Was surprised to show up for our weekend camping trip to see no camp host again. It was self check in at the gate and we drove through as we had reserved online. Thankfully nobody was in our camp site as there wasn't a board or anything indicating what camp sites were not previously reserved. Got lucky as the spot we love, #49 was empty. Was impressed the grounds seemed to be mowed down and not too overgrown. The wind drops lots of leaves through the day but the open loop seems well maintained. They still have the feral cat issue, that been years in the making sadly. I will say there were less cats then the past few years, at least that showed themselves during our weekend. Bathrooms were very clean, even with many familes/groups tent camping throughout the grounds. We never had to wait to use them. Well stocked with soap and tp. With no camp host, there was nobody there to keep the noise to a minimum when it got late. It wasn't too bad but I did hear laughing and talking well past midnight. didn't bother us as we were in a RV, but maybe an issue for any families with small kids. There were a few other dogs on site, all dog owners kept their pups on a leash and I only heard one bark. Well done my fellow dog people. Can't blame the camp grounds, but the mosquitos here are AWFUL! We had the wrist bands, candles, bug spray with 45% deet. We went overboard with protection and ended up coming home with 4 bites. Them skeeters were humming early in the morning through the night. Overall we had a great weekend and will continue to come back to Caswell. read more

See all

Casswell is horrible let's start with the bathrooms and showers never clean the bathrooms have feces all over the toilets toilet paper with feces on the ground around the toilet with in the showers the roof leaks black widow spiders all around the building and inside outside this place has bushes and trees just overgrown and overwhelming can barely drive your truck through without scratching it there animals running wild everywhere two huge dogs chased me and my husband into our truck and wild cats everywhere tried to hiss and attack my three year old I don't know what happened to this place but it is now horrible I would rather stay at turtle Beach casswell is just all around a horrible campground. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Trees over grown bushes over grown just looks bad. - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

Went on a camping trip with some friends a while back. As I drove through Ripon yesterday I was reminded to write this review. Camp site next to a little river that you can hop in. Adds to the atmosphere and nature experience. Camp grounds were comfortable and bathroom made it so there wasn't much of a sacrifice to be outdoors. I was with a group of seasoned campers that know what to bring and how to cook outdoors and all the little rules you probably need to follow - therefore, it was a pleasant experience. Chit chat and who ha all day - then gossip around the campfire at night while roasting marshmallows. In the morning I was woken up by sounds of wildlife and their who - ha. It wasn't a bad thing - but something to be aware of. Overall great little weekend getaway - especially if you live in the Tri-valley area or Tracy/Modesto. read more

We enjoy it here. Beach area is nice. Water is so cold. lol moment when we saw across the waters the bulls bathing and drinking. Too bad no showers. Bring your canopy for shade. Nice family area for bbq/gatherings. Bathrooms ok. read more

This place is the worst place I've ever been in my entire life online it looks nice pet friendly picnic areas a nice water view and trails but when you get there it's $10 to get in which isn't bad but then when you get in everything is horrible it's not kept up it looks sketchy as heck there's very little anyone there so when you do see someone there they look sketchy you have a sheriff there the canine dog that go around but they look sketchy too not very friendly either they don't want dogs on the paths so you can't take them on any trail but then you go on a trail and it's the most horrible experience ever nothing is kept up there and it's just the most sketchiest creepiest place ever and if you're a woman do not go there do not take your kids there this is obviously a place set up for not good things and I think the place and workers that work there know that it's pretty obvious I will never be back there but I will let this out to be known because it's not good to have these places in your communities read more

Horrible experience for young kids. Drunk loud people with dogs all night, people screaming because they can't find their dog or their mom, shouting over each other and not being considerate at all. The "quiet time" is supposed to start at 10 PM but no one is out enforcing it. Just loud drunk camp after loud drunk camp. Absolutely terrible experience. Will not be returning. read more

Maintenance of ground is terrible! There is an abundance of stinging plants, thistle, rambles, and blackberry thickets that prohibit exploring off the asphalt or beach rocks. Even the campsite retain the stumps and shredded remains of these weeds. If you want to encourage you children to never enjoy camping Caswell is the ideal California State Park have an absolutely miserable experience. Go somewhere else read more

Best campsite I've been in the Bay Area for hot summer time. Bring your swimsuit, floats, beach toys, you'll have great family time. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

Creepy crowded and dirty. Weekdays are probably best but weekend are way too busy for my tastes.

