Five stars, if you don't mind noise…read more
4 PROS:
1) Cheap. $20 a night. That's like a McDonald's Value Meal. (Thanks, Obama).
2) Great location. The Truckee River is a sleepy and underrated river that is safe for innertubing if you know the few spots to avoid. It's a straight-shot, seven mile ride to Lake Tahoe, and at 1.5 miles down the road, 7-Eleven is walking distance, if you wake up early and go get coffee.
[That 7-Eleven also has $8 bundles of firewood, which comes in handy when your host is empty-handed)
3) Spacious space with a low fire pit so you can see the fire better, a picnic table, and a bear locker, the bear locker locks with a noise, so it's hard to steal cookies without getting caught.
4) Relatively small, with only 21 spots, which potentially limits some neighbor noise and keeps multiple parties closer together.
4 CONS:
1) The number one complaint for all reviewers is the car noise from the steady flow of vehicles roaring up and down the 89. Tent only spots 22-28 get a little buffer because they're the furthest from the road, closest to the river, and down a small hill.
2) This is likely more rare, but there's a big house across the river, visible from sites 23-28. They hosted a party the night and went from loud to louder throughout the night. They aren't subject to Quiet Hours, and it especially intolerable when they intentionally yelled and hit our tents with flashlights. I kept thinking it was an alien invasion coming to take us away. After a while, I was hoping it was.
3) The first time we went to our hosts at #2 (D & K), they weren't there. The second time, they were out of wood. Had we not bought wood elsewhere we'd be in the dark, literally. So, don't rely on the host for wood.
4) This is minor, but the dirt roads make the Indiana Jones ride look like a block of greased marble.
NOTE ON RIVER ACCESS: I expected to be level with the river, or at least able to walk to a clearing for a beachy area, to either climb rocks or wade into the water, but I didn't see clear river access aside a few paths through six feet high shrubs. [Psst, US Forest Service: Clearing a thirty-foot beach area would make for a nice, safe communal space]
NOTE ON BUGS: We didn't experience yellow jackets (super late June). I used bug spray to avoid mosquitos. Not a bunch of gnats, like other sites. There are anthills, but only one adventurous ant made it into our tent.
Finally,
Of the 28 sites, 12 are tent-only.
Of the tent-only sites, the #22-28 spots are the best, though you have to use the parking lot and can't keep your car at the site. Having a spot a hundred steps down a hill means it is a little more quiet and private, but packing and unpacking is a little tougher and time-consuming, Plus, you can't keep an eye on your ride to make sure bears aren't tearing it apart to find an four-year-old French fry.
#28 is the clear winner having only one neighbor. I would avoid 25-26 because they might share a path to the parking lot. The guy is 25 kept walking through our camp (behind our bear locker), so either the separate path is nonexistent, hard to find, or he's a jabroni. My wife loved 26 for the perfectly spaced hammock trees. I assume #19-21 would be next best, being in the pocket furthest south.
#9-11 are trash. I couldn't imagine staying in Spot #10. Like #9 and #11, it's practically in the parking lot, so you'd see more taillights than starlight, but 10 is on the bathroom trail. It should be renamed #2.
