I want to start off by saying this review is based solely on the cabin we got. The rafting guides were AMAZING and we had great experiences on the river. They know their stuff and educate you about the history of the river and the area. The cabin was excruciatingly hot. The dinky wall air conditioning did little to nothing to relieve us. It would be helpful to have blinds on all the windows, at least, so we could've blocked out the sun rays. If we hadn't brought our own fan, I think we would've been baked potatoes. Not to mention, the lock on the door broke and our items were unsecured for a good portion of time. The view from the cabin was nice, and just a quick walk down to the river. Apparently they've been trying to get better WiFi for some time, but it hasn't happened yet. There's barely service in the cabin if you have Verizon, and none if you have Sprint. I realize the point of vacation is to escape your regular life, but sometimes we want to watch Netflix or send an update to a family member. However, they've had the funds to remodel their office, where there is working WiFi if you really need to do something important. I wish they would've spent a little money for better AC and working WiFi in the cabins for the guests. read more

What happened to camping being a cheaper alternative to staying at a hotel? Staying in a tent site at American River Resort for one night for my boyfriend and I cost $50. Next time I think I will just go out of my backyard and hike into the woods for free. Okay, so what does $50 get you that camping in my backyard won't? There is the beautiful American River as well as the rafting facilities (which we did not use, unfortunately), as well as bathrooms with showers. And that's about it. Unfortunately the campsites are SUPER cramped. There is no space between them at all. When our campsite neighbors showed up it was like we had intended on camping together even though they were complete strangers. What a bummer. That fact alone will ensure that I never return. When I go camping, I want to feel isolated and at peace. Trust me, you will never forget that you are surrounded by people here. Then again, maybe I would have felt differently if I was here on a rafting trip. That certainly seems like the main attraction of American River Resort. The staff was very friendly and the everyday conveniences like beer for sale, hot water, and firewood were readily available; hence the three stars. read more

Our family of four just spent 4 nights and we ALL agreed we are all coming back and bringing more friends ( and we have 2 teens, agreement on anything is a rarity)!! We booked everything through Katia at the main office via phone and email prior to arrival and she was great! We rented a river platform cabin tent that was situated right on the banks of the American River! There is no better white noise machine for sleep than the water rushing!! The site was clean and the view was amazing! We stayed midweek so it was not crowded at all! Bathrooms and showers were clean and tidy ( albeit a bit of a walk depending on your site but I just chalked this up to a win for the step count). Staff was super friendly, in fact everyone we encountered in Coloma and nearby Placerville were some of the friendliest people! If you're up for an adventure and thrill I HIGHLY ( HIGHLY) recommend the on-site American River Recreation for your rafting experience!! We rafted 2 days . Our guides, Camila and Aiden were TOP NOTCH!! Experienced, encouraging and knowledgeable. I would 100% recommend both the resort and this excursion!! read more

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I feel that the word "resort" in their name is definitely misleading. We are a family of 5 and do a lot of camping with our 35 ft pull trailer, thus we have stayed at a variety of campgrounds & "resorts" and this place definitely does not equate to a "resort". The roads are narrow (and have a lot of unmarked speed bumps that are rough on a truck pulling a trailer up a steep hill) and they are 2 way traffic. It's not the most pleasant experience pulling your rig up a steep hill and a car comes down facing you woth no turn out, someone is going to have to backup & you just hope the car gets the clue they need to! They need to re-direct the roads to be 1 way traffic for the safety of the campers & drivers. The lots are uneven and dirty, not at all what you would expect from a "Resort" campground and for the price they charge. Beach access is not the best access for campers with trailers. Considering that all the sites near the water are tents and all the trailer sites are on the steep hill. It's a very unpleasant walk with young kids considering the steepness of the hills and the dodging of vehicle traffic. There are zero family/kid activities except for the pool & river. In all of the "resort" campgrounds we have stayed at have various kid activities during the summer. The pool is disgusting, the fact that kids who usually are blind to cleanliness concerns are raising their voices on how murky the water was, the mold (which my son described as a substance that looked like seaweed growing from the bottom of pool) throughout the pool, the wooden benches for seating are falling apart not safe to sit on, bandaids floating about and a black garden hose spewing water into the pool without staff supervision, certainly not conducive of a "resort" campground. The staff is nonexistant, not once did we see a staff member patroling the grounds during our 4 night stay. Many campers were violating ground rules, for instance, there were cars parked unattended w/out the red permit right in the RV dump area, no trailer owner was able to pull their rig in to dump due to the cars blocking access. You would think that the staff would be Johnny on it on that situation. The value is not there for the fees you pay, this campground is unethical in their fees compared to the service and stay you receive. They really need to reinvest in their facility (i.e. grade their spots, drain & sanitize the pool, repave roads and etc.) If they want to keep charging high end fees and portray a resort to unsuspecting campers. read more