This is my dog's favorite place to run around in all of CA besides beaches. We hang out here whenever we're working in the area. We're usually only the only ones there and there is lots of room for her to run around to her heart's content. The variety of wild mushrooms in the spring and early summer is also a plus read more

- SO many mosquitoes, bring it all to avoid being bitten. - there is 120 car capacity, we came here July.5 and it was packed. - I will not come here again... 2 stars because water is nice and cold especially for the 90degree weather here in this area! read more

This campground doesn't get the attention it deserves. I've been going here since I was young and I have always enjoyed the great outdoors of Ripon / Caswell SP. It's not too far from where I live in the East Bay. About 1.5 hour drive midday Friday traffic. Going home on th Sunday was only a 1 hour drive back. I love the location. It's under trees. In spite of this weekend's temperature of 99 F it was still enough to keep cool. There's lots to do. Like riding our pool floaties down the Stanislaus River. From end to end , Salmon Beach to the other beach, it probably took about 1hr to float down stream. There is also a fairly easy walking / hiking trail which is took us about 1.5 hours to walk at an easy and unrushed pace. It's shaded and not too much incline but enough to get a decent workout. The showers and bathrooms were also really close and convenient to our campsite. It's coinop. We plan to have another weekend here next year with family and friends. read more

See all

Reserved the group campsite. It was beautiful. Right on a river and surrounded by greenery with a private bathroom. Bathroom was clean. We were excited. By day it was great but by night it was awful. I love nature sounds and there is a LOT of nature here. Coyotes howling (and killing prey), incredibly loud frogs, and cows... COWS!! At 4am or so we were all awakened by the louder than life mooing of cows! Apparently they are right on the other side of the river. They would not stop. Tonight (our 2nd night) we were kept awake by ridiculously loud music from a neighboring campsite. We could not figure out how to contact the ranger so we ended up calling the local police to report a noise violation at 12:15am (noise curfew is at 10pm). They came to shut it down and had a ranger call me. The ranger says that they are going to go make a round so that is great. Thank you rangers! Getting ready to be woken up by cows again in 3-4 hours. Lame. The park is beautiful. The rangers do a good job keeping it nice. Come for a day trip but don't spend the night. MOOOO read more

Close to the Bay Area; sites are well divided and typical for car campers at a public site... bring your quarters for the showers. The beach near DaY use area is the better one. Group campsite fits 50 and here is a picture of the fire ring. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Greenery could use a trimming... - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

See all

We went for my birthday and to check it out. Goods: A few big spots to camp at River was lovely (we were lucky to have high water) Can ride the river it was slow and smooth Showers take quarters and the price wasn't to bad Clean-ish bathrooms (we got lucky) Sells wood ($10 at the camp OR go to the farms on the way in $5 for Larger bundles) Close to real stores (about 20 min) we had to get more bug spray! Because my BF is super awesome he was able to talk to camp hosts and find out info from them. Water spouts worked for the most part Bads: Park Hosts! RUDE, Nosey AF! there sites were dirty looking. Dude was always angry and closed down the beach over an hour before sunset. Drove their buggies hella fast! Tons of bugs but that is normal and since near a river a little extra - bring repellent Dirty spaces the camp host do not tidy or pick up garbage in between though they did scavenge for items and unused wood. Apparently there are no rangers mon-thur thus you need to deal with hosts Garbage can over filled and we were there on a not so busy time Showers are starting to fall apart Bathroom is hella far away! so be prepared to go before you gotta go Overall: We are planning another trip with more friends cause we had a pretty nice time and LOVE camping in the woods with a river. Plus it is in the middle for all my friends to meet for the most part. read more

