Western States

California

California

Anthony Chabot Campground, Oakland, CA

Don’t let the Oakland address fool you, this park is as rural as you could hope for. If you are going to be in the Bay Area you would be hard pressed to find a better park than Anthony Chabot. One of the East Bay Regional Parks, this is the only one with room for large RVs. Full hookups with 30 amp power, good tasting water, limited facilities, no wi-fi and limited cell phone reception. The only bad thing is it takes at least 20 minutes to wind down the hills to the nearest BART station.

Bakersfield Palms RV Resort, Bakersfield, CA

North of Simi Valley, a few miles from Magic Mountain Amusement Park, Lake Piru used to be a great getaway for folks in LA. But a severe drought the past few years has lowered the levels of the lake drastically. There is no longer a fresh water swimming hole, and the boat launch seems to be longer than the drive into the park. Still it is a nice park with mainly just electric hookups. You can get FHU for quite a bit more money. There are several dump stations and fresh water stations.

Lake Skinner Riverside County Park, Winchester, CA

Lake Skinner is a reservoir east of Temecula, CA. In California tradition, they built a great County Park with first class camping sites. There is no swimming in the lake, but you can fish with a permit and do some boating. During the summer there is also a large swimming pool. The park has back-in and pull-thru sites with FHU or WP. Prices were around $14 per day with a 14-day maximum for the month. A very good park.

Redding RV Park, Redding, CA

A well-manicured park on a hill south of Mt. Shasta. The pull-thrus are a little short (40’), which makes it difficult for some big rigs to pull in. We saw this firsthand when a large custom bus worked for a hour to get into the spot next to us.. This was where our slide-out broke and the folks at the office were very helpful. Even though it was Sunday, they helped me find someone to come and take a look at the rig and help us get back on the road.

San Lorenzo County Park, King City, CA

Like many things in California, RV camping is getting expensive. Most decent private campgrounds will run you between $30 and $50 per night depending on location. But a nice alternative is regional parks that seem prevalent at least in the northern half of the state. San Lorenzo is a great example of one of these parks. Lush green grass and plenty of flowering plants and trees surround this park, making you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, not in the middle of a town. It also has good interior roads that are easily navigated and nice, clean facilities. Along with a putting green, horseshoe pits and laundry facilities, this park even has a hut with a dedicated computer modem for you to hook your laptop to. All this and a low cost of around $25 per night for full hook up. So far our favorite campground this side of Baker Hill.

Nevada

Longstreet Inn & Casino, Amargosa Valley, NV

I’m starting to wonder if it is possible to drive into Nevada without a casino lurking near the border. Longstreet fills the bill as you come into the state from Death Valley. This is a nice place surrounded by mountains and has some nice landscaping. While we have come to terms with the fact that we are usually the spring chickens in any RV park, this place is one oxygen tank away from being an old folks home. The unfortunate thing is that the staff was so abysmal when we first arrived that we would prefer sleeping on the side of the highway to checking in here again.

Canyon Trail RV Park, Boulder City, NV

If you are going to Las Vegas, you might want to consider this RV park instead of paying extra to stay in the city. Only 20 minutes away from the strip, Boulder City is a cute little town near the Hoover Dam. Our RV park had more than its fair share of people who were working on the road construction by the Dam, so turnover is not constant. This is also the first park we ever had to report a neighbor for excess noise. I'm not a prude, but when someone is standing outside of my RV at 2:00 a.m. calling his "preferred partiers" to come out and play, I'm going to report his ass. The park has nice showers and restrooms, cable and free wi-fi. The staff is friendly, but they only take cash or checks - no credit cards.

Oregon

Eagles Hot Lake R.V. Park, La Grande, OR

This was our first stop after taking the Alaska Marine Highway back from Skagway, AK, so if you ask Sue, she will complain that the campground was rocking and reeling. Truth is it was a nice campground, far enough away from I-84 to be quiet, but close enough for a one night stop. There are 100 pull-thru sites, gravel or grass, a nice club house, heated pool, and stream running past the grounds. The wi-fi was a little slow, and even with a Good Sam’s discount they were close to $30 for the FHU 30/50 amp site. Still we wouldn’t mind staying here again.

Elk Haven RV Park, Idleyld Park, OR

This is a nice park located east of Roseburg and is a good base for visiting Crater Lake National Park. This park is owned by Sue’s cousins. They have put quite a lot of work into the place with a beautiful bathhouse, laundry room, smooth interior roads and easy pull-thrus with FHU. There is a large pond to walk around and plenty of hiking, fishing, and hunting nearby. Definitely a park we would come back to even if it was not in the family.

Washington

Mount St. Helens RV Park, Castle Rock, WA*

Located off I-5 on the way to Mt. St. Helens, this park is perched up on a hill with lots of grass fields. All sites are back-ins, and there are always plenty of people to come out and tell you what you are doing wrong. The sites are FHU and have wi-fi for a price. The location does make this a good base for visiting Mt. St. Helens and the surrounding beauty of Washington State.