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Union Valley Reservoir

5.0 (7 reviews)

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Camping facility
Kenneth K.

It's been over 30 years since I visited this beautiful lake in El Dorado County (Crystal Basin), just 20 miles Northeast of Placerville. Union Valley Reservoir is much larger than the other two lakes in the area (Icehouse Reservoir & Loon Lake.) These lakes were created by SMUD as part of the American River Project. Which are a series of hydroelectric power plants in the Crystal Basin. Through careful planning with the Forest Service, recreational facilities were built all around the lake. SMUD and the Forest Service provide land and water recreation opportunities for everyone to enjoy ! There are at least a dozen camp sites around the lake. All campsites have toilets, picnic tables, fire rings, grills. A few even have piped water and showers. There are also 3 boat ramps on the lake. Activities around the lake range from camping, fishing, boating, hiking. For those that enjoy the great outdoors but don't want to travel to far from home, Union Valley Reservoir is the perfect spot ! Enjoy ! Live / Love / Travel

Union Valley Reservoir

My little slice of heaven and best kept secret hidden away from the rest of the world.

Perfect Kayaking day

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Ghost Mountain Ranch - Hallway with bunks

Ghost Mountain Ranch

3.1(130 reviews)
12.7 mi

We spent a week here with our kids and extended family. The staff was friendly, facilities were…read moreclean, and we had a wonderful time. We stayed in a cabin as part of our CRA membership and had a tent for extended family. The cabin we stayed in was older, but it was still a wonderful time. Our kids made a movie with the ghost town scenery in the background. It was one of the best family trips we've taken. It's an hour from Lake Tahoe. We paddle boarded on the lake one day and explored. On another day, we drive to Emerald Bay and hiked. We ended our trip with water rafting with MotherLode river center. In response to some of the criticisms: Perhaps the staff listened and adjusted, because we found them to be friendly and helpful. No creepiness observed. If you have unrealistic expectations about camping, the dirt on the paths will annoy you...camping may not be for you if this is the case. Despite this, the pool, bathrooms, and cabins were super clean. Staying in a cabin here, still qualifies as "glamping." Wifi didn't work well for us, but AT&T has decent service up there. There are more activities from Thurs to Sunday morning. Bring mosquito repellent. There is a Costco and grocery store not too far away if you are planning an extended stay. We definitely plan to return!

We decided to check this place out and go camping for the weekend. I love the drive up to Pollock…read morePines. I was not really impressed with the property. I felt that it was really run down. Although they do have a small ghost town, ice shop and food you can enjoy. They also have horses you can ride, I believe some sort of kids club and a pool. The bathrooms looked like they needed a little updating. In my opinion the property needed to have a little up dated. They also have a few cabins, tent camping and RV camping. The Ghost Ranch also does a presentation to buy into their "" timeshare. We however did not p purchase it. The staff is amazing as we pulled up April was happy to help us with what ever we needed. Brain did an amazing job talk to us about the presentation for the time share but it was just not for us. If you have kids this maybe a place to check out. It just wasn't a place for us.

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Ghost Mountain Ranch
Ghost Mountain Ranch - Ice cream sundae

Ice cream sundae

Ghost Mountain Ranch

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Stumpy Meadows

Stumpy Meadows

3.7(55 reviews)
9.8 mi

This year my family & I camped here & we reserved 4 & 5 which was right by the entrance next to the…read morecamp host. We enjoyed how shady this area was, & how large this area was for our group. We were able to place 5 tents in this area, two tents which were large tents for families of 6. Each site has a fire pit, picnic table, is near a rinse of station and bathrooms. There are bathrooms and well maintained but they are the definition of out houses. Bring a flash light at night as there is no lights inside. No showers here. The trail to the water is not to long, id say its half a mile, very do-able if your not bringing much or have little ones. If you dont take the trail, you can always drive 3 minutes down the road to the boat launching area & park there for a day by the reservoir. The parking fee there is $10 in cash. By the water it's very rocky, so do bring good water shoes. There was a bear cub that roamed this campground, the host let is know it has been around since April , and that there hasn't been sight of momma bear since, meaning either momma bear abandoned him or was left behind, he really doesn't want anything to do with human interaction according to them. From our experience he comes around mostly in broad day light and not at night but still kept us on our toes especially because our group had littles ones. This is the only reason I am ranking this campground to be a 4/5 stars.