See all

TLDR The campground is one of the loudest places I've ever camped at (people are out and about at all hours of the night), but the river in which you can float on slightly makes up for it. You will get eaten alive by mosquitos here. No doubt about it. It's a lot warmer here than in the Bay Area (hits the 100s), so the river is probably the main attraction rather than the hiking. Campground - There are plenty of sites, so it's relatively easy to get a spot by walking in. - Every campsite has a fire pit, bench, food storage, and plenty of space for quite a few tents. - It's surrounded by trees so luckily, there's plenty of shade to escape the heat. - The campsites are very close to one another, so you hear your neighbors loud and clear. Quiet hours are not adhered to and I heard people talking way past midnight. I even woke up at 4am to the sound of someone strumming a guitar Two things to consider when choosing a campsite: 1) There are two bathrooms in the entire campsite so I would choose a campsite close to the bathrooms rather than walk half a mile to get to it. 2) River access is closer to campsites at the very end of the loop, right by Campsite 20. Weather - It was ridiculously hot in this city. High 90s and the 100s. Thank god there's shade on the campsite. - For some reason, it feels a bit colder when you are floating down the river compared to when you are just standing at the beach. River - You can't park your car at the river access area, but you can park it at the day use parking. - It is about 40 minutes to float from the river access point down to the day use parking. - While floating, look for a yellow sign on your right that tells you when to get off the river. That's where to get off to go to the day use parking. - The river is shallow. You can walk on most of it. - It's super fun and you should definitely bring a floatie to float down. Or you can hang at the beach area and splash around. Stores - SaveMart, Target, and Walgreens is nearby if you need firewood, food, etc. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Campsite 59 - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

See all

Beautiful scenery! Very clean and well kept/maintained. Friendly staff. Only recommendation is to take lots of mosquito repellent! Other then that, my family and I loved our time here. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

October 2022 - beautiful day/walk at Caswell Memorial Park. Dogs are allowed on paved roads and one beach. $10 for day use. picnic tables bathrooms, well maintained, clean, nice place. Rangers do a great job there. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

See all

Nice River Park. River Rafting, hiking. Good for Dogs! Camping. Full Bathrooms with Showers! Exceptionally Nice Rangers! $8 for a day! read more

THIEVES SUCK! This was completely my mistake and we paid for it by leaving our camping trip early. We were all packed up and ready to jump back on the river, although we need to move our car first. We left our floats behind a bush on our campsite and left to park the car. It took us 15 minutes to walk back to camp... to find our floats had been taken. They left us this note... But then didn't answer the phone - ever! We walked through the campground and asked everyone we saw. We went to the campground host and the ranger station. We walked in the heat for a few hours before deciding to leave. Please feel free to call or text this asshole. I have. 209-613-8899 read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

After invading my brothers (empty nester and new to Manteca) brand new house (my family of 9 plus a calabash kid all on vacation) and realizing we were going to have to stay out of the house somehow during the day before he murdered us all we researched and found this park literally 10 minutes from his house. We read the reviews about mosquitoes and trash but were pleasantly surprised to find an extremely clean and mostly mosquitoes free park. It was a weekday, so the park was mostly empty of people. We brought a cooler, sandwiches and chips, some towels and that was pretty much it. We were visiting from Hawaii so I was skeptical about swimming in a lake. I imagined it was going to be murky warm sludge with bugs everywhere. I was SOoO WROnG!!!!! The water was crystal clear with actual SAND that was smooth and great for making a sandman. The water was ICE cold, like, we DARED each other to dunk all the way in. The sand had flecks of fools gold in it and it shimmered underwater. It was beautiful! About an hour in a family drifted by us in tubes with a cooler strapped between them and let us know that you can just drift lazily down the river for 4 hours. That's on the to do list for next time. I'm sure it's crazy during camping season and I'm sure it gets messy and itchy but that was not my experience at all. My kids all loved it and after telling my anti-social brother about it he planned a trip to float down the river with some friends. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Beach area at Caswell - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

It was a fun place to camp and tube down the river. The campsites vary in size and shade, so take a minute to check it out first. We stayed at #28, a bigger site with lots of shade. I came prepared for mosquitoes in previous reviews, but there really weren't that many.. There were hella ticks and flies though. So we used the same spray and it worked well. read more

Caswell Memorial State Park - Site #28 - Parks Near Me - Ripon, California

Solid car camping spot, just visited two weeks ago & the weather was cool in the morning & evening & warm in the afternoon. Checked in at around 4 pm and the host, Mike, was there to greet us. He was nice! We were close to the bathrooms & the Salmon Beach river. River was low but beach was perfect. Hiked the hidden lake trail which was nice and easy but didn't see any lake. Anyway would def come back for another car camping trip but beware of mosquitos!!!!! My fiancé got a lot of bites. read more

