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    River Island State Park

    4.0 (21 reviews)
    Open Open 24 hours

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    Alisa M.

    The best maintained campground I have ever been to. Right at the beginning of the river, there are a few nice hiking trails and a fenced in dog park. Bathrooms are plentiful and clean and they have free showers. RV with hookups and tent camping. Also have their very own dump station. Right down the street is a deli and mini mart. Like I said probably the nicest campgrounds I have ever camped in.

    From the trail above the park, looking down over boat ramp to Camping area.
    Darryl N.

    Very clean, small state park on the Colorado River. They have large RV and tent camping spaces. There is a gift store, camp host, restrooms and full hookups. There is a nice little boat ramp into a cove next to a small island in the middle of the river. The park is downstream from the Parker Dam and the flow of the river varies based on the power needs of the area. You can look up the flow rates at the government Parker Dam website. Usually it is at it's lowest levels over night, and moderate level between high flows. Usually high flow is early morning and afternoon and is about 8x faster than the overnight flow. Moderate is about 3x faster than low flows. Keep your boat above the high water level. The park is located between two cliffs and has hiking that goes back to the other near state park. You can get awesome views of the river and over the park. There are abandoned mines to explore. There are lots of birds and around the river. I did not see much wild life in January. If on the river just passed the island on the upriver side there is a sunken boat. The water is very cold about 48 degrees all year. Lots of RV parks above and below the park. Kayaking is nice up and down, but going upriver gets pretty hard about a half mile up river. Nice place

    Colorado River

    We loved it at this campground. So pretty. Staff members friendly and helpful. Very pretty scenery. We took our kayaks out almost daily on the Colorado River.

    View from the trail next to the boat launch area.
    Ana P.

    Payed $10 for a day pass. There were tons of trails through the desert with really nice views. Didn't explore a lot because our kiddos were tired and the trails were not super easy (a lot of lose rock). It is hike at your own risk and the trail information board was blank (covid times maybe?). There is a small beach but nothing like the ones around London bridge so don't come here just for the beach. Unless we come with kayaks - we probably won't visit again.

    RV spots. Bathroom nearest the water is not visible, but just to left.
    Milagr O.

    Just got back from spending a couple of nights here. When I made the reservation I was the only tent camper, and there were 3-4 RV spots reserved. The first night was quiet with one family next to us. Saturday a HUGE group of 20-30 people took over almost the entire tent camping area with their giant stereo, lit up EVERYTHING with what looked like night-time highway construction lighting, and lined the beach with staked fishing rods. The campground was nice, and clean, including the bathrooms, -that is until the large group showed up; after that I found toilet paper all over the bathroom and smeared handprints in what looked like feces on several walls. The cove area and beach were very nice. I did a bit of hiking around from the campground, which was also nice. Overall we liked the campground and the spot. In spite of this I don't know that I'll visit the campground again. Perhaps the presence of water and electricity at each camp spot is a strong draw to those super-obnoxious campers that ruin trips for everyone around them. I will definitely be looking for dry or primitive camping first the next time I want to visit the area, no matter the time of year.

    Early evening view from the shore at River Island State Park.
    Bradlee C.

    We've stayed at River Island State Park in our travel trailer twice now. While the campground is advertised by the state to be great for tents, I think it is really nice for RV's, too. Flat, paved sites have water and electric. No sewer hookup, but a dump station is available. The RV campground is set in-between rock cliffs. The tent sites are near the river under large established shade trees on grass. The Colorado River flows right by the campground. The water is very cool as it is just south of the Parker Dam. The beach is set in a cove that keeps it away from the main current of the river. However, there is still a fairly strong current that bends back through the cove. It is advisable to keep children close to shore. The "beach" isn't much of a beach at all when the water is up. The dam releases more flow in the afternoon, so the beach ends up under water. There is a steep dirt hill leading down to the river that can't be used for sitting or setting up a canopy. Canopies are actually set up in the water. It is a popular day use area as well with the large boat ramp. Plenty of room to beach a boat or jet ski if the beach isn't crowded (on a 110 degree summer week day you may be the only one in the park!). The showers and bathrooms are clean, particularly the building that is towards the front of the park away from the beach. The supplied water can be very warm right out of the tap in the summer. I didn't even have to light the LP water heater. One more note: it is ALWAYS windy here, and really all up and down the Colorado River corridor. The dust devils in the afternoon can get pretty crazy. I really would've loved to have the awning out to keep the sun off the camper, but not with the gusts that blow through. Both times we've visited we've seen a canopy at the beach go flying away.