Only good thing about this resort is Location. We had good camping neighbors as well. We came back from camping yesterday night and the day we reached it was around 8:20 PM and dark so we parked the car in our camp site Loading / unloading zone. Exact after 15 mins someone came (Alex) and starting shouting that move your car right now its over 15 mins. We were with kids, and told him give us few minutes, he said its my duty to get car removed after 15 min and he also said do you understand English its written that only 15 minutes ... so that was really bad and RUDE behavior. We spoke to Manager Arnie, no good response, no one followed up.. Bathrooms are very very very very very Dirtyyyy. Soap dispensers were empty. I suggest go to any other resort for camping definitely not this one.. read more

If your idea of fine camping is unwanted noise, too close neighbors, dirty tent cabin, dirty campsite,dusty locale, direct sun, then this is your place. I stayed in a tent cabin which was billed as "Glamping". NOT! I left a day early as it was too miserable of an experience to stay any longer. When I called to ask for a refund for the day I was told they would get back to me. That was 2 days ago. Why am I not surprised! read more

I don't ususally write reviews, but I felt this one was necessary. I would stay elsewhere in Coloma if coming camping. My family/friends have been coming here yearly for many years. Usually our stays have been amazing. Not anymore. We called a few weeks ago and asked for one of our sites to have early check in as they were renting a motorhome that needed to be delivered at 2pm. We even offered to pay another nights stay but were told "no 3pm is the earliest." (the site was empty btw). Two women walked into the office at 1:50pm and walked out with thier check in packets and off they went to set up thier site! When we asked why they were able to check in early we were rudly told they were granted early check in prior to their stay. We had been asking for weeks. Front desk staff was rude and disrespectful even though we remained calm and polite. I will take our group and $1,500 elsewhere from now on. read more

very disappointed !!! our party of 25 arrives a little earlier then check in but the people had already check out ! we were told that we could not check in till 3:00!!! the person at the desk was rude and say that he could not check us in tI'll 3:00. It was very hot and we were hoping to start our camp set up before it got any hotter!!! Not pleased with their service at all!!! read more

I love backpacking and camping however I hate having only two day weekends! Ugh! It's just not enough time to enjoy the experience. American River Resort is great because its a fairly short drive from SF, pretty affordable to stay here, around $20 per campsite and offers up bathrooms with FREE showers (they are dirty but I have seen worse), a BBQ pit, a fire ring and a buffet of activities including: a swimming pool, the American river, serious relaxing, suntanning, river rafting, fishing, hiking, fresh blackberries, grapes & figs growing wild, panning for gold, the nearby state park with historical info about gold and ect. The downfall of this resort include the following: drunk groups of people on Sat night, babies cry and dogs bark, lots of bats at night & wasps during the day, some of the sites are too close to each other, the bathrooms are dirty (my shower stall had like five different woman's hairballs collecting along the wall, and these were not small) and the super sized buses full of river rafters speeding on narrow hillside roads during the day. All & all I enjoyed my experience and will be back. I can get over the not perfect status of my camping experience and assure you that the river in this area is beautiful! The wild blackberries, fig trees and grape vines make it all the better! Coloma is near Auburn, sort of on your way to Tahoe area if your coming from SF on I-80 or even closer if you take I-50. read more

I called to make a potential reservation for a fishing trip. The very first question I asked is if the water is clear and how fast the current is. Lady said it was fine. I made the reservation and got up there and the water wasn't what she said. Whole fishing trip was ruined. I called the office and told her what happened and she said I cannot have a refund and didn't allow me to make a reservation for future and basically told me I'm out of luck. She kept all my $175. I was there 10 minutes. I drove home after. Hour commute each way. Seems like they lie to get you to come up. Grounds are dirty anyway. Not in any way what I thought it would be. This place sucks! Very disappointed. read more