See all

Good i just didnt know its a 10$ entrance but overall a very pretty place to take a walk or camp

Just over a hour from the Bay Area, this is a gem! We spent the weekend in spot #49. Like the majority of the camping spots, it was very clean, plenty of shade. All of the camping spots have a locker and a fire pit. Some spots are more open than others. While we walked around, we found many spots we thought we would also enjoy. The bathrooms that I used were cleaned and well stocked with hiney wipe. Each bathroom also has an outlet good for an electric razor or espresso machine. Water is available every few spots. This isn't the kind of place where you will hear generators running all day. Most of the spots are too small for the 2nd home on wheels. There are a few hiking trails and the river to explore. Mostly this is a place to kick back. There is no store on site. You can buy firewood from the camp host, they ran out Friday night. Ripon & Manteca are close if you forgot anything. Tips: Bring quarters, 50 cents for 5 minute shower Mosquito repellent a must! Be sure to check yourself & pets for ticks Beware of falling walnuts read more

My SO and I love traveling and exploring new parks. We were traveling through the Central Valley and found Caswell Memorial in a little town called Ripon on Google Maps. We drove right up and noticed that there were no rangers in the booth taking money, which is typical of any state park you go to. Turns out, you have to put cash in an envelope they have outside and drop it into a slot. After paying, we continued driving to the parking lot. We hiked the nature loop trail which is found right next to the bathrooms and picnic tables. The entire park is covered in oak trees and it was so beautiful. This is not a crowded park, so we were able to enjoy some peace and quiet while we enjoyed the scenery. The Stanislaus river runs right through the park so we also got great views of the river. The river would be a great area to explore more of if it were warmer. We spent probably around two hours in the park. We had to head out because it was starting to pour. During the entire time we were there, we did not see a single person. I very much enjoyed this because it felt like we all alone in the world. It is defiantly one of the less crowded/popular parks in the CA State Park System. Defiantly recommend checking out this park if you are in the area. read more

See all

What I appreciate about this park is that I was always able to get a last minute reservation or walk in and there were still spots available. There's a ton of camp sites here. When you reserve, you aren't reserving a specific spot. You still have the option to choose which site when you get there. There's also a a place to go tubing and hiking. The only downside is the number of bugs around. It's camping though, what do you expect? This is my go to when I have friends over and we didn't book way in advance like the other parks. There is also a Walmart and save mart close by, which helps when you're forgetting something. read more

See all

I've been coming here every summer since I was little. It has become more popular over the years and also louder and dirtier. People don't seem to bother throwing their trash away and you'll find it in the river, on riverbanks and in your own campsite. I always pick up and throw away the litter I find. Not to mention the bathrooms are pretty nasty. Remarkable how long people take in the showers and bathrooms!! Better to take a solar shower. Save the money and the wait. Noise at night is also an issue now because the curfew is not strictly enforced and people play music and talk/laugh/shout as late as they want. The latest annoyance are the cows across the river which are free range and LOUD all night and sound like shouting/screaming men (no joke - it's kind of hilarious). The number one major draw is the river which provides relief in the hot summer months when temps get insanely high. Depending on time of year and winter rainfall, the river can be super high and very fast or slow and shallow enough to walk from Salmon Beach to the day use beach. I will keep coming back for the ice cold waters, the relaxing float down the river and the memories! Annoying/loud people and bugs aside, it's really a beautiful campground. My most recent trip was mid-February 2020 and I was shocked how low the water was this time of year!! I have been in May/June and the water is usually high/very high and fast and there is usually a lot of wild growth on the beaches. This time it was was about waist deep (probably deeper at the veríais drop-offs) at Salmon Beach and our campsite beach, with no extra growth on the beaches. No leaves on the trees yet, lots of green on the ground instead of dusty dirt. Lots of fallen trees and branches. Cold enough that mosquitos weren't an issue, nor were the people because there were only 5 sites occupied including us. Photos attached! We took our dog and had him on a 20' leash which was more than enough to roam the campsite (he is too curious to be off leash and doesn't always come back when called). We never hike so that rule was not an issue. read more

