Gerle Creek

Campsites were large and spaced apart. No crowding. Roads in were newly paved. It is only 23 miles +- off hwy 50 but it takes about an hour drive to get to the campground in a 25’ Motorhome. The lake and creek are great to fish and play in. Definitely going again for a longer time.

I've been camping here for 30 plus years. This is are favorite place to come and relax, enjoy the quite atmosphere and beautiful scenery. In the prior years the reserve signs posted on the campsites clearly showed the last name and the dates the site was reserved by/for. That was not the case this year.

We arrived at the campground expecting to have potable water. We only brought about 4 gallons and our group was 12 people spread over three sites. So we had to boil a LOT of water. Thankfully we had three camp stoves to use and a couple people had small water filters. When we returned home and had access to email we noticed that an email had been sent on the second day of our reservation. We had an enjoyable stay at Gerle Creek Campground even though the adults slept poorly. The area is beautiful, great for swimming and paddling, we had a canoe and a kayak. The problem was some other campers with “acute bad judgment syndrome”. This is bear country and all food, toiletries and the like-INCLUDING ICE CHESTS-should be stored in the bear lockers provided or maybe in a completely closed and locked car. (Anything that smells like food-LOCK IT UP!) We were kept awake by some people who first of all didn’t follow the quiet hours (10pm-6am). And their negligence drew a bear to their campsite. They made tons of noise yelling, whistling and repeatedly setting off their car alarm and shining lights all over. The campsite host was friendly and responsive to our complaint the next morning. The bear returned the following night and again these campers set off their car alarm, but the noise was less. Thankfully the children in our group slept through the disturbances. They greatly enjoyed riding their bikes during the day, swimming and hiking. Please people if you camp in bear country, follow the rules and be safe!

Great campground, great hosts. The campground company has done an extraordinarily poor job in making dump stations available. Obviously none at Gerle Creek. However, the ones at Loon Lake, Yellow Jacket, and Sunset were all non-operational. Yellow Jacket still had a sign up indicating that the dump station was active. In the end, we had to go to Ice House Campground. All of the running around consumed 1/2 of the day.

Beautiful site. Well maintained. Famiky camping spot.

Nature, quiet, clean and camp host Nathan and Kelly that make you feel right at home. What's not to like!

Great stay. Camp hosts were great. Quiet campground even on a holiday. Facilities were clean and well maintained.

What a great campsite! We love the shadiness and the lake is beautiful! The hosts are absolutely wonderful! Our only thought to make it better would be grates on the campfire pit to allow for some cooking there too.

Beautiful campground - very clean restrooms. The lake is wonderful. Great for kayaking and paddle boarding!

Gerle Creek camp hosts Nathan and Kelly are very kind, patient, and welcoming, and they help make an already wonderful location feel that much more excellent. Nathan and Kelly help keep the campsite a clean and calm place as they deal with a wide dynamic of campers, many who seemingly are unaware that their behavior affects other campsites and other campers. It takes a special approach to successfully manage a camper with a belly full of alcohol, but these camp hosts most certainly are professionals. The care and kindness which they perform their duties is one of the things that keeps me coming back to this campsite. Thank you to our most excellent camp hosts at Gerle Creek, Nathan and Kelly (and their little one too!).

Nathan was so incredibly helpful. Beautiful stay.

Love this peaceful area so much. We stayed over the 4th of July weekend, which had a full campground and number of day use folks, but still didn't feel crowded. Camp hosts are great and kept everything clean and the few folks that wanted to get loud at night in check. It's worth pointing out that the water on site is having issues and is non-potable. This is the first year that I'm aware it hasn't been drinkable, so we were glad to have noticed other comments before we arrived. Advice at camp is to boil the water, which you can do. We didn't want to spend the time or propane so we just added several gallon jugs of drinking water (buck something at walmart) and a couple 7 gallon jugs of water from home for hand/dishwashing. Easy peasy.

Gerle Creek is a gem of campground, clean bathrooms and well maintained campsites and the lake is great for swimming, paddle boards and picnics. We had a great time. Nathan and family are excellent campground host, welcoming, friendly and great stewards - seriously we do a lot of camping and while most hosts do a good job Nathan is exceptional.

Gerle Creek is a gem - the campsites and bathrooms are well maintained and Nathan and family are the best camp ground hosts, welcoming, friendly and great stewards of the land.

There were no camp hosts on duty when we arrived Sunday. We were interested in changing to a first come first served site, but couldn’t pursue that. We had a large group of extremely noisy neighbors across from us (3 campsites together). We had no recourse, since there was still no camp host. We decided to leave 2 days early ( Wednesday), for that reason, still no camp hosts, just too noisy. As soon as we got cell service (around 10AM) we tried to cancel our last 2 days, but couldn’t do it online, so spent an hour on hold with recreation.gov. Finally cancelled only to get an email informing me that Gerle Creek didn’t give them permission to cancel. Was given a number call in Hollister for Gerle Creek, left a detailed message and never got a response. I’m still owed money !