    Grassy area for tent campers

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    1 year ago

    Awesome place. Clean quiet great campsite. I would stay here again and recommend to others.

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    Ask the Community - River Island State Park

    Is there access to WiFi?

    Yes they have a wifi set up. However you won't be able to text, only email. Also you will not be able to stream movies as there is no connection and their wifi is throttled back for other campers etc. If you are staying there plan accordingly!

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    Review Highlights - River Island State Park

    The tent camping spaces are right near the water with easy access to the beach.

    Mentioned in 3 reviews

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    Big River RV Park

    Big River RV Park

    4.3(10 reviews)
    15.4 mi

    Stayed over night here on our way to Scottsdale AZ. The place is not fancy but its right on the…read moreColorado river. The spot we got was small for our 35' motor home but they didn't have the space next to it rented so they let us use both. It was full hook ups with free wi-fi. They even give you cable tv. We didn't bother with the cable box since we were only there overnight. The bathroom is not five star clean but it was clean, the shower water was hot and you don't have to pay to use the shower. The park has a lot of full time residents but they were friendly. It's a good thing we are early risers because there was a guy mowing the lawn at 6 in the morning. But what made the trip for us was the lady that works there named Brandy. She came by to make sure we got in our spot okay and see if we needed anything. She told us the best spot to hang out at the river and came by a few more times just to check if she could do anything for us. Great customer service! Like I said, it wasn't fancy but well worth a stop.

    PREDATORY MANAGEMENT, $400 PROPERTY DAMAGE, & DOUBLE UTILITY CHARGES…read moreDo not risk your rig or your wallet at this park. This is a financially predatory, hostile environment where management cuts corners, destroys tenant property, and actively price-gouges utilities. While staying here, their careless maintenance crews completely chewed up and destroyed nearly $400 worth of my personal utility lines, slicing straight through: * Two premium Black Tank drain hoses * One 100-foot commercial water hose * My dedicated Starlink satellite cable When confronted, management only offered a last-minute credit to cover their tracks and avoid reporting the incident to corporate headquarters. Despite their administrative cover-up, I was still stuck with the labor and physical burden of sourcing and replacing my entire utility setup in the extreme desert heat. To make matters worse, this park is running a blatant utility scam. They are actively price-gouging tenants on electricity--charging a massive $0.16 per kWh when they are paying less than $0.08 per kWh under the local utility rate. They are doubling the power bill to line their own pockets. To top off the absolute dishonesty, when I officially exited, they hit me with a deceptive, predatory exit charge of nearly $600 for just 15 days of occupancy. They are dishonest, deceptive, and completely unsafe for long-term RVers. Avoid this place at all costs--take your business down the road to an honorable park.

    Photos
    Big River RV Park - Outside shitter, great view

    Outside shitter, great view

    Big River RV Park
    Big River RV Park

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    Colorado River Adventures

    Colorado River Adventures

    2.0(190 reviews)
    5.9 mi
    Locally owned & operated
    Established in 1983

    Let my first start out by saying. My husband and I became first time RV owners in 2021. We were so…read moreexcited with our new purchase that we quickly started looking up campgrounds in our area. That's how we came across one of CRA's sites called KQ Ranch. Being first time campers we absolutely loved the campsite in Julian. We agreed to the sales meeting during our free stay and of course fell for the sales pitch and bought in. I wish I would have taken the time to read the reviews on the member services and reservations system they have in place. For start, the girls that handle the calls are definitely not customer service oriented at all. When you drop a call with them or get disconnected (it's happens often) nobody bothers to call you back. So it's back to sitting on hold again. One girl will tell you one thing and the other has a power trip and makes you call back on a later date. Then if you're tired of being treated with disregard and ask to speak to a manager. They tell you the manager is busy and send you to somebody's voicemail that never calls back. If they had a better member service system in place I would definitely change my review.

    We became members of CRA at Ghost Mt and have paid off our membership. We got the middle of the…read morethree Memberships. My major concerns was no one answers the phone most of the time, and also when we asked them about selling our membership due to some unexpected family changes, I was shocked at all the changes (Hidden) that made it hard to sale the membership. Never were we told about the extra added cost to sale the membership and the changes that would happen to that membership with the new owners. Very Unhappy with their sales department.

    Photos
    Colorado River Adventures
    Colorado River Adventures
    Colorado River Adventures

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    River Island State Park - campgrounds - Updated September 2026

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