See all

Worse experience ever! Perhaps a seasonal problem, but so many mosquitoes. We were eaten alive. Around 10pm the mosquitoes were gone, but we noticed a loud fan-line noise from the nearby orchards humming all night long. In the morning we asked the ranger about it and they told us the orchards were spaying pesticides. We decided to leave after the first night. We love camping, but park is to stay away from. read more

BECAREFUL WITH EVE Beautiful park, no doubt, but the hostess Eve made for a terrible experience. The website does not make it clear that you've booked days in advance. We thought we had booked for our night, we paid, and had a confirmation to prove it. Here comes Eve, claiming we defrauded her and asking us to pay for ANOTHER night. She takes down our information from car to person and STILL demands we leave collateral with her. What a total abuse of power and so I leave my CELLPHONE to ease the woman. Upon arrival with the money, she still demands we hand her the money before giving any change. Puts up another fight saying she can give us a ticket for fraud. Overall- Visit but don't stay, this woman ruins the park experience, abuses her (limited) power, and harasses to get her way. read more

Used to be a great place to take the family. Now its overrun with mosquitos and evey bug imaginable. Least taken care of campsites I've been to. Stray cats digging through your stuff at night. read more

We made a reservation online. Our campsite was disgusting when we arrived. There was no ranger or camp host on duty. Mail box of the park's phone number was full!! Worst state park I've been to. read more

See all

Please refer to the photo of the map I took of the Caswell Memorial State Park so, it will make better sense understanding my review: The campsites via the river access are excessively noisy and the odiferous smell of GMO fertilizer AND the Black Angus' manure is surely intolerable and terribly annoying smelling the manure 24/7: The smells never dissipates--Do you bring your own a gas mask(?)~BRING IT and also, bring allergy medications; whereas, the campsites away from the river are tranquil, peaceful and blessed smelling oak trees and tall grasses rather than smelling the offensively, horrible GMO fertilizer and manure=Olfactory overload! The river access is via campsite 22 and there's no parking while swimming at the river--all must walk schlepping their inner tubes in their arms; the County Sheriffs are more than happy-obliging distributing hefty, parking fines; "novice"campers are constantly encroaching other campers' campsites and also, novice campers encroaching their neighbors' privacy with no regard is a major bone of contention on the weekends. Therefore, here's my summation and observation: The best days for tranquil, private camping are Monday through Thursday; Friday to Sunday are the noisiest and sadly, campers' encroachment manners are horribly despicable during the weekends. Also, since the leaves from the oak trees are shedding rapidly, please bring a rake cleaning the campsite before setting up your camping equipment; the picnic tables are filthy so, the table and benches must be disinfected with the bathroom bleach cleaner and bring a vinyl, table cover if, laying your kitchen utensils and food on the table or benches will be utilized. I thoroughly cleaned campsite 45 which I camped for one week so, I left it as clean, tidy as possible. Bathrooms and Shower Facilities: The H2O has a very hard, H2O quality so, I highly advise bringing a bathroom cleaner with bleach spray and a ten-gallon bucket before using the showers (disinfecting whatever fungus is growing underfoot!) for removing bio-hazards and possibly contracting tuberculosis (TB) and rinsing clean H2O on the surfaces after spraying with bleach (wait at least five to ten minutes before rinsing walls, shower stalls, and seat area-that's why it's best camping on the weekdays): This entire week's staying at Caswell using the ADA bathroom and shower via the Campground Host, proved to be an extremely, detrimental hazard due to mold/fungus spores growing on the walls/floors causing me having severe breathing, asthma problems and immediately using my Albuterol inhaler and Mucinex DM fighting whatever I breathed from using the shower and bathroom facilities; I went to Walmart and bought a bathroom disinfectant bleach spray for 98 cents-I sprayed both ADA facilities via the Campground Host's location from the ceiling, walls, and floors--the fungus/mild spores rapidly disintegrated. There is one deep laundry sink but, please be aware "novice" campers sadly, use the laundry sink brushing their teeth so, please spray a disinfectant bleach cleaner before washing your clothes in the laundry sink. Despite camping for months at State and Federal Parks, I quickly recognize the "novice" campers from the hardcore survivalist/pro-campers: The novice campers are sloppy and make the bathrooms and shower facilities decrepitly filthy whereas, the hardcore, pro campers are minimalistic and tidy; I have high hopes praying these "novice" campers will become the hardcore campers SOON, very soon. read more

