Tuttletown Recreation Area

We originally had a spot at the Glory Hole Recreation Area down the road. However, our spot was canceled due to nesting birds so we rebooked here. For $22 a night we had a dry camping spot with some view of the New Melones Lake. There was a shower facility in the Acorn Loop which had flush toilets and 2 showers per side (male/female). The showers were coin operated 50 cents for 5 minutes but they were decently clean and got very hot! There were a few water spigots around but some of them were orange potable water and we avoided them.

We were here over Memorial Day weekend so the entire place was booked! Most campsites held more than one family often with 4-5 tents and at least one boat. So it was a bit rowdy at times. Luckily everyone kept to quiet hours so it was okay to sleep.

There are a few trails in the recreation area but the main draw is the boat ramp and the lake. It is gorgeous and made us wish we had kayaks or knew some of the motorboaters camped near us. If you have a boat this is a great place. There is no beach access here though, only at glory hole so keep that in mind.

Our site was very very unlevel. Worst we've ever had but we managed to level it out with enough blocks. We were told most of the sites are not level. Cell signal was great at least! Overall we thought this was overpriced for what it was but if we had a boat we might feel differently :)

As another reviewer said, this place is great for boaters. This place is not really meant for RVers, even though it's has a dump station and has sites long enough to support coaches and trailers. It's more of a campground for partying and weekend revelers. The rate here is $22 a night, but we got 50% off due to our disabled parks pass.

The pull-through and back-in spaces are narrow, and not at all level. Many of these campground roads are one-way, and provide for very poor maneuvering into a site. They're
actually designed for pickups and SUVs, not trailers and coaches. Any kind of 5th wheel, bumper pull trailer or coach, will require some RV skills just to get in and out of these camp sites. Class B vans will do fine here. Manzanita Campground, where we camped, most of the camp spots are all on the sides of a hill descending to the water.

On the good side, Verizon 4G LTE is usable here.

My advice is to book a spot here online during the week (on Recreation.gov), Monday through Thursday, and when you get here, drive around the park to look at other camp sites and see if you can switch. The campground entrance is more than happy to let you switch.

We originally booked site #102 on Recreation.gov, which was described as a pull through with partial shade. We found a pull through on the side of a hill, which actually sits in the middle of a dip and tilts to the left, and with no shade at all. Because it's on a one-way road, and the pull through is on the left side of the road, your RV door and awning will open up to the right (traffic side) of the road. Very poorly designed. So, we switched to site #104, which is a handicapped site. It has a pavilion, but is hard to back into.

Recreation.gov has a photo of each space, but is terribly misrepresented. It tends to show each space as being idyllic, level, and shady. But very few spaces here are level, and very little of anything is shady. Don't trust Recreation.gov in finding ideal spots. Best to just book something, and then switch when you get here.

Because the temperature is so hot in the summer, we ran the generator into the night to keep our AC going. Park rangers came by at night to make sure we shut off our generator by 10:00 pm due to the "quiet hours", even though it is still 90+ degrees out. But while we were forced to shut down our generator, other campers nearby were allowed to play their music and yell all night long. We felt cheated.

Most other campers here are young families and young adults. We heard a lot of screaming kids going on through the night, drunk men and women howling at the moon, and lots of partiers driving way too fast along these narrow roads.

Spent 3 nights mid week, mid May at Manzanita campground all was quiet and peaceful. Spaces are small and unlevel on a hill overlooking New Melones Lake.No electric, no water, showers or restrooms, they are having water issues. Portable toilets are available and are clean.Pull through sites are actually on the side of the road, not truly pull through. Wildlife abounds, many deer, turkey, quail, waterfowl, osprey, red tailed hawk and turkey vultures.
Camp hosts Atilla and Tee are great and keep a close eye on things, making the stay here enjoyable.
Much to do in the area, Angels Camp, Jamestown and Columbia have many Gold Rush attractions and history to experience. Sonora is close by for all your needs.

We have stayed here 3 time in the last 3 years. On prior trips the campsites were very clean and everything was well tended. This trip we spent the first 30 minutes picking up trash. We were in the Acorn loop and the pit toilets at the top were not well tended and there was noticeable trash along the road and in many of the campsites. We will give it another try and hopefully the rangers will have their act together.

Tuttletown is a beautiful place. The good parts are the lake And views were amazing. The campsites are separated good from other people. The con parts are the lake is dry right now and if you want to go to swim with your family you’d have to go down to the boat launch as that’s the only place that’s safe to swim. There’s not much trees and shade. The water was beautiful and not to deep for adults or kids but it was muddy. I do recommend this place.

This is on New Melones reservoir, a bureau of reclamation project. We were in Acorn campground, site 41, a tight pull-through. We paid $11, which is 1/2 the regular $22 since we have the lifetime senior access card. All sites are by reservation only, no first come first served, though they are allowing same day reservations and there is cell service, so you can find an open site and make the reservation then. This is a nice place to stay this time of year (November). It would be uncomfortably hot in the summer. Paved roads and pads, lots of oak trees, lots of deer. This campground is not big-rig friendly as most of the site pads are 30 to 35 feet long. At 25' we had the biggest RV here. Acorn is a long way from the water, but you can see it through the trees. There are numerous hiking trails around the campground. There is one flush toilet/shower room and one pit toilet. The pit toilet was clean, the flush toilet shower room has seen better days and did not seem very clean or sanitary. I showered in my trailer. The dump station here is closed, but there is one open 6 miles away at the Glory Hole recreation area (also New Melones and under the same management) Dump fee is $8 for campers, $16 for non-campers. 1/2 off with senior discount.

This is one of those odd places...it seems like it is dying but you can't tell why. The grounds are dry (typical California) mowed weeds with tons of foxtails. The water is very low and difficult to get to. I camped in the Aspen loop where I was fortunate to have access to the lake trail and a splinter off that down, down, down to the water.

People here are hot and sweaty unless they just came up from the water. Lots of pit-bull mixed terriers. Lots of generators (hence my lower rating on "noise.") Asphalt pitches.

Nice space between the pitches but almost zero trees. Good for solar.

Dump station was out of order when I was here.

I left this campground after being threatened by other campers. There was a motorcycle gathering and people kept walking through my campsite - it was upsetting my dog and I asked them to find another route. In response to my request one of the bikers staged an aggressive response and really frightened me. This is not a CG for families or people hoping for peace and quiet. It has been taken over by Harleys and loudspeakers...at least for this weekend. I was so scared for my well-being that I left and parked outside the area.

Our own individual campsite was fine—nothing spectacular but perfectly fine for tent camping—but there were people blasting music and screaming along several sites away (so loud it felt like they were right next to us) past the start of quiet hours (10PM-7AM). Eventually had to go over and ask them to quiet down ourselves, but they just turned it down a little (still blasting).

There’s also a rule stating dogs must be leashed, which wasn’t followed. We minded a lot less on this one, but with the dirty bathrooms that smelled and looked like a sewer, we got the impression that no rules or standards of cleanliness are ever enforced—which is ridiculous for $30/night for a standard tent site.

All campgrounds in Tuttletown Recreation Area are closed, but the dumpsite ($8 for campers, $16 for non-campers) is open. “Campers“ here, for the time being, means those with reservations in Big Oak or Ironhorse campgrounds, the only BOR campgrounds on the lake that are open.