Fun family environment, nice beaches with pleasant water temperatures. The host was friendly and helpful. Check to make sure the campsite water issues have been resolved. Otherwise boil you drinking water.

Favorite place to go with our family! Hosts are super awesome.

Best campground we’ve ever been. We’ll definitely have to go back there. The campsites are clean and the view is pretty nice . Hopefully they can make a shower in the future tho.

I had an excellent stay at Gerle Creek. The campground was in great shape overall, with spacious, well‑maintained sites that made settling in easy. The pit toilets were clean, though of course not ideal, and the only real downside was that the water wasn’t potable due to an E. coli breakout at the time. Not a deal‑breaker, but definitely something campers should be aware of and plan for. One thing that stood out as a little odd was that the camp host was absent the entire time we were there. It didn’t cause any issues, but it was noticeable. Mid‑week in June, the campground was about 50% full—quiet enough to feel relaxed but still lively. Gerle Reservoir itself was the highlight. Beautiful, clean, and fully swimmable. The water was perfect, and the setting made it easy to spend hours just enjoying the lake. All in all, despite a couple of quirks, it was a great experience. I’ll definitely be back.

Lovely campground! Only compliant was there was no host the entire holiday weekend and the campground was full. Would have been nice to have a host to help regulate the party animals.

Great camping, great lake

Ranger is perfect lady

Beautiful lake for water sports involving non-motorized water craft.

quiet, peaceful, clean camp with water and hiking trails.

Arrived on Sunday afternoon, departed Wednesday mid-day. The camp host never showed up. Trash cans in the bathrooms were overflowing. The recycle bin at the day use area was full with cans and bottles, with the same amount on the ground surrounding it. Off leash dogs, out of control barking. Although our space was reserved, the dates hadn't been posted on the campsite sign. It's a beautiful place, but the upkeep and support are definitely lacking.

Great location. Lake is amazing for SUP. They just need to fix the non potable water situation. Other than that. Amazing place!

Always beautiful. This time though, it was louder than usual likely due to the absence of hosts. Large groups playing music and yelling. Also there was no forewarning of the e-coli in the water. I wish there were some rule on the patio lights that people are wrapping around their campsites. Not little twinkle lights, but big, bright bulb lights that obscure the view of the night sky.

Such a great beautiful area. Plenty of trails and close to the water. Loved it

Excellent camping experience. Friendly host, clean restroom and immaculate time on the water.

Great spot

The campground is immaculately clean and is family oriented.

Camp hosts take such wonderful care of the sites. One of our favorites

Camp Host was the best I have ever met!! Cool guy, wife and baby!! Grounds were in order, clean bathrooms, and host was very accommodating!! He is alway smiling, attentive and personable!!

Nice site, bring water the water all needed to be boiled

Such an amazing location! We have been here three times and it never disappoints. The hosts were amazing and kind, the campground was clean and it was just a wonderful time among the trees with the family.

The area is amazing. The park was clean and the hosts were friendly and helpful. Our stay was so enjoyable, we made another reservation for a few more days. We will return to the site. Hopefully, we might see the same hosts again too.

Nice set up for your tents, shade and proximity to the restrooms is really good. We really liked that it had some shade and some sun. Your tent is far enough away from the road that it is a lot of privacy.

It’s a beautiful place

Was an awesome experience

Rnjoyable

We stayed at the top of the hill. A nice walk to the water but make sure you bring your things with you it’s a bit of a hike! Beautiful spot with few generations and no motorboats. Our kids loved the jumping rock and all the hiking trails

The hosts were wonderful. The lake was serene and perfect for paddle boarding or kayaking.

Nice location and lake. Good place for families.

You should have kayak, paddle boards or anything that gets you in the water. Lunch on the island is nice if it’s not too crowded 😉. There are wonderful walks, and for the adventurers, there’s some great hiking in the surrounding National Forest.

Such a lovely place to stay. We had a great time!! The camp hosts were wonderful...always friendly and kept every clean. Hope to see them next year.

What a lovely place to stay. Large campsites and a beautiful lake. Nothing flashy here but clean and happy and just a nice place to stay.

Perfect size body of water, clean camp!

Amazing campground. A little mosquito eat in the spring and cold so make sure you pack for that and if you want to buy firewood it's cash. Camp site is large enough for two families and a wonderfully well taken care of location with a great bathroom and awesome water access.

Gerle Creek is a great campground that has many wonderful things to do outside of the normal day to day life! Camping, hiking, fishing, swimming - (jumping off the rock into the lake) and mountain bike riding are some of the key things to do at Gerle. Jim