I went camping at ARR in August and it was pleasant. The edge of camp is 200 feet from the American River, so you do hear the river all night, which for me was relaxing. Camp Site: The camp sites are arranged nicely enough for adequate privacy. Each site has a picnic table and firepit, and there was a water spigot outside of my site which people used to wash cookware. My group actually rented two adjacent sites. One site fit a large tent, and the other fit a medium and a small tent. Bathrooms: The bathrooms are relatively clean for a campsite. There are hot showers and soap and towel dispensers. Check-in: Check-in was efficient. The ladies at the registration office were friendly and gave us a map and the gate code so we could drive our car into the campground. The office also sells various things including food, beer and firewood. Bugs: Some small bugs were crawling on the ground where I was setting up my tent, and there were some flies during the day, but I didn't feel like there were any significant bug problems. Quiet Time: Quiet time starts at 10pm, after which people are supposed to keep their voices down, but some groups weren't too mindful of this. The staff doesn't seem to enforce quiet time strictly at 10, but they will drive around maybe 1 or 2 hours later to nicely ask people to keep it down. read more

I recently had my wedding here at American River Resort, I have to say it was amazing! But my wedding was a "camping wedding" so if you're thinking about a super fancy outdoor event, then this isn't the place. If you're looking for a good weekend filled with your family and friends at a campground kind of wedding then this is the place. I booked ALL 11 riverside campsites AND ALL 6 cabins, we ended up having approximately 45 people and it was more than enough space. YES, the campsites are small and they are sort of on top of each other, so if you're camping alone I suggest getting a campsite across the small road near the river. If you're camping in a large group then go for it and get a bunch next to each other directly next to the river. The cabins are really nice, kitchens include a two burner stove, microwave, refrigerator, and some dishes and cookware. Some have really large couches, others have small ones, but all have a queen size bed and either a pull out sofa or a trundle bed. Bathrooms are newly remodeled all with new fixtures, only bad thing, the water doesn't really drain well in the showers or the sinks for that matter. Ceremony was held outside in the campsites, we used all the campsite picnic tables for seating and created an aisle, the river was our alter. I will say amplified sound is an absolute must, troublemaker rapids are extremely loud. Also we used wireless microphones and maybe that wasn't such a great idea since radio signals are not very strong out there. It's OK it created a memorable reciting of the vows haha! Reception was held in their "event center". We completely decorated ourselves. The only thing ARR provides is, round tables, 2-6 foot buffet tables, and 100 chairs. So be prepared to have a DIY wedding!!!! Everything turned out beautiful though and Chris and her staff were completely accommodating and helpful with ANYTHING we needed. Now I've read all the reviews here about Chris, but I have to say I really enjoyed working with her. Yes, she's a stickler for the rules, but when you manage a large piece of property sometimes that's what you have to do. Now if you don't want to follow the rules then that is your own problem. I followed all of Chris' rules and in return she was extremely polite and helpful through out my entire wedding planning process. Everything I asked for she gave me and some of those things I really thought she would say no to. Overall it was a great experience and we plan on coming back for just a regular ole camping trip! read more

Only giving this place 4 stars due to two different reasons. #1 . The flys are out of control. So bad that you could not eat outside without being under a screen room. #2 . The rv dump station is positioned that you have to drive in then back out. Should make it a pull through. Pool was really nice. Lots of people in the pool on weekends but during week it's pretty slow. They used lots of chemicals in the pool because of the crowds. Pool is closed every Monday for cleaning. Make sure you bring your fishing pole. Excellent catch and release pond on site. Kids caught multiple fish including bluegill and bass. Even caught a two pounder. We caught fish with worms, fake worms and even rolled up bread. They will bite on anything. I seen other reviews on here about the manager "Chris". She is a little rough but if you are a rule follower you will have no issues with her. She and her coworker in the office were very helpful. There is free wifi in the office or outside on the tables. read more

American River Resort - Looking out from our campsite. - Campgrounds Near Me - Coloma, California

I've been here many times and this place has gone downhill. We stayed recently,the lower campground bathroom is so gross it's not even worth using. The upper campground bathroom is newer and a little better but appears to no get cleaned often. One of the urinals was clogged and overflowing. It's been that way for a month. We stayed in a platform tent at the end of the campground P9 to be exact The platform tents are fun but there was a big pump running all night long, even with earplugs it was hard to sleep. The river sites are small and overcrowded. As far as camping goes it's just not worth it. The rafting trips are good for 1st timers but stay somewhere else. read more

