This campground would likely be fairly nice if you have an RV -- after spending 2 nights here, I learned that the nicest parts of the campground are reserved for RV sites. However, IF YOU ARE A TENT CAMPER, BEWARE. I would give them a ZERO rating if possible. Not only is this campground exceptionally expensive for a tent site ($98 for 2 nights), it seems even more expensive after factoring in the poor management and its absolute disregard for customer service or satisfaction.
The campground staff had no problem taking my full deposit, 2 1/2 months in advance, with the commitment that a staffer would call me back to confirm a site which had morning shade (through noon). I had specifically explained that I was reserving far in advance to ensure a tent site that would provide morning shade, since I knew that I would arrive late-night on both Friday and Saturday nights, and would leave by noon on both Saturday and Sunday for nearby wedding festivities. I simply needed a place to sleep and shower, out of the line of the blazing morning sun.
I never received a confirmation call back from the staffers, so I called them back to confirm. Actually, I called them back SIX times over 2 1/2 months ... and not one of the three different staffers that I spoke with (nor their manager, evidently) were able to provide any information about morning shade. Each time I called, they said that they would check it out, and asked me to call back in a couple of days. Unfortunately, I arrived to learn that the spot that they had reserved for me was actually in FULL SUN from 9am onward ... despite the fact that my lucky tent-site neighbors, just two tent sites south from mine, enjoyed full shade ALL DAY. And yet they told me that they'd reserved their sites much later than I did. (As I'd noted to the manager, the least he could do is clearly identify the trees on their campground map, so that future campers can figure it out for themselves).
On Saturday morning, the staffer on duty told me that I could move to a new site. Unfortunately, all of the morning shade sites had already been taken, no big surprise here. Even if there had been a shady site available, that would have been inconvenient and time-consuming -- it would have meant that we would have to take time away from the wedding festivities to break down our entire setup, pack it all back into the car, drive it to another section of the campground, and set it up again. However, even this inconvenient solution wasn't an option, because the only available tent sites were in other campground sections -- in wide-open field areas with no shade.
After requesting a refund from the manager, I was amazed to learn that he felt that there was no way to know about where there is shade in the campground. After just one trip to this place, it is quite obvious that the sites that are located just north of a long line of tall trees enjoy shade the entire day (ie, #213 and #214 in our section). Despite the manager's excuses, the shade in these sites would not change substantially over the course of 2 1/2 months, and certainly not since the week before my arrival (my 5th call), or the earlier during the day of my arrival (my 6th call). Although he did refund me for one night, I am pursuing a dispute through my credit card. (I am willing to pay $30 for our 2 showers and our 2 nights of substandard camping).
To make matters worse, when we returned on Saturday evening around midnight, there were 15 cars and 30-40 people camping in a tent site just north of ours (despite their stated policy of maximum of 6 people and 2 vehicles per campsite).They had left out their food and alcohol all over their picnic tables, causing an ongoing night-time racket between our next-door neighbor's dog and the scavaging raccoons. On Sunday morning, this same overloaded tent site started their noisy alcoholic breakfast well before 8am. (Although we weren't around Saturday evening, our next-door tent neighbors told us that this same noisy group was partying long after the 10pm "quiet hours" began.) Unfortunately, the bathrooms in our area were also trashed by this same group. When I spoke with the Olema Campground attendant about this problem that morning, he simply shrugged. I would think that a campground host would be a valuable addition to this place.
My final gripe and warning to future campers is that the attendants close the bathrooms down for an incredibly long period of time for cleaning -- precisely when it seems that folks need to use them (9am-11am). Strange. My next-door neighbor campers complained about this problem, as well, during the daytime hours that they were in the campground. So be prepared to walk across to one of the other campground sections till you find a bathroom that's available for use.
In conclusion: Especially if you're a tent camper, Don't Camp Here. I will not return. read more