1. Union Valley Reservoir

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Pollock Pines, CA

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Union Valley Reservoir

4.6 (9 reviews)

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Camping facility
Kenneth K.

It's been over 30 years since I visited this beautiful lake in El Dorado County (Crystal Basin), just 20 miles Northeast of Placerville. Union Valley Reservoir is much larger than the other two lakes in the area (Icehouse Reservoir & Loon Lake.) These lakes were created by SMUD as part of the American River Project. Which are a series of hydroelectric power plants in the Crystal Basin. Through careful planning with the Forest Service, recreational facilities were built all around the lake. SMUD and the Forest Service provide land and water recreation opportunities for everyone to enjoy ! There are at least a dozen camp sites around the lake. All campsites have toilets, picnic tables, fire rings, grills. A few even have piped water and showers. There are also 3 boat ramps on the lake. Activities around the lake range from camping, fishing, boating, hiking. For those that enjoy the great outdoors but don't want to travel to far from home, Union Valley Reservoir is the perfect spot ! Enjoy ! Live / Love / Travel

Union Valley Reservoir

My little slice of heaven and best kept secret hidden away from the rest of the world.

Perfect Kayaking day

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Ghost Mountain Ranch - Hallway with bunks

Ghost Mountain Ranch

3.1(132 reviews)
12.7 mi

We went about a week ago for the first time. It was rustic, and what I expected from a traditional…read morecamp ground. I know there are super luxury resort R.V. parks out there, but I grew up going mostly to state and regional parks tent camping. We just bought a new Travel trailer, so first time not tent camping, we go about 3 or 4 times a year tent camping. It was on par with the campgrounds we go to in the Tahoe area, but with a few extras like the heated pool, and the kid"s clubhouse. My 9 year old daughter loved that place, making all kinds of arts and crafts with the art teacher on staff. Also, she recently got into fishing so the pond was a nice extra. We used this place as a base camp for our usual Tahoe activities, and spent a day at our favorite Baldwin Beach. It was nice to take a free hot shower instead of tokens at the state parks. Like I said, didn't seem much different than what we are used to, so no complaints. We enjoyed the affordable food options at the ghost town, especially after getting back from Tahoe, and not feeling like cooking. As we continue our new R.V. life, I'm sure we will get to see the more upscale places, but this place was fine for our current needs. Reminded me of my Science Camp days in school. Beautiful woods and hiking trails out in nature.

Tried to schedule an RV spot for an upcoming weekend, and was repeatedly pressure into purchasing a…read morespot.

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Ghost Mountain Ranch
Ghost Mountain Ranch
Ghost Mountain Ranch - Ice cream sundae

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Ice cream sundae

Stumpy Meadows

Stumpy Meadows

3.6(57 reviews)
9.8 mi

This year my family & I camped here & we reserved 4 & 5 which was right by the entrance next to the…read morecamp host. We enjoyed how shady this area was, & how large this area was for our group. We were able to place 5 tents in this area, two tents which were large tents for families of 6. Each site has a fire pit, picnic table, is near a rinse of station and bathrooms. There are bathrooms and well maintained but they are the definition of out houses. Bring a flash light at night as there is no lights inside. No showers here. The trail to the water is not to long, id say its half a mile, very do-able if your not bringing much or have little ones. If you dont take the trail, you can always drive 3 minutes down the road to the boat launching area & park there for a day by the reservoir. The parking fee there is $10 in cash. By the water it's very rocky, so do bring good water shoes. There was a bear cub that roamed this campground, the host let is know it has been around since April , and that there hasn't been sight of momma bear since, meaning either momma bear abandoned him or was left behind, he really doesn't want anything to do with human interaction according to them. From our experience he comes around mostly in broad day light and not at night but still kept us on our toes especially because our group had littles ones. This is the only reason I am ranking this campground to be a 4/5 stars.

This review is for the camp host. I wasn't scheduled to camp there. I was just driving through and…read morewas lost looking for an off-road trail. As I walked up to the host who was sitting at a picnic table he immediately said' Firewood is over there." I told him I didn't need firewood and was lost. He said, "I'm off duty. Can't help you." I asked if he could just tell me where the trail was and he said no and that it was a complicated process. I asked again, "You can't tell me where the trail starts?" He said no again and that he was on he phone as well. I said thanks and left. What an unhelpful human being.