If it were possible to give less than a 1 Star review, I would do so. I booked a group reservation two years ago with ARR for my place of employment, and have stayed there in the past. I have never heard from the management there that our group had any problems, and we (generally) enjoyed our time there. Last year, I called to remake a reservation and had my calls repeatedly ignored by reservations. I was put off, given we are a big book of business for them, but ultimately booked at a far nicer campground. I didn't think much of it, and assumed they were just busy and forgetting to return my calls. This year, I attempted to make a reservation again, and got a call later in the day that our "business was not welcome." Confused, I questioned and the woman on the phone (Melinda, I believe) would only repeatedly state that we were not welcome. I was quite respectful, and asked to speak with the higher up - as someone in charge of the group, I was very surprised to hear that there had been issues with our group, as they have never been communicated to me, nor have we had issues with other camping areas. She refused to allow me to speak with a manager, although she stated the decision was not hers to make. As I mentioned to Melinda, I would at LEAST like to know why we were not welcome, so I can prevent any incidents from happening at future camping events at other campgrounds. Seems like it would be useful to at least inform the group leader prior to checking out that there had been issues, or speak to the group leader during the trip to try and hammer out any problems - ARR did none of those things. read more

I'm torn writing this review because I really like the place once we got a site that was large enough for our tent. When we made our reservation, we said we have a 10x15 tent and the place we were put in was more for an RV - sure we could have put up the tent but had no other room for chairs or relaxing. The lady at the desk was very pleasant (sorry, never asked her name!) but the owner seemed a bit rough around the edges and could use some customer service skills! Luckily, the 3 nights we were there, the place wasn't booked so we could move to another site and enjoy the location. We checked out the pool area and while we didn't jump in, it was well kept up with cool, crystal clear water. The bathrooms were decent, even first thing on Sunday morning! Being in the camp area along the roads to/from American Whitewater, expect to have vehicle traffic (cars, trucks, vans, buses!) after 7 or so in the morning as workers and rafters arrive, go out and then come back a few hours later. If you can stay away from those well traveled strips, you'll have a great time. BTW, River Otter Adventures is a much smaller rafting company that'll make you feel like family instead of a number (and their rates are much better than AWE!) if you want to plan a last minute rafting trip. Ah, the river. Yes, you can hear it all night long. What a relaxing sound. If you're camping riverside though, be prepared to talk LOUD if you're anywhere near Trouble Maker Rapids. Overall, our family enjoyed our time there and look forward to going back but knowing more, will want to select a different site to improve our experience and upgrade to 4-stars! read more

I have been there 2x and adore the place for the rapid access and pleasant views. All staff that I came across were equally pleasant. My gripes? Campsites are sooo close together, rather obnoxiously. Luckily we got placed a more secluded spot so it was too bad but was still uncomfortable. Camping bathrooms and showers are bad. For my second visit, we opted for for the glamping tents and I must say, I loved them. I also learned that the rv showers and restrooms were WAY nicer so I used them for the rest of my stay. Would I go back? YES. Are improvements needed, also yes. read more

I rented a cabin near the river for my family, but we ran into one serious problem, and serveral other issues: 1) security: door had defective lock, and transient man was in cabin, but ran when I came in. The front desk did nothing. but stalled and very deceptive about fixing lock during stay. Never fixed lock, I had to lock valuables in car when I had to leave room, very inconvenient. 2) staff does not wear masks at the front desk, and no social distancing at food buffet. 3)breakfast buffet was cold and very few items. the dinner buffet was the only good food. 4) the cabin had lot dust and spider webs inside. 5) no phone to call front desk, or wifi. The cell phone service is extremely bad. 6) Front desk very unfriendly through Friday to Sunday. read more

Beautiful location and the rafting is awesome. What is not awesome is the terrible state of the facilities and bathrooms. Over the years we have stayed here many times and there seems to be one theme.... dirty bathrooms and run down shower facilities. We just got back today from what may be our last trip there. It wasn't even crowded yet garbage was overflowing from every can. The floors in the main bathroom were soaked with urine from an overflowing and foul urinal that was simply ignored for the 3 days we were there. And the smaller restrooms smelled terrible and were full of flies. There is no excuse for the deplorable condition of the bathrooms. I think the owner and all staff should go on a retreat to say, Inn Town Campground in Nevada City and see how to run a first rate camp ground with nice clean bathrooms. read more

The female manager (I think her name is Chris?) is racist. In addition to the other accurate complaints in the negative reviews -- including that the staff will call the police on you if they think your voices are too loud (particularly if you are brown) -- The manager told our family that they were being too loud (talking and laughing in the daytime), and by "told", I mean, screamed at. There was no respectful lead-up, just screaming and yelling. The manager questioned if we could speak English (yes, all of us fluently and with no accent... because we're American) because some of us were brown. She then banned us from returning after repeatedly saying that "your type" are not welcome here. Well okay then. Our family had been bringing respectful business to this resort for over a decade, but no more. Please do not support this discriminating and rude, miserly ownership. read more

