Bullards Bar; Which campground

Im heading up to Bullards Bar for the first time on Sept 20-22. Which campground should I stay. Any tips, advice about this lake?

Schoolhouse. It's well maintained and shaded. As for advice..well the lake is pretty low so launching from Emerald Cove will be a challenge but not impossible. I'm assuming Dark day is closed by now. Watch for submerged tree stumps and rock outcroppings!! Saw someone out there a while back with his wedge plate in his hand.

Here's a link to check the lake level.

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/current/RES

you should try the boat in camping it is always fun. when i tried this i didnt see or hear anybody for the whole weekend.

Craig, I'm heading up Tuesday for the week. I'll try and give you a heads up about conditions when we get back.

With the water so low it's a pretty tough hike to get all your gear up, so pack light!! If you can get past that, D.B is right nothing but solitude.

Tim, I'll be there this weekend too. I'll keep an eye out for you. We'll be up the Yuba arm riding and/or chillin' in the 5 mph area.

That would be cool, let me know what the conditions are like. Looking forward to checking this place out.

Bullards is great, was there last month. I checked out the boat in campgrounds and it looked like a hike I wouldn't want to take in 100 degree weather carring all my stuff - and that was 6 weeks ago! Couldn't imagine it now - the shores are very steep. We camped in Dark Day campground at the triple sight and it was great. Loved it! Nice and shady and lots of places to set up tents - we had 9 tents and there was room for more! It was also very nice being near the ramp but like they said above, its probably closed now.

We did have a bad "incidnet" at Emerald Cove. We were coming in to fuel up and hit bottom. There was an outcropping about 1 foot under water that was completely unmarked about 100 feet off shore within the 5 mile marking between the houseboats and dam and in direct line to the marina. I expect marina's to be clearly marked unlike outside of the marina where you never know what's below you. When we spoke with the Owner (yes Owner) we did get the answer we thought but not the attitude we expected. She was horribly rude, non-responsive, said there was nothing she could do about it. I expected them to not take responsibility, we never even implied we wanted them to, however I did think they would want to protect their customer's property in the future, but that was not the case. She new exactly where we were talking about but said she would not mark it. How hard is it to ancor a bouy? It was totally unbelievable. It was right by all the houseboats too where they pay big money to store their boats. Over the 3 days we were there, we saved 2 other boats from hitting the same spot where we hit. Thankfully, we had no damage as we were barely moving along.

Anyway, moral of the story, have fun but be safe and watch out for rocks, low areas and trees... and spit on the owners counter for us (jk). Enjoy, its beautiful up there!

Anybody have any of the phone numbers to the campgrounds. Do you need reservations? Or is it first come first serve. Im going mid week, so I'm assuming it shouldnt be a problem.

Here ya go..

http://www.bullardsbar.com/id9.html

Anyone know if there is cell phone reception in the area? Trying to make arrangements for some people to meet us there.

Craig, according to Emerald Cove, the launch ramps at Cottage Creek and Dark Day are open.

Tim, there is some areas where you can get service, mostly out in the center of the lake.

Craig:

Just back back from Bullards. Obviously, the water level is low. We stayed just past Madrone's Cove into the North Fork on a houseboat. Everything was good. Great water and noone was out. Just watch out for a large sandbar where you enter the Yuba. Also, stay alert for the stumps.

ANY ONE GOING TO BE AT BULLARDS 24TH 25TH 26TH ??