Lakefront camping in NorCal...where is best?

Hi -

Planning a camping trip this summer with some friends and trying to figure out where (besides New Hogan) I can leave my boat in the water overnight in front of my campsite? Our friends have a camper so that rules out boat-in camping. Any ideas? I know Oroville and Bullards Bar are out...how about Don Pedro? Berryessa? McClure? Englebright? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

pillsbury!

Two words Don Pedro my friend.

There are so many choices!! You could hit up Lake Tulloch. They have a nice campground with hook ups (water/elec) for the camper, and dump station on site. There are things to do for the kids, alond with a small store on site, launch ramp, reasonable prices, and camping right on the shore, per se, and you can tie your boat up. Go to www.laketullochcampground.com and there they have more info. Reasonable prices, clean facilities, including full bathrooms and showers. When you look at the sites, look for the cabanas. There are also cabins close to the cabanas, for people that dont want to tent it. The cabanas are basically 4 poles with a roof, over a picnic table. There is also a fire pit, with grill.

Pedro is also really nice, and has the same as above, EXCEPT: sites near the water are limited, and some sites are harder to see the boat in the water. They have a 30 night stay limit, so sometimes the sites on the water are harder to get. #30, is a really good site (in Flemming Meadows). If your friends want full hook ups, they are available in Flemming Meadows, and Moccasin Point. There are different areas, so make sure you read the legend. There are RV sites in other areas, but dont necessarily have full hookups. DP doesnt allow campfires on the ground, and no pits, so you have to bring one of those portable fire pits if you want a campfire. There is a marina on site. DP is bigger than Tulloch, by far, but sometimes you have to travel all over the lake to find good water. www.donpedrolake.com

If you want to stay on the Delta, Orwood also has camping, with hook ups available. I believe they are first come first serve though, and I dont know how much they fill up in the summer. http://www.orwoodresort.com/home.shtml Tiki Laguna also does. http://www.tikimarina.com/html/home.html

I have pictures from the Delta, Pedro, and Tulloch. Email me, and I can send you some links. All are a really good choice. I geared this info towards your friends with a camper, as I have a travel trailer, and my crew goes camping often. Our people have motor homes, trailers, and tents, so we have found these as friendly towards all.

Hope that helps!!

(Message edited by ivyrider on May 14, 2005)

ellrie creek shasta ur right on the water if u get front row site like 25 ft ta ur boat

Thanks for all the great suggestions. What about McClure or New Melones? Any good campgrounds there?

are there any other lakes out there, we are looking for some new places also.

we camp at new melones all the time and really enjoy it there. the campsites there are pretty nice. we camped at tulloch last fall in one of those lakefront cabanas and it was TERRIBLE! talk about packing people into campsites. i could not believe how close together those sites were. they were also quite a bit more expensive than new melones. we also never have a problem finding good water at new melones.

WHy would you say Bullards is out. I think it is the best lake in CA. You can do the island camping there.

The problem with doing this in Cali is the lake levels drop so much by summer. Bullard Bar included. You can leave your boat in the water at BB, but you may have a long hike down to your boat.

East Park Resevoir has very primitive camping but you can camp and park right on the water. And the water is that bad either