I just got off the phone with their reservation department. I had to cancel my reservation within the window of two weeks that they allow for a full refund. The motorhome that we had rented for our trip was canceled by the owner because she needs it for evacuation from the forest fires here in California.American River resorts will not refund my money even though we are in a state of emergency here in California due to the wildfires. All they wanted to do was offer me a credit to a stay some other time. We will not be staying with them ever. read more

I've stayed at the Resort a few times throughout the years; the services and the property have only improved with time. The new owners are doing a great job and they keep improving the place. The staff is helpful and attentive from the time you make your reservation until you check out. They always call back if you leave a voicemail, too, which gets extra points in my book! If you're interested in rafting, they'll also arrange everything for you. This is a no-fuss kind of place. I read something in a review about online bookings... this place does not offer online bookings (believe me, I've tried; I do everything online these days). So... not sure what they were talking about. Anyway... they get 5 stars from me! read more

I love going here! 1st Stay: came here with 12 people and they combined two sites for us. Conveniently located near the bathrooms and catch and release pond. Also located next to their volleyball court, which was very run down and dirty. Bathrooms are well kept and garbage bins are supplied. They also have a swimming pool and multiple river rafting companies you can schedule a half or full day with. Since our site was a bit out of the way from the river, we walked a bit I get to the river and enjoy swimming in it. Con: quiet time at 10PM 2nd Stay: came here with a group of 8 and a dog. A pet cost $10 for their whole stay there. I forgot to mention they have wifi at their registration office. Wood, ice, & other miscellaneous camping supplies can be bought in their office. This time we were located on site 17 and our views were gorgeous. We had very easy access to the river. I enjoyed this location a lot. Sadly it was a bit further from the bathroom but it was a good compromise. I would choose this resort over the Coloma resort down the street. Be sure to check their website for any deals! read more

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Scratching my head as to why the off reviews. We had the most amazing time here. The staff was over the top friendly and went out of there way to insure our stay was pleasant. The sites and grounds were spotless. Very big s as me not all crammed in like other resorts we have seen. Memorial and Father's Day have already been booked. Imy wife and I could go in and on how awesome this place is. Thank you for your amazing hospitality. Dave & Marcella read more

American River Resort - Our site 58 - Campgrounds Near Me - Coloma, California

It's been difficult to find tent camping sites in the area due to smoke and COVID-19 that aren't already full, but we found this place after failed attempts at several others. I reserved over the phone because THEY CALLED ME BACK (you get kudos for sure!) and started to read reviews on the way... I was nervous since the reviews aren't that great but I would say this place is pretty AMAZING! They were super friendly in the reservation process, our dog felt at home, there were plenty of trees to separate us from our neighbors, the landscape was absolutely stunning and there was a nice pool on the property in case the river isn't your thing. Only knocked off a star because for the most part everyone got quiet after 10p (quiet hours) but there was one group that was really loud literally all night long, and I did feel that the $50 it cost for our site was pretty steep since we couldn't even see the river from our site. Because of that we probably won't be back just because we can find comparable sites that cost less and offer more outside of smoke/COVID-19 closures. read more

American River Resort - Finally some pretty clear skies, and I wish I could have captured all the stars we saw that night! - Campgrounds Near Me - Coloma, California

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TL/DR: Disrespectful, no customer service/appreciation, don't think about bringing any groups above 4-5 people. Go to Camp Lotus instead. This review has been long overdue, however as we are in full summer swing and going back up towards the American River it reminded me of the reasons I will never camp at this place again. Our group has been coming up camping for years here. We have always enjoyed the weekend hanging out at the site and rafting down the river, and had nicknamed it our annual "Riverstar" trip. Unfortunately, the new ownership has set out to squeeze all the money out of this place that they can, and it shows in how they treat their customers (just read the list of reviews similar to this). We had rented one of the larger sites (or a combination of a couple sites next to each other) as we had probably 14 or 15 people with us last summer. The first night we were there we ate and then were around the fire hanging out when at 9pm we were told that we had to keep things down. At this point I would say we were all talking in normal voices, the type of noise you would expect to hear from a larger group. We politely told them we would regardless. About an hour after, when some of us were even in bed, one of the people came by again, more fired up this time, and told us that they were going to call the cops if we didn't be quiet. We are all in our early 30's, this wasn't a loud party, or any type of extra noise (our neighbors, who might as well camp with you they are so close, confirmed this in the morning). While we thought this was ridiculous we all went to bed. Shortly thereafter, the cops actually came (!), saw the lack of noise at the site, and left somewhat bewildered. The next morning the office people come down and tell us we have to leave because the cop came last night. This is our first day here at the campsite, we have a larger group and nowhere to go. We went up to talk to the manager, who was extremely rude, wouldn't listen at all, and said there was nothing he could do. That's a blatant lie, he's the one kicking us out. Luckily, we found Camp Lotus instead, which was a much more pleasant and nicer option. Owners were great there, and we will continue to go there in the future. read more

