Bullards Bar

Going to spend a weekend camping at Bullards Bar at the end of August with some good friends. anyone have any experiences good/bad? i've never been....

pretty much my favortie lake. going camping in two weeks, can't wait. My only suggestion would be to avoid boat camping, it's a pain in the....

Nohing but good at Bullards. Hopefully they still have some water. You'll have a long hike from camp down to the water.

no boat camping 4 me, i reserved a tie-in-dock or whatever u call it to avoid launching retrieving all weekend...good idea? safe?

Bullards Bar is definitely my favorite lake. I camped there for the first time at the beginning of the summer. I have camped at Collins lake the 2 previous years & will never go back. I wouldn't do the reserved slip. You're slip is nowhere near your campsite. We camped at Schoolhouse & launched at Dark Day, about a mile down the road. I'm guessing the reserved slips are at the Marina. The Marina is a few miles from Schoolhouse & the Marina is a long walk from where you have to park.

Thanks for the info. Our site is at Schoolhouse too and i don't think i'll feel too comfortable leaving my boat tied up a few miles away at Emerald bay. seems like Dark day will be more convenient for us to launch...appreciate it...

just got back from camping today, fun fun. Thanks to who ever left a bottle of vodka at madrone cove camp site .

beware of dark day launch, theres an effing sandbar that is difficult to spot directly out of the launch ramp, found out the hard way. never seen the lake so low this early

i thought the lake couldnt get that low because of the dam? how low is it...i will be there in 2 weeks!

How far out is that sand bar? Will you hit it coming in to trailer the boat? I am there in 10 days...

uncle jessie, you have to kind of angle in and then start going straight about 20 yards from the cement. I'm sure by then it will be a little more visible, and hopefully marked! I can just see people backing up from the launch ramp and going straight out like normal like i did and hitting it. thank god it was in the 5mph zone.

Where going Sunday, thanks for the heads up.

just be aware: at night when you hear noises, its bears, the bears are pretty bold and the food boxes must be used, don't leave out ANY food or stuff that looks like or smells like food lock it all in the bearbin, expect bears to be in your camp at any hour usually after sunset...the banging of pots and pans will drive them away...for a while, make sure your garbage is in the bear proof trash bins and lock the lids down...save the bears, a fed bear is a dead bear.
heres a nice pic of the water color at bullards


(Message edited by bftskir on July 31, 2008)

I second that on the bears.....I heard something huge in the woods around the campgrounds and at the time we were at the far end of School House campgounds in a tent. No other campers really close by. Who knows what it was, but I am pretty damn sure it was a bear or bears. Scared yet....We have to keep Bullards Bar to ourselves.

we had bears at dark day a couple weeks back, came right up to the tables and tried getting into our coolers, too bad nobody was thinking straight enough to put our cooler full of lunch meat in the bear locker, he ate that fast.

Pinesol in a squirt bottle works really well to mask the odor of food. Squirt it around your camp right before lights out and the bears will most likely hit the next camp over. They know what coolers are too so if they see it it's gone.

Bullards is a great lake !

Was there last year in the group sites and saw a bear walk by with what appeared to be a McDonald's bag in his mouth. Took some shade under our boat and went to town. Use the boxes...

Andy, nice one footer action! Ever try to scare the bears away by donning those glasses in camp?

I love Bullards. We don't really camp much anymore but when we did we did the reserved slip. One year of launching and pulling everyday was enough. It's just much easier to leave the boat in the water and then drive to schoolhouse at the end of the day IMO.

Taylor,

Is there enough room to backup and then maneuver around? We'll be up there on Sunday, certainly looking to avoid this...

malibudude, ya there is, just stay close to the dock and once you get clear of the dock turn to the left to go away from shore. I'm sure you'll be able to see it a little better by sunday.

Thanks!

i take all kinds of heat over the goggles but i prefer comfort over vanity, and just to prove it i wear a swimmers nose clip too. i just have to chuckle at the folks who hang out in the boat in their "cool" sunglasses and when its their turn to go out they go out with nothing on the eyes? the goggles are just waterproof sunglasses that you can see underwater with, (i have clear too for cloudy days)in barefooting there is spray jetting at your face from all angles, its nice to keep your eyes open and see a whole deepwater start or even better you can watch while you are doing a backdeep...and in case you are wondering? i have planted my face at 45mph and they do not break or hurt you, but they'll sink so you have to find a float for them, the nose clip keeps my sinuses from becoming a science experiment and test of my allergies so that i can breathe easy after skiing and the next day too.(pollen, dust collects and concentrates on water surface)
Back to Bullards, if you need stitches for any reason do not go to rydeout or whatever the big hospital is in marysville go over towards yuba city to the emergency clinic...way better service. and of any lake to crack your face open bullards is pretty good, nice clean water. we love bullards bar and have too many crazy stories from there. just be sure if you launch at the dam to get somebody else to go park the towrig...its a long walk up and down to that top parking lot.

We were up there for the 4th and I love Bullards, it's probably my favorite lake...but I will say this...The cops were up there patrolling every night precisely at 10:01 pm. I'm not talking park rangers, I'm talking real Deputy Sheriffs. The first night we had some young rookie that was a total a**. The next night, that same rookie came along with an obvious veteran who did all the talking. He was much more professional. They were very cut and dry, at 10pm the noise shuts down. Not be quite. Not tone it down. They are talking no noise period. It was kind of weird, having never seen this at Bullards before. We had a great time anyhow. Just something to be aware of.

And we didn't see any bears this trip. I have seen them before. Not hear them, see them.

Andy, please. Deepwater starts, one footers, probably more? You're obviously killing it...respect.

last houseboat trip up there they were doing helicopter logging, at 7 am...about 500 yrds from our cove, nothing like a twin rotor helicopter lifting logs to wake you up in the morning...might as well get up and ski
also do not underestimate the legal authority of a "park ranger" they are park cops, with full cop authority. a real park ranger is a thing of the past. try something illegal in front of one if you don't believe me.

bch? are you pulling my foot? i feel like rodney dangerfield on this site. goggles noseclip and all.
we have boat camped way in the back at the designated boat campground and had it all to ourselves(and the bears) bullards is best when its full(of course!) while we were drinking we decided to fish(not the other way around)and we actually caught kokanees by the logjam since it was springtime and they had not removed the debris that totally blocks the canyon it moves around like an iceberg of logs.

also bullards is a great spot to see bald eagles and ospreys, you can usually watch them dive and catch fish and carry them like a torpedo back to their treetop nests...its pretty cool to see them

i should be almost there, but still waiting on the air conditioning to be fixed in the yukon. Boat and RV are loaded. stoked to say hi to yogi this next week.

Well just got back from the lake. Had a great time out on the water. Very long week.

Pretty crazy to watch the water level fall so much. Dark day launch ramp is getting a little tight.

I don't think Dark Day has another week or two of being able to launch there. Park Ranger said it wouldn't make it to Labor Day.

Chris
Get the Grip you Deserve
www.wakejunky.com

whoa! a chris foye sighting!

I don't think Dark Day has another week or two of being able to launch there. Park Ranger said it wouldn't make it to Labor Day.

Chris
Get the Grip you Deserve
www.wakejunky.com