Best Campgrounds of 2023 and 2024 Plans

Placerville, California

2023 kept us mostly in California again with a week away here and there.  With my Dad's' passing in June, we stayed close by to help my Mom adjust to life without him.  Now that the holidays have ended we feel ready to get back on the road. It will be bittersweet leaving though.

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 unless otherwise noted. We also love to boondock and love FREE camping.  If we have to pay, anything in the Twenties 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 2023 (in no particular order):

1. Alamo State Park - Parker, AZ
$15, utilities at some campsites.  We stayed in the "E" section which has no hookups but is much quieter and spaced out. This campground is about 1 1/2 hours NE of Quartzsite with no gas or groceries nearby so come filled up. The campground sits above the lake that was fun to paddle around.  Lots of wildlife.  Pelicans and donkeys.  There's history of a ghost town under the lake.

     

E44 was the best campsite we thought.  Fun paddling and great fishing.  Very dark skies.

2. Fly Geyser - BLM - Gerlach, NV (and HERE)

FREE boondocking.  Every wonder where Burning Man is held?  Here it is.  Out in the very remote NW corner of Nevada.  We're camped out on the Playa.  We came off-season to visit the amazing Fly Geyser without all the other million people.  There are hot springs to soak in down dirt roads if you can find them.  A really special place that almost no one knows of except the “Burners”.

     

Boondocking out on the Playa.  The colorful Fly Geyser and hot springs.

3. Owl Canyon - BLM, Barstow, CA  (and HERE)

$3.  Way out there off a very washboard road but so worth it.  Again, another rather unknown place.  There is a one-way drive around the Rainbow Canyon Loop and slot canyons to hike.

    

                                                      So much hiking and exploring!

4. Mojave Preserve - BLM, Essex CA
$6, no utilites. We came here just to do the Rings Hike.  The area is remote but there is more to explore so we'll stay longer next time.  Come stocked up and with gas.  

      

Hiking where you climb up some steep rings.  Very fun hike.  Big, spaced out sites.  Coming in early May the entire area was full of blooming wildflowers.

5. Beardsley Lake - NF, Tuolumne, CA
$10.  Some water spigots, no dump.  Just a few sites that mainly line the lake.  Boat launch is on the opposite shore. There is some hiking.  Just a beautiful place to relax.

    

Nice sites along the lake (but up above, not easy to walk down the steep drop-off).

6. Deadman - NF, Tuolumne, CA
$6.  Water only.  No dump.  Sits right on the Stanislaus River with walking distance to the restaurant/store/bar/horse stables.  Great fishing and hiking. No Verixon.

      

   Huge sites                        Lakes and Rivers                 Horseback riding

7. Sonora Bridge - NF, Bridgeport, CA 

$10, some water, no dump.  Rather remote so come stocked up.  Mostly small sites but beautiful views.  Great fishing on the Walker River and nearby lakes.  Lots of hiking.

    

     Remote sites.                           Hikes with views!                    Sierra Nevada Mtns.

8. Mud Lake - Boondocking, Hat Creek, CA

FREE.  Great boondocking right on the Pacific Crest Trail and close to Lassen National Park.  Dump and fill in nearby Old Station.  This is open range so you'll have some cattle roaming through dawn and dusk. Amazing Verizon.

    Beautiful solitude                Mountain Views.                         Very peaceful.

9. Lake Almanor - NF, Canyondam, CA

$9.  This campground has two sections and is pretty big.  This side sat closer to the lake.  You can hike, walk or ride bikes on various dirt trails or a paved bike trail that starts in the campground.  Swimming and kayaking are popular.  It can get loud on weekends. Solar can be challenging.

      

We had a huge site.                      bike path                             Lake Almanor

10. Prosser Lake - NF, Truckee, CA 

$10.  Water, no dump.  Another kayaking lake with great Salmon fishing.  Plenty of lakes nearby and hiking trails.  The Donner Party holed up for the infamous winter down the road.  There is a nice short boardwalk/hiking trail loop with info signs.

    
      Pretty campground.                              Big Sites                         Donner Party Hiking Loop

Honorable Mention:

--Fraser Flat - NF, Longbarn, CA - $12.50. Quiet and clean.  Right on the river under large pine trees.  Some hiking and fishing on the Stanislaus River. No cell.

--Cave Campground - NF, Old Station, CA.  $8.  Nearby dump and fill in Old Station. Across the road is the underground lava tube hike.  Not far from Lassen National Park.

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

	Stays	Nights	Total	AVG (per night cost)
PGE-Utility CG	1	1	$37.00	$37.00
Elks	28	131	$3370.00	$25.72
COE	1	5	$125.00	$25.00
Fairgrounds	1	1	$25.00	$25.00
Private Parks	3	25	$518.00	$20.72
State Parks	3	7	$100.00	$14.28
National Forest	11	25	$257.00	$10.28
Thousand Trails*	18	100	$624.00	$6.24
Boondocking**	15	64	$0	$0
BLM	2	4	$0	$0
City Park	1	1	$0	$0
Winery	1	1	$0	$0
TOTALS	85	365	$5056.00	$13.85

                                 

* We renewed our Thousand Trails membership for $624 a year.

** Boondocking for us is anywhere we stay for free which is not an organized campground.  It can include time at family and friends (typically referred to as Moochdocking) and other areas. Usually most of our boondocking is at BLM, National Forest, etc, but I give them a separate category if they are paid locations.

We traveled 8,892 miles and had 85 stops averaging 4.3 days a stop.

We have 215,250 miles on the truck, driving 20,250K 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: $5725.96

            Daily Average: $15.69

2023 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5056.00

            Daily Average: $13.85

What was different?

- We still can't seem to get our yearly campsite total under $5000, but since we stayed around home in California almost all year, that explains it.  Next year I expect this to be one of our least expensive years.

- This was the first year we didn't return to Lost Dutchman SP in Arizona.  We missed it!

- We boondocked a little more than last year but spent more time at Elks Lodges. Usually we can get our costs down much more by staying at Thousand Trails by our parents home and not the Elks, but the Thousand Trails had devastating flooding last year leading to all sites being wiped out except 20.  It's very difficult to get reservations with so few sites available.

- Gas prices went down a little bit by the end of the year, but mostly in the $5-$6 range in CA.

Plans for 2024:
We have exciting news!  Two things actually.  First, Steve has retired.  Yay for him!  This will make driving days easier as we no longer have to worry about working hours.  We also won't have to worry about cell reception and we can have total freedom of doing things WHEN we want instead of mainly on weekends.  This leads right into the second thing.  We'll be spending next year in ALASKA.  Well 4+ months or so.  We'll be hitting the shoulder seasons and it will be totally weather dependent on exactly when we arrive and leave.  Roughly May through October which will include a month traveling to/from Alaska through 4 provinces in Canada.  All new to us! We'll spend our usual Jan-Mar in Arizona then head North in April.  We will be traveling with a couple we've known for 40 years and have camped with many times.  No reservations except Denali.  Winging It as usual!

So if you haven't been to Alaska and want to see it with us or just want to take a trip down Memory Lane, follow along with us next year!!  We'll mostly be boondocking and doing things a bit different.  There will be bear trips on seaplanes, lots of fishing, helicoptering over the back country, kayaking among the Orca's and icebergs and jet skiing to the calving glaciers.

Here's to exciting times in 2024!