We came up for my daughters wedding(September 8)from Southern California. Family came from all around the country for the weekend for festivities and fun. While it was hot, It was one of the most beautiful, perfect places for everyone to meet for a the celebration. There were many different types places to stay at the resort or close to it. Everyone that worked there was so accommodating. We all ha the best time and can't wait to go back and try some rafting read more

American River Resort - Campgrounds Near Me - Coloma, California

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This use to be a great resort and the cabins were great. I've stayed here for over 30 years and the owners and staff were great. Not so much anymore. Lots of other camping and cabin rentals in the area and you should definitely check them out before staying in a money grubbing and inflexible and restrictive environment. I called and asked for all six of the cabins six months in advance and made it really clear that all my friends would call and confirm and pay for all their own cabins. I paid for mine way, way in advance and so did my friends. I had a conversation on the phone with one of the staff and told them specifically that if the cabins were not paid in advance by my friends that to let any go before there was a cancellation fee. I show up, we have all five cabins that are together and all been paid in advance and they charged me for holding a cabin that I specifically told them not to. So in short we spent over $3,000 for five cabins for three days and they didn't follow my instructions and charged me a cancellation fee before we could check in. BS! Never staying here again. If you're looking for a friendly environment don't stay here. read more

First they screwed up our reservation and gave our reserved space to another group. Due to the size of our group we now had to locate in two camps more than 50 yards apart from each other. Plus we had to get our water from the bathroom. I think there is new ownership and the guy who came around at night was a real Nazi. It was my friends birthday and yes we made some noise but there were other groups making as much or more noise than we were. After 20 plus years of coming here and being treated with respect and courtesy, my rafting mates and I are now taking my business elsewhere. read more

I hate to be negative so I will start with what I liked about this place. We had a site right over the river so falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the rapids is nice. That being said, it's over crowded. The campsites are really small and you cannot park at or even near your campsite. You have to unload really fast or else you get a line of cars behind you. In which case you then have to drive around the loop again so they can pass and get to their sites. We did this 3 times unpacking in 105 degree heat. The bathrooms and showers are small and dirty and are pretty far from most campsites. Not just far but also require climbing a fairly steep hill, which is tedious at 2am when it's dark or between the hours of 9am and 6pm when the temperatures are in the 100's. Do not go here unless you are into white water rafting. read more

We have been to this place twice before, told that as long as the campers before are checked out, we could set up. This time we get here at 130pm and was told 3pm checkin, eventhough our camp site is cleaned and empty! This is not a hotel, 3pm is the hottest part of the day! Not happy! We have 24 people coming. It's not good business! It's a nice place, but management are not flexible! Not ok! Like I said this is not a hotel, it's a patch of dirt! Be friendly and accommodating! read more

This was the worse camping experience ever! I went this fourth of July weekend hoping to make life long memories with my family instead I was yelled at by staff and I will never be returning. The staff were very racist. I felt that our family was being discriminated against and targeted. Not knowing El DORDO Has a no "noise" policy's we were playing music on a small speaker we were asked to turn it off (understandably) but our laughter was "to much noise " mean while the camp site next to us was playing music they were not asked to turn off there music. At 8pm we lite up our camp fire hoping to tell stories and have s'more we were told that the fire was too much and were yelled by the staff and came put the fire or with a fire extinguisher. We bought the wood from the gift shop and they never told us it's supposed to be one wood stick per hour? So why sale us 20 sticks of wood that makes no sense. I left feeling really angry and sad that we spent over $1,000 for a 2 night stay and instead of life long memories I am here having to share this negative yelp review in hopes to save another family from being targeted. On another not don't go in the swimming pool it gave my daughter a weird rash on her face and the showers were disgusting! read more

So Disappointed!! This Fourth of July weekend was my second time visiting this site and I was so excited to go back! My first time was so much fun. However, this time around it was very upsetting and uncomfortable. Mind you our stay costs us well over $1000 for our party. Office management workers are unprofessional, rude, demanding and racist Our paid reservation included assigned parking for our campground which was not enforced by any staff member. We had to continuously monitor our spaces the first day until our entire group arrived and none of the staff was willing to help enforce their parking policy which was posted all around the lot referencing our campground id. A staff member came up to our site yelling at us all for our fire being too high (only three logs in the pit) and turned it off aggressively with a fire extinguisher. Prior to that experience, they let us know they had new management that didn't allow loud music and forced us to turn our music off while other parties were never addressed and threatened to call the sheriff on us. This was the first we heard of this camp ground rule and the music wasn't even loud as we could hear all other parties music. A sheriff eventually arrived to talk to our party and stated that he was called to kick us out for being too loud and rude to the employees. However, he did not agree with the complaint and did not end up kicking us out. During our stay we were continuously offended, targeted, and harassed by all these negative workers while all we wanted to do was enjoy each other's company and camp. It's sad because we greatly enjoy river rafting and this location but we will never come back to this place. Don't waste your time or money! read more