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Stumpy Meadows
Stumpy Meadows
Stumpy Meadows - Gorgeous view

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Gorgeous view

Pipi Campground

Pipi Campground

4.2(46 reviews)
31.6 mi

October 2017: I wasn't aware of PiPi Campround's existence not until, my first born daughter, Joy…read moretook me camping reserving a campsite not too far from the Cosumes River. The entire Federal Campground consists of spacious campsites intermingled underneath massive canopies of sugar pines, Cedar of Lebanon, and other deciduous trees: The Cosumes River softly babbles, emitting soothing water sounds in the not too far distance from our campsite which evokes a sense of calmness, peacefulness, and exuding a meditative quality not too many campgrounds comparatively possesses especially, CA State's Folsom Lake's Beals, Peninsula, Donner Lake, and Lake Tahoe Campgrounds which are disappointingly raucous, obnoxiously loud music blaring from portable boom boxes, and egregiously inconsiderate with the utmost abandon, people partying all night. Sad. Despite the fact the CA State Parks has its incessant noise pollution, PiPi Campground is directly the opposite: It's so quiet, you can hear your heart and blood pulsating, you can hear insects buzzing and whirring by you, you can hear the soft breeze echoing surrounding the PiPi Campground while the deciduous trees offers wafting fresh, sweet pine scents lulling you into the deepest REM dreamland possible . . . This IS PiPi Campground: Solitude where you can hear yourself think in peace.

Stayed here 6/25 in site 21. Nice camp grounds. The pot holes on the road in are very big so it…read moretakes a long time to drive the last 5 miles. The trash dumpsters were full when we got there and were over full when we left. For having valt toilets they were clean. We will go back again.

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Pipi Campground
Pipi Campground
Pipi Campground

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Sunset Campgroud

Sunset Campgroud

3.0(14 reviews)
0.9 mi

This was such a great campground for families and people looking to unwind. We booked campsite #43…read morethat had tons of extra space, a large driveway big enough for 3-cars, close to showers and bathrooms. There were six of us with 3 tents, but we could have easily fit three more tents. There were multiple bathrooms nearby, plenty of water spigots, and showers nearby. The showers are pretty expensive; $4.00 will only get 3-minutes of shower time and it only takes quarters. This campsite is on a peninsula that's technically over a reservoir, not a lake, but it does not feel like reservoir. The body of water itself is huge and the surroundings are gorgeous. My family and I did multiple hikes around the lake and saw all kinds of wildlife like hawks, squirrels, tadpoles, and lots of coyote tracks. One day we went fishing and saw what it looked like bear scratchings at the base of a tree. See my pictures. We even caught a glimpse of a few eagles near our campsite. A handful of spots were blocked off because it was a nesting area for the eagles. Our favorite spot by far was hanging out on Fashoda Beach, which is a man-made beach area. They've removed all the sharp rocks and put in sand and buoys to keep boats out of it. It's essentially like a giant bay that's kids safe for swimming. I am more of "glamper", but I really enjoyed this campsite with all of its rustic features. I could definitely see myself coming back here with my family for annual camping trips, and I highly suggest coming here at the beginning of summer because the weather was perfect with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. Plus, there weren't many people out here for the summer yet. Did I mention I still had 5G access to my phone, score!

We came by the camp grounds Friday morning, it was our first time there and we were a bit confused,…read morewe found an area that was empty and no reserved ticket on the post , I ended up calling the office to ask for more info, they told me to pay for the overnight fee and attach the ticket to the post. That's what we did, we then later found out that, the spot we had was reserved, we were a little bummed out, we ended up leaving, tried finding a new spot, no luck, we then found a spot on the boat ramp and parking space that specifically said "overnight parking allowed" we asked a host, an older man. He was very nice, he told us we are allowed to pitch tents, we unpacked, every one was tired, and a woman in her 50-60s pretty short with curly grey hair. Pulled up on a golf cart and started yelling, that tents are not allowed, and she proceeded to yell "if you don't move, I will call the ranger here, he will take all your kids, you will all go to jail, and get fined 2000$ per tent. Per adult" she was extremely rude, we tried to reason with her, she was flat out rude, we were leaving, she started throwing in some cuss word, all my kids were crying, we then talked to a few neighboring rv owners who also experienced a similar issue with this old lady, she needs to be investigated, I read a lot of bad reviews about her. Camp ground and lake was awesome and beautiful, it's the fact the hosts don't know how to act

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Sunset Campgroud
Sunset Campgroud
Sunset Campgroud

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Union Valley Reservoir - lakes - Updated October 2026

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