Best Campgrounds of 2022 and 2023 Plans

Placerville, CA 

Best Campgrounds of 2022 and 2023 Plans

Even though we stayed close to our old home in Placerville, CA for most of the year we did get a few fun trips in.  Luckily we were able to find plenty of new places to visit that were within an 8 hour drive.  We did take a 14 hour drive to McCall, ID but we made that one a 3 week trip.

          

           

When looking for campsites, we prefer privacy, easy access, gorgeous views, on or very near water for fishing and kayaking, nearby hiking and biking trails, not too far from towns for amenities, entertainment, good food and water/dump.  We also love areas with history, breweries and other fun things.  Since Steve works from the rig, all of these spots have great Verizon cell signal (usually with a booster) unless otherwise noted. We also love to boondock and love FREE camping.  If we have to pay, anything in the $20 is what we shoot for.  Anything above $30 makes me cringe a bit but sometimes that's what it is.

Here are our favorite camping spots of 2022 (in no particular order):

1. Kelbaker Boulders - Kelso, CA.
This BLM boondocking spot has been on my radar for a couple of years.  We stayed a few nights with friends wandering around the rocks and star gazing at night.  The coords are: 34 44 44N 115 39 7W.  Easy access off a hardpacked dirt/sand road from Hwy 40.  Only room for 2 rigs, so scout it out first.

  

Playing amongst the boulders.

2. Hackle Rd. Dispersed - Safford, AZ.

Another great BLM boondocking spot right off Hwy 191 outside of Safford. Easy access off a paved road then first right onto the wide open flat spots.  Endless sites.  We were all alone.  Coords: 32.79405N  109.59284W

     
Great place to explore the mountains and the nearby mining town of Clifton.

3. Lost Dutchman State Park - Apache Junction, AZ.

$35, W/E, $20 with utilities at some sites.  Beautiful, sparkling clean campsites, nicely spaced with a spectacular view of the Superstition Mountains and great hiking!  This is an all-time favorite and is always on our list! An annual stop for us.  If you get lucky being here at the perfect time in March/April, you may hit the peak bloom.  Spectacular!
    

                                                   So much hiking, kayaking and exploring!

4. Harris Beach State Park - Brookings, OR.

$32 FHU.  Different combinations of utilities offered.  We got a special rate by accident.  Be warned if you're out of state, the fee is double (closer to $44).  Nice sites some with beach views, most very private.  Just outside of town.  Nice big grocery store with cheap gas.

This coastal town just over the border from California is amazing.  The rocky beaches, forests, plentiful restaurants with fresh caught seafood, farmers & seafood markets, breweries and a distillery are just some of the fun here.  Plenty of hiking and hidden spots to explore. 

    

Our 2 weeks just flew by!

5. Bootleg NF - Walker, CA.

This National Forest campground has about 50 very private sites. $24/$12 Sr Pass. No power, scattered threaded water spigots, firepits, bathrooms, garbage and almost NO cell.  We got lucky a couple of times here to get a decent signal with our booster.  Not sure I'd recommend it though if you're working and need a reliable signal. The Walker River is across the road with fantastic fishing.  Nearby is Mono Lake, Bodie Ghost Town, Mammoth Lakes Area and Devil's Postpile.  Plenty to do to keep you busy!

    

In the pines with fishing on the Walker River.

6. Bob Scott NF - Austin, NV.

This small National Forest campground is so convenient if you're traveling on Hwy 50 but is often overlooked.  $10/$5 with Sr Pass.  Scattered threaded water spigots, bathrooms, no garbage. It sits above the quaint cowboy town of Austin.  A nice quiet spot for a couple of days rest with enough to see in town to keep you busy.  There are nearby petroglyphs and some ghost towns if you have more time.

    
Stokes Castle, campsite & cemetery.

7. Ward Mountain NF - Ely, NV.

This was another wonderful surprise.  This is a very large campground.  Probably for the ATV possibilities nearby.  $12/$6 Sr. Pass.  There is one large loop best for bigger rigs.  There is water (although not working when we were there), garbage, tables, firepits, hiking trails and dump but no electric.  Roads are good but be careful as there is one loop that is very tight and bigger rigs should not enter.  There are quite a bit of Juniper trees for some shade.  It's a very pretty campground.  The nearby town of Ely has a lot to offer as well as the Ward Charcoal Ovens and many old ghost towns.  There are grocery stores, gas and restaurants.

   

Big sites.  Ward Charcoal Ovens.

8. Alpine Lake COE - Truckee, CA.

Beautiful small campground just south of Truckee.  $20/$10 with Sr. Pass.  No electric or dump, but there is water at the entrance.  Some sites had better Verizon than others.  Plenty to see in Truckee, not far from Lake Tahoe.  The paved one mile road to campground is HORRIBLE though.