These people are RACIST!!!!! We went for 4th of July weekend with a group of 21 of us. We are a respectful family that just went there to have fun. We had the worse experience. First we had issues with parking we had a big sign in front of our site clearly saying for parking site 10c only so we had other people parking there and told them that the parking was only for our group site since we were expecting more cars to come. We went to the office together with them they told us it was ok for them to park there since it was first come first served but we said why does your sign say that it's only for 10c site only They we're not trying to hear us at all. Second. We had music playing (Not that loud ) A lady came up to us and said you are not allowed to have music you need turn it off. Otherwise you will get kicked out. Third. We were sitting by the fireplace about 8 pm with no music and speaking quietly because we didn't want these people to find another excuse to come back and tell us anything. Next thing you know a guy comes up to us and says your camp fire is to high you need to put it out. Then another guys comes out of nowhere yelling at us what are you thinking of putting this place on fire!!!!! I'm going to call the sheriff to come and kick you guys out. And turns it off with a fire extinguisher. FYI There was three logs on the fire pit. We wanted to leave that night we felt so uncomfortable but we didn't want to drive back home we were tired and payed until Sunday our group paid over 1,000 to stay in this place. So Sheriffs came 3 hours later everyone was already sleeping except for two of my cousins. The Sheriffs asked them if they knew who was in group site 10 and my cousin said yes officer that would be our group. The office said we were called to tell you guys to leave because you guys were disrespectful to the staff and your fire was too high but I don't see any of that going on so I am not going to do that. I have never been so uncomfortable we will never come back to this place again!!!They are Racist and will find any excuse to try to get you kicked out. read more

Had a beautiful 4 day weekend here, the sites are clean the staff friendly and the price was amazing. We did have an issue with the drain for the camper, the neck they installed was higher than the port on my airstream but I was able to remove the neck and returned the septic hookup to its original configuration and it worked like a charm. It would be nice to see a better selection in the resorts general store but we found what we needed just down the street at the market. Over all just a beautiful little spot by the river. Totally worth a stay here. read more

This place was awesome... seriously though, better than the two other campgrounds in the area, wish my family and i came here sooner. Great tent sites over the water and also large rv sites. We did a rafting trip through them as well and the guides were all super cool, safe, and knowledgable of the area. Ill be back for sure read more

Customer service is great until it comes to your actual stay. QUICK TIPS? 1. Keep confirming your reservation. Seriously. 2 days before? not enough. they'll change it. 2. Don't deal with Chris. Everyone else is fantastic. WHAT HAPPENED? I called several campgrounds and went with ARR after speaking with several individuals who were all very helpful and nice. Since I was making a reservation for 9-12 people who would be showing up late friday night after the office was closed and after quiet time started, I wanted to be sure the setup noises wouldn't be an issue (sound carries, even if the 9-12 people are whispering as they setup camp, they will make noise). I received multiple understanding comments that they would be fine. I also verified my campsite reservation several times, including 2 days before the trip. We had a group campsite with a platform tent and an individual campsite across the street. So now I'm wondering why, when the group showed up late friday night and began setting up camp, they are rudely kicked out of the platform tent and the group campsite. Then as they are trying to setup the tents in the individual campsite, they tell the campground lady that they will try to be quiet. Her reply? to sternly scold them and tell them the WILL be quiet. Now, I've grown up camping every summer, and I have campground hopped, showing up sometimes late at night with no reservation, scoping for an empty site and having to setup. And if you know me, you know my voice carries even when I'm trying to be quiet. Never had any issues or complaints. Yet this woman (her name is Chris) wants to scold a group of adults trying to setup camp as they arrive. I was unable to make the camping trip, and they didn't want to check out at the office (can you blame them?) so they left without checking out so I could deal with the rude lady. I get a call on Monday from a very nice gentleman who tells me they didn't check out, and a headcount is needed to process the charge. No problem. He tells me it is ok to get back to them in 2-3 days. Perfect. I touch bases with my guys and get the story. Wednesday, I get a rude voice message from Chris about the need to pay. I call back, and she is also rude on the phone. I tell her I'm confused since I was told it would be no problem to take 2-3 days to call back. She dismisses what I was told before and stays rude. She admits she kicked them out of the sites and says they didn't have that reserved and one of the new employees must have told me something wrong (nevermind that I called several times and spoke with multiple people who ALL confirmed the three reserved spaces). The only positive out of this interaction? After her insisting that she cannot give me a receipt (email/fax/mail) for the charges (no excuse, just "we don't do that"), she finally conceded and emailed me the two receipts (each night). read more

