If I could leave a minus star, I would. For starters, my friend phoned ahead of time to verify the fees. He was given one price over the phone, however upon arrival, the fees increased by about $160!!! Next, the place was completely packed, which was understandable and expected, seeing as how it was Labor Day weekend. But what was totally unexpected was the loud, obnoxious, rude, gangster thugs. Pot smoke at all hours of the morning/day/night, loud, offensive music until 3AM, drunken, aggressive thugs intimidating other guests (a woman at that. Ooohh, big, bad dudes!), skinheads trying to pick a racial fight with other campers, drunken "security" who were partying with other campers, etc. Also, it seems that this place draws all of the crappiest, meanest, foul-mouthed "parents" in the country. But the absolute WORST part was: Saturday night, they turned off the showers. That in and of itself is fine, camping is camping. But the reason they did it was to conserve water. You see, their water supply is a huge tank, so when that runs dry, there is no running water for showers, toilets, hoses, etc. This made the bathrooms a disgusting health hazard. Poop on the walls, floors and all over the toilets. The maintenance guys brought 30 gallon GARBAGE CANS full of what appeared to be LAKE WATER to pour into the toilets for "flushing" (imagine no plumbing for a packed campground with a lot of drunk/drugged out people puking, pooping and God knows what else in the bathrooms. I was told by another camper that the same thing had happened in July as well, so the management was well aware of the problem, didn't care, didn't do anything to prevent it from happening again, and is only interested in making a one time buck). This was not the only disgusting, appalling, infectious disaster about this campground either. At least 3 or 4 times per day (possibly more, as I did not spend my entire day at the campsite to see), the maintenance guys drove an open trailer hauling 2 big, transparent sewage holding tanks (presumably from the porta potty's at the beach/bar), which they drained, without any kind of sleeve or protection or leakage prevention, into a hole in the ground (to a septic?) right across the street from the potable water storage tank. The days were probably 85 degrees, no wind, and the smell was overwhelming, palpable and horrible. Raw sewage dump right in the midst of all the campsites. To top that beauty off, when the guys were finished and driving away, the tanks would leak raw sewage sludge behind them, leaving a trail of infectious E.coli and a host of other pathogens, bacteria and bio-hazardous waste. Campers would then walk in it, sometimes barefoot, to and from the bathrooms. One night, the partiers were so rowdy, the sheriff was called. His response to a complaint of harassment/intimidation and fear of retaliation was "you don't come to Long Ravine for a good night's sleep". The lake itself is small, comparatively speaking, but nice, the forest beautiful. However at this campground, access is difficult. If you drive over, parking is limited and if you're lucky enough to find a spot, you have a nice, long walk to get to the small, crowded launch ramp, and "beach" (about 30 feet wide, rocky and littered). Wait time to launch was about 20 minutes or more.
If you have a boat and want to camp on a nice, big lake, go to McClure, Shasta, or Oroville. If you don't have a boat, go to the Russian River. Casini Ranch is SUPER family friendly, fun, nice trees and full bushes which make for private campsites, is well maintained and managed. Went there last year on Labor Day weekend, they were full to capacity but our campsite was still private, it didn't SEEM crowded, there were no raunchy, obnoxious, rude and intimidating partiers, security was phenomenal, and the staff VERY courteous and friendly. They featured a hoot-nanny, enormous bonfire, and an outdoor movie. THEY want return business, Long Ravine couldn't care less.
Save your money, protect yourself from disease, OG's, the "people of Wal-Mart, trailer trash "management", and go somewhere else... read more