  

Sites are spread out in the pines and quiet.

9. Cascade Lake NF - Donnely, ID

$14/$7.50 with Sr. Pass.  No electric, threaded water spigots throughout, bathrooms, boat launch, garbage, firepits and dump in town.  This very small, gorgeous campground sits right on the lake.  It was a tight fit for us but doable if you're confident.  I'd park in the boat launch area and walk it first.  Close to McCall and Donnely.  Plenty of restaurants, breweries, back roads and lakes to kayak and fish. Solar can be a challenge with a lot of trees.

  

We loved our 2 weeks here.  The sunsets from our lakeside site were out of this world!  So much to do and see!

10. Cathedral Gorge SP - Panaca, NV.

Nevada has some of the most gorgeous state parks.  It's worth it to plan a stay at several of them and get the Yearly State Park Pass.  You'll save a fortune!  Small, but pretty and clean campground.  Water & Electric, covered picnic tables and firepits, dump, visitor center, hiking trails and amazing slot canyons!!  There is enough to keep you busy here for several days.  There are some cute mining towns and a few other state parks close by worth exploring.

     
The sites are mostly large and the hiking is unbelievable.

Honorable Mention:

-Midvale Rest Area - Midvale, ID - Very convenient, safe, quiet free overnighter.

-Chipmunk Lane Boondocking - Marsing, ID - Very convenient, safe, free overnighter.

For those that might be interested, here's a breakdown of the places we stayed, and the costs:

	Stays	Nights	Total	AVG (per cost)
Fairgrounds	2	6	$195.00	$32.50
State Parks	5	26	$810.00	$31.15
Private Parks	3	27	$775.00	$28.00
Elks Lodge	20	58	$1531.00	$26.39
City/County Parks	3	6	$144.00	$24.00
Casinos	2	4	$84.00	$21.00
COE	2	5	$50.00	$10.00
National Forest	6	30	$272.50	$9.08
Thousand Trails*	13	122	$630.00	$5.16
BLM**	7	17	$64.00	$3.76
Boondocking***	14	64	$0	$0

                                  

*    We renewed our Thousand Trails membership for $630/yr.

**  BLM included a one time, $40 2-week fee for LTVA (we only stayed 9 days total at 2 different locations) and a $3 fee at two others.

*** Boondocking for us is anywhere we stay for free, usually not in an organized campground.  This year it included wilderness areas and time at family and friends. Most of our boondocking is at BLM and National Forest areas, but I give them a separate category because we generally spend a lot of time at them and I like to keep track of that.  Sometimes there can be a small fee to camp at them but almost always they are free.  Most of our NF stays were in NF campgrounds this year.

We traveled 10,000 miles and had 77 stops averaging 4.7 days a stop.

We have 195,000 miles on the truck. That's 19K miles this year.

Yearly Comparison
2014 - (need to add)
2015 - (need to add)
2016 - Yearly Campsite Total: $3494.50
            Daily Average: $9.57
2017 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5090.50
            Daily Average: $13.94
2018 - Yearly Campsite Total: $4038.00
            Daily Average: $11.06

2019 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5530.00

            Daily Average: $15.15  

2020 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5075.50

            Daily Average: $13.90

2021 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5765.96

            Daily Average: $15.88

2022 - Yearly Campsite Total: $4555.50

            Daily Average: $12.48

What was different?

- We spent less on campsites as most of our time was in California due to parent care.  We have been spending 2 weeks at Thousand Trails near my parents then 2 - 3 weeks on short trips.  This made for more stops for the year.  We tended to stay 2 weeks everywhere except for the many 1-day stops getting to and from these destinations.  Since Steve works and we can only travel longer drives on weekends or very short drives mid-week.

- We were happy to be able to boondock more.

- Gas was still up for most of the year, but that doesn't affect our travel.  It's part of the lifestyle for us.  We cut back in other areas. We paid almost $8.00 when prices were at their peak in California.  Any higher and we probably would've stayed put more.  Lowest we paid was in the $3.75 range in Nevada.

Plans for 2023:
With aging parents, our plans are to still be mostly in California.  As long as things remain stable, we plan to drive back to Indiana for some repair work that needs to be corrected while my brother stays close by.  Other than that, it will be a repeat of last year with alternating shorter trips.

Out of our large group of 15+ couples of Fulltime RV friends, there's only about 4 of us still on the road.

And the answer to our most asked question lately:

No, we still have no plans to settle down and are not ready to buy any land yet.

Where we camped this year.