See all

Beautiful nice area rug to go with the family my kids have an awesome time I have an awesome time and they have a very nice and clean camping spot showers everything is available read more

I go to this park more than any other because it is so close to home, and I can get there using back roads without hopping on the freeway. This is a beautiful jungle, I swear Tarzan must live there! There are tons of vines big enough for swinging on hanging from huge Oak trees. The underbrush is so thick you can't see what the heck is ratting around in there which is perfect for all of the little wildlife that lifes there. We have walked through the camping area once, but we only go for day hikes. I've noticed the restrooms in the camping area are MUCH nicer and cleaner than the ones in the day use area. The day use area does have restrooms, and they are clean enough I guess, but I always have to dry my hands on my pants and there is never any soap. Parking has never been a problem for us, we are usually get there somewhere between 10am and 12pm on the weekends. At that time there might be 3 other cars in the lot with us. Mosquitoes on the other had are a BIG problem every time we go. In fact.. we always leave early because of them, I need to start packing repellent because it sucks to pay your $6 then leave after an hour because you're being eaten alive. OK.. I sound like I think this park isn't worth going to, but it is, it really is. We love hiking on Grey Fox Trail and the Majestic Oaks Trail. We also enjoy standing at the waterline and looking for fish and wildlife. The last time we were there we heard a HUGE bullfrog, saw a muskrat swimming in the water, 2 HUGE gray squirrels, and saw SEVERAL fish swimming around just below the water's surface. In the camping area there is a beach called "Salmon Bend" that is very nice too. update: The bathroom photos that someone posted are the bathrooms from the camping area, they are much cleaner than the ones in the day use area (yes this is a point for me, I can barely use the day use ones) read more

See all

I got bit by mosquitoes/ bugs at this campsite really bad, gonna have to go to urgent care soon if it doesn't get better, going on 5th day if it gets any worse! We used bug repellent every hour every day and it didn't help the bugs here still eat you alive! (see photos) We came here on fourth of July weekend I'm not prejudice or racist but there is a lot of Mexicans/Latinos that camp here and they're very rude obnoxious and inconsiderate of other campers! We went here to camp for 3 nights and end up staying only 2 nights because people were partying and being loud and obnoxious till 3:00am in the morning and curfew is actually 10:00 p.m. quiet time and they totally disregarded the rules of the park and were noisy every night!!! they played loud music and were laughing and screaming all night long!!!! Never coming back here again!!! Not only that these people hogg up all the space at the beach!! Totally disappointed of this campsite!! And the camp hosts & park rangers do absolutely NOTHING about people being loud and playing loud music till 3am in the morning!!! Other cons: 1- prepare to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, we sprayed bug spray every hour on us and still gotten bitten severely by mosquitoes! 2- they allow pets on the campsites, but they are NOT allowed on hiking trails, walking trails, beaches, and rivers!!! 3- there's only 2 bathrooms in the entire campsite!!! And the toilets are not cleaned often so they're pretty disgusting! 4- campsites are extremely dusty and dirty And some sites have no shade at all! 5- they allow people to party all night long with loud music, yelling and screaming and shouting till 3am in the morning, even though quiet time starts at 10pm!!!!! read more

See all

Solid camp ground with a beautiful river running through it. There are a lot of mosquitoes so come prepared but overall had such a fun time camping. They have some campsites that are perfect for people who are going as a group so I recommend looking at the map before. The campsite host was lovely and answered any and all questions. read more