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE EVER. Planned a weekend getaway of rafting and camping with some friends, and we were SO excited to come here. The photos on the website showed an awesome canvas cabin tent on the river and the idea of "glamping" just sounded like so much fun. My friends called in to make a reservation but were told the River Cabin Tents would not fit all 5 of us. HOWEVER, we were told the Mtn View Cabin Tents would be the SAME material and would also have cots for sleeping, but would simply be a little farther back from the water. This was confirmed, over speaker phone, with 2 ladies from the company. Heck, sounded good to us! We arrived on a sunny Saturday, checked in and drove over to our campsite...only to see a tent that had clearly seen better days. The tent had some mats (looked like those mats you see at a kids gymnastic gym) and the doors had clearly been left open for some time as the inside of the tent was COVERED in leaves and dust. This was clearly not the canvas tent with cots we had expected. We decided to go back to the office to see if there had been some mistake, and if we could possibly be provided with cots. The two people at the front desk were friendly enough, but clearly had no say in the situation as they kept going to the back office to speak with their manager. Finally, we asked to speak to the manager directly and from the get go, he was SO INCREDIBLY RUDE. Instead of listening to our concerns and trying to find some sort of accommodation, he kept insisting we were wrong on any and all counts. He refused us cots saying 5 would never fit inside the tent. When I asked him if, at the very least, we could be given some sanitary wipes and a broom to clean the tent, he looked me directly in the eyes then BLATANTLY ignored me and kept talking at the rest of the group as though I had said nothing at all. When one of the group mentioned we should just go, since this was clearly the intention of the manager, and simply write about our experience on Yelp, the manager declared that now that we were "threatening" him, we would need to find new accommodations. In essence, we got kicked out because they could not provide what was promised, but somehow that was on us. It's interesting that this place would choose to lose our business entirely instead of valuing their customers. Regardless, we found another campsite and had a WONDERFUL time. Interestingly enough, when we explained our situation, the American River Resort and their manager have a reputation. So maybe it was all for the best! TL;DR: Company can't come through on their promises, management is rude and not customer service oriented in the least. They have a bad reputation elsewhere. Much greener pastures to be found :) read more

My workplace goes on an annual camping trip here. It was a great discovery our first year, clean bathrooms, hot showers and a swimming POOL! We thought we'd died and gone to camping heaven. Unfortunately, since then the resort has changed owners and the only reason we are even considering going back is because the orginal camp managers are still there. Bathroom are neglected to hovering between gas station level and SF public toilet dirty and I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to write what I found in the shower. We talked to the camp managers about and basically the new owners just don't care. I'm still giving it two stars, one for the managers and one for the pool. read more

Couldn't have asked for a more pleasant camping experience at American River Resort. Our group of 8 drove up from SF and the Peninsula and took over the most secluded corner campsites along the river #38/39 for the weekend. The campground: - Choose from RVs, cabins, and riverside campsites - HOW RUGGED DO YOU WANNA BE? - Clean and LIT shower and toilet facilities. HOT water and excellent water pressure, hand soap, toilet paper, mirrors, towel hooks, and power outlets! Oh, the comforts of home are close at hand... - They have a small swimming pool if the river is too cold for ya. - American River is right there! Our campsite: - Can only keep one car at the site. Others park in the lot down the road so you have to drive up to the site, unload, and repark. - Equipped with trash cans, fire pit, and picnic tables - Not too dusty - One of the few with river-side access! Play on the rocks, bring your floatables, or filter water. It's all right there. - Secluded from the rest + rushing river = perfect for your loud group :) - Far from the restrooms...but there are plenty of bushes if you need to go? - Waking up next to the river!! The campground manager keeps a pretty close watch on everyone and everything (we got stopped at least twice to be questioned if we were staying at the campsite). Provides some peace of mind for families who want to keep their children safe from random individuals wandering into the campground. Overall, I don't think we could have done it any better. I highly recommend campsite 38/39. It's a short hike, but the benefits will soon be realized! read more