes goes to No-Service. Sprint often times drops out completely, so a booster would really make things nicer.

For some reason there is no airport or train track nearby and traffic noise is nonexistent as highway 99 is about a mile through the woods/orchards. Don't get me wrong, there are a few airports around, but we aren't directly under the landing path so my 5th wheel walls easily block it out most of the passing traffic. Occasionally you'll hear a small plane overhead. The train, which appears to be even farther away then the highway, is best heard outside and I've never noticed it when I'm indoors. No rumbling, just the occasional horn. If you want to hear any of that you'll need to leave your window open.

When night comes, it gets fairly dark as there are not a lot of artificial lighting in D section. Enough to maneuver around, usually, but not enough to bother most people.

The people here seem very friendly and the workers were very nice and professional. They do ask to see your registration and proof of insurance, so there must be a story behind that as this is the first campground that I've run into asking for that information.

The smallish lake is stocked with catfish and bass and there are boat rentals. The park is gated and has someone at the guard house after the office closes for late check ins. Day use is noticeable here but nothing to really speak about in November.

Sacramento is an easy drive away and San Francisco is an easy day trip. There is a gas station with diesel nearby on Hwy 99 with better prices found north about 10 miles near Yuba. The camp store is small but has a good variety of items. They have a cafe here that serves the basics and people talk about highly, but I didn't get a chance to try it out.

The geese are everywhere right now and make for some lovely pictures, especially near sunset.

During pandemic, so no amenities.
35 too small full hookup sites. Section A
95 good size no sewer sites. Section D
NO 50 amp
NO pool but a lake with beaches.
During our stay the trees rained glue every night. Called honeydew and can ruin your stay. Easy to tell, the ground and leaves are sticky.

Just pulled into Lake Minden and we’re in the section at the front; A I believe, with FHU.

The sites are super tight-were right up next to one of the cabins! But the people are nice, the staff is friendly, it’s pretty quiet here,and we can see the lake. The sunset over the water is beautiful. We have seen mosquitoes but not to excess; but it we did get her around 7 pm.

There is a bit of trash in our site that my hubby picked up but otherwise it’s not a bad stopover place; not sure we’d come here to stay longer.