Hey friends, welcome back to Grand Adventure!
I'm your host Marc Guido, and this week we're going to bring you camping
at California's beautiful East Park Reservoir, so stay tuned.
So East Park Reservoir is a medium-sized reservoir in the northwestern corner
of the Sacramento Valley of Northern California.
We came over here from the coast from our last stop in Ocean Cove.
If you haven't yet seen that episode, we'll put a link right here on the screen
so you can come camping with us oceanside at Ocean Cove.
And now we're lakeside in a beautiful waterfront spot at East Park Reservoir.
The reservoir was created by the Bureau of Reclamation with
a dam installed on a creek here in the valley.
However, the campsites are not maintained by the Bureau of Reclamation.
It's actually Colusa County that maintains the campsites here.
And there are a crazy number of campsites, probably around a hundred,
and they're split between dry reservable campsites and non-reservable boondocking sites.
Really there's not a lot of difference between the two,
other than the fact that you can actually reserve the dry camping sites,
and for the dry camping sites that you can reserve cost $20 per night,
whereas the boondocking sites cost $15 per night for a camping permit.
There's really not a lot of difference between the two,
and had we realized just how empty this place was going to
be we would not have reserved a particular site.
Honestly, all week that we've been here there has been nobody else
within eyesight or earshot of our camping location here along the lake.
It's been that quiet, and that peaceful with the birds singing,
the grebes sounding at night, the frogs at night.
It's just been absolutely beautiful and peaceful and quiet out here.
Now there's not a lot to see around here,
and because of that you come here to relax. You don't come here to do a lot of sightseeing.
And for that reason, this is going to be a little bit shorter than our
typical travel episode here at Grand Adventure.
There are tons of campsites here along both sides of the lake.
We're on the Lodoga side, but there's a similar amount of camping available
on the Stonyford side of East Park Reservoir.
There are no facilities here other than designated campsites
each with their own trash can and picnic table, and a disc golf course.
No hookups, no dump station, not even any water,
so fill up your RV's fresh water tank before you arrive.
This reservoir had barely any water in it last year,
but following this year's record-setting snowpack
the lake is now at full pool for the first time in many years.
Water is even now pouring over the spillway.
Be aware that East Park is surprisingly remote, especially by northern California standards.
Bring all of your supplies,
as the nearest supermarket is nearly an hour away each way in the town of Willows.
But if you forget something, the General Store across the lake in tiny Stonyford,
which itself is little more than a stop sign,
is surprisingly well stocked and reasonably priced.
But this remote location is part of what makes East Park Reservoir so special.
With plenty of water in the lake and our waterfront campsite location,
it's impossible to resist the lure to get this kayak out onto the lake a
couple of times over the course of the week here.
With so many coves, islands and other features, it's got character for a fascinating paddle.
So we hope that you've enjoyed camping and kayaking at East Park Reservoir with us!
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because coming up next week we're going to be returning to the California coast
for more coastal camping as we continue our northern trek!
So until next Wednesday please remember,
life is nothing but a Grand Adventure! We'll see you then.