Camp ObserverCamp site features
Across 60 camp sites:
- Fire pit: all 60 sites
- Pets allowed: all 60 sites
- ADA accessible: 4 of 60 sites
- Group sites: 3 of 60 sites
- Longest rig: 67 ft
- Largest party: 50 people
- Equipment: Horse, RV, Tent, Trailer
Fees
Recreation Fee: Recreation fees are the fees a visitor pays for things like overnight camping, a day-use pavilion, group facilities, a tour or a permit. Recreation fees vary by location and/or activity.
Reservation Fee: A fee may be charged at the time a reservation is made to cover the cost of reservation services. This fee is in addition to the Recreation Fee and is non-refundable. Fees for camping, day use, group sites, cabins and lookouts: $8 if made on-line; $9 if made through the call center; $3 if made in-person.
Directions
Take Highway 50 east of Placerville for 21 miles to Icehouse Road turnoff. Turn left and go 28 miles to a fork. Take the right fork 5 miles to the campground.
Stay Limit
Check in from 2 PM, check out by 1 PM.
Reviews
Gary T
Loop:Fern Loop
Site:
Reviewed 11 days ago
Warning – sites may not have space for a tent, & camp hosts may not honor first-come, first-served sites.
We first arrived at our reserved tent campsite to find there was no place to put a tent except on the driveway. The pictures of the site are deceiving and look larger than it really is. We decided to move to a first-come, first-serve (FF) site since the park was mostly empty. We also had family get a separate FF site. The camp host was at a company BBQ for the evening - we had no one to ask questions about what sites were available. We left the park to find internet and look up what sites were FF and moved into 2 of those sites listed on the website as available for FF for the 2 nights we needed. The sites were all paid for.
The next day about 3pm, a camp host told us we had to leave the sites because both sites had reservations – which was confusing because we had screenshots that the sites were open and FF. We asked when those people were coming and were then told no one had reserved the sites yet. They said there was a website “glitch” - the sites were not really FF, but we could reserve them if we wanted to.
So we drove out of the park again for internet & again the sites we were in showed as FF with NO way to reserve them online. In fact, the website states, “The site is not available to reserve in advance online or by phone. You must physically arrive at the facility to see if the site is available.”
We went back to the camp host, who was now on the phone with her manager. The manager told us we cannot take a “reserved” spot and that this is “not how they run their campground, " and we had to move. She said that our sites did not have reservations for the night, but we could not stay there because the website glitched labeled the sites wrong. The manager’s tone was aggressive and threatening.
We decided to just go home. We packed up and left around 5 pm – and the sites were left empty for the night. We will not be back.
Dana C
Loop:Fern Loop
Site:
Reviewed 12 days ago
Clean camp site,, clean toilets, nice staff.
Robert S
Loop:Fern Loop
Site:
Reviewed 13 days ago
People in the campground were running generators for their RVs during the day and at night, which made camping for those of us wanting to do normal tent camping really unpleasant. It really wrecked the vibe.
Rebecca C
Loop:Shadow Loop
Site:
Reviewed 13 days ago
The host was incredibly helpful and responsive!
The sites are very clean and the hostess makes sure the parking for the campsites are blown clean with a leaf blower so it is very welcoming when you come to your campsite.
The bathrooms are cleaner than any other campsite I have ever been to with pit toilets.
There was a mess in one bathroom when we got there and within 1 hour was cleaned up!
I plan to come more in the future!
Amy C
Loop:Shadow Loop
Site:
Reviewed 15 days ago
This is one of our favorite places to be.
Geoffrey P
Loop:Ellis Loop
Site:
Reviewed 16 days ago
Beautiful renovation to this campground. Amazing!. Great camp host. Only problem was RV dump not working, again. They need to get this provided on a more consistent basis.