I'm giving this place a 4 because it is what it is. This is NOT a peacefully secluded slice of wild heavenly bliss. This IS a wild oak forest in the middle of the central valley. 5 stars for being close to home. 5 star for it's cleanliness. It's very clean. There wasn't any trash (especially beer bottles, caps or cigarette butts scattered about) The water is clean & free from debris & beach areas are kept nicely groomed. All the trash cans in the park were well managed and the bathrooms were cleaned at least once a day. The park staff does a good job here. Unfortunately many of the park patrons seem to enjoy peeing on the seats, not flushing the toilets, tossing soiled toilet paper on the floor NEAR the toilet & leaving personal hygiene trash in the showers. NOTE to all campers: YOUR MOTHER ISN'T THE CAMP HOST HERE! The river is beautiful for something in the middle of suburbia. Great for inner tubing. A trip from the top of the campground down to the day use area beach (with a courteous sign letting rafters know it's the last Caswell exit) results in a FLAT less than a mile walk back to where you started. There aren't any trees on the main beach area - so be sure to bring your own sun protection. There is plenty of room to set out chair & play even when the park is full. 4 stars to the state park workers. Friday night there were some rowdy & very noises campers & they came down swiftly on them. I'm talking about yelling & screaming -- obvious drunken debauchery. The following night; Saturday things were much more enjoyable. 10pm rolled around & things quieted down. Not "old people" quiet. Just a more respectable decibel. We didn't feel uncomfortable hanging out by the fire with some beer, BSing well into the night. 3 stars for the actual campsite construction. Some of the sites were so tiny you will only be able to squeeze in a small , less than 4 camper tent. However, the majority of the sites have a good cushion of wild brush between the sites that you don't feel like you're sleeping with your neighbors. The fire pits & cement state park picnic tables are in good usable shape. 3 stars for the amount of bathrooms. 3 bathroom buildings, each with 4 bathrooms & 2 showers are scattered about the campground. There are at least 55 sites. 12 toilets for 55 sites... the bathroom area was pretty busy early am & evening. Some sites also have a pretty long walk to get to the bathrooms. 2 stars to the campers with no camp etiquette. If there is beach access in someone's campsite. Don't walk through their site. They paid their $30 a night & got there earlier than you to get the "good" site. Common sense, people. Camping isn't like putting a tent out in the city park. Your neighbors shouldn't be treated like panhandling strangers. You're supposed to be nice to your camp neighbors. Isn't that what it's all about? I've never camped anywhere were the other campers didn't abide by this unspoken common camper courtesy. And finally, 5 stars to the little gray squirrels and itty bitty lizards who provided us with mush amusement this weekend. The local wildlife was a real treat. The hiking trails were easy going and very nice. Totally rustic, lots to look at. read more

See all

We've stayed here 2 years in a row and we hated both times. Lol. First time wasn't so bad- trash cans over flowing, the fire pit was still smoking and burning trash when we arrived. The site was DIRTY AF. The only thing that we had going was due to covid, not every site was booked. But it was still polluted with noise and trash. Our second visit was not fun either. The first day a huge dead tree fell and landed on some folks and a baby walking the road. I'm no arborist but lots of other trees are dead with the same potential. No one was killed but the entire emergency rescue showed up 20 min later after a yelling match with the park people's to decide if care was needed. Smh. It was a shit show. I don't have any complaints about bugs- it's nature and were in their home but bring bug spray if you are worried. The bathrooms are nasty but my expectations were already there. Bring your own soap. The faucets to wash dishes are always backed up, no one is using environmentally friendly soap, and there is kid litter everywhere. Site 24 is right across from a bit of a private river access "beach". I recommend limiting visits to day trips to avoid the chaos of it all. 2 stars are for the River. read more

This Memorial Day some friends and I headed out to Caswell for some river and sun. We found just what we were looking for. Leaving behind a foggy and cold city we enjoyed 80-90 degree temps here at the park. Warm enough to go all the way down the river (though we chickened out after a while since we didn't know where the river led)! Definitely not a spot to go with couples like Star B. said, but perfect for groups. They've got a lot of camp sites here and the friendly ranger let us know that a coveted river access spot was available. He gave us the inside track on how to secure the spot/make sure it is free before heading back to the front gate to confirm we'd take it. Hosts Al and Rhonda were pleasant as well in selling us our firewood. It's got pros and cons compared to my favorite China Camp Pros: The river, the beach, more campsites (i think), lots of dumpsters, no lugging all your gear up the hill to your site, perfect for groups, hot water in the sink outside the bathrooms, our friends could come visit for the day because you get two parking spots! Cons: Only saw one set of bathrooms nearby and it was always full and pretty gross (but it was a holiday) so we used the woods, Cars are parked at the campsites themselves which means car alarms, often. Other notes: I saw 0 mosquitoes and a gazillion pincher bugs! cookies on the bbq are amazing read more