We stayed on sites 11, 12 and 13 in month of July. The weather got up to at least the 90's but…read morewould hit around the 70's which was perfect for late night smores! Each site had its own grill and fire pit with plenty of room for at least 2 tents. The restrooms are decently maintained and as a tip - use them in the morning (they're nice and cleaned)! Camp ground supplies toilet tissue. The water is near and accessible by going through a dirt path. FYI flat ground by the water is scarce. We ended up setting up just above the water and made our way down anytime we wanted to take a nice dip. Lots of rocks so make sure to bring water shoes to protect your feet! There were two sightings for bears according to others but we did not encounter one while we were there. We also locked up our food in the cars as there are no bear lockers. I saw some reviews mention getting tons of bug bites and getting dirty easily. Yes, that's true and we are also outdoors so it's to be expected! :) Just make sure to bring lots of bug spray and body wipes - there are no showers. We enjoyed this campground and its beauty! I took off a star because of all the car drifting/racing we heard late at night. Other than that, it's a great place for friends and families especially if you're looking to "unplug".

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Stumpy Meadows
Stumpy Meadows
Stumpy Meadows - Gorgeous view

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Gorgeous view

Pipi Campground

Pipi Campground

4.2(46 reviews)
31.6 mi

Stayed here 6/25 in site 21. Nice camp grounds. The pot holes on the road in are very big so it…read moretakes a long time to drive the last 5 miles. The trash dumpsters were full when we got there and were over full when we left. For having valt toilets they were clean. We will go back again.

The campground was great in many ways, the good: The campsites were a decent size and all good…read morelocations and access to the creek. The first come first serve sites were almost all empty Sunday-Wednesday mid July when I visited. The creek is beautiful and there are lots of good swimming spots. We stayed with friends in a group site and several single nearby sites. There was plenty of space and fallen trees and meadows for our kids to explore! The bad: Idk why but checkout and checkin are both at 2pm, so the sites aren't being cleaned fully between uses. There was a bit of trash at ours and we almost overlapped with the group there before us. The dumpsters were full the entire time we were there. So many yellow jackets and mosquitos, but that's summer in California near the water for you. The worst, there were several bears that made the rounds scavenging every night. We heard them sniffing around tents, banging around coolers, and people generally letting off foghorns and screaming and dogs barking all night long. The campsite is not equipped for bears. The hosts are doing their best, but this is their first summer with this problem, and they aren't receiving support from fish and wildlife. There are no bear boxes at the campsites and very little signage anywhere alerting people to store all their containers and food out of reach at night. People are also not helping. We talked to one family with their food out and said to pack it up as there were bears out the night before. They said they had been coming to the campground for years and never seen a bear. They didn't pack up their food at night and the bears got it all, and they had to leave the next day. The stupidity was astounding. Overall, I would recommend it except for the bears! Hopefully the government steps up to give the host more support before something serious happens!

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Pipi Campground - Site 21 had 2 parts.  This is the upper 1st  part.

Site 21 had 2 parts. This is the upper 1st part.

Pipi Campground - Campsite 50 river view

Campsite 50 river view

Pipi Campground - Campsite 33

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Campsite 33

Sunset Campgroud

Sunset Campgroud

3.2(13 reviews)
0.9 mi

This was such a great campground for families and people looking to unwind. We booked campsite #43…read morethat had tons of extra space, a large driveway big enough for 3-cars, close to showers and bathrooms. There were six of us with 3 tents, but we could have easily fit three more tents. There were multiple bathrooms nearby, plenty of water spigots, and showers nearby. The showers are pretty expensive; $4.00 will only get 3-minutes of shower time and it only takes quarters. This campsite is on a peninsula that's technically over a reservoir, not a lake, but it does not feel like reservoir. The body of water itself is huge and the surroundings are gorgeous. My family and I did multiple hikes around the lake and saw all kinds of wildlife like hawks, squirrels, tadpoles, and lots of coyote tracks. One day we went fishing and saw what it looked like bear scratchings at the base of a tree. See my pictures. We even caught a glimpse of a few eagles near our campsite. A handful of spots were blocked off because it was a nesting area for the eagles. Our favorite spot by far was hanging out on Fashoda Beach, which is a man-made beach area. They've removed all the sharp rocks and put in sand and buoys to keep boats out of it. It's essentially like a giant bay that's kids safe for swimming. I am more of "glamper", but I really enjoyed this campsite with all of its rustic features. I could definitely see myself coming back here with my family for annual camping trips, and I highly suggest coming here at the beginning of summer because the weather was perfect with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. Plus, there weren't many people out here for the summer yet. Did I mention I still had 5G access to my phone, score!

The campground itself is really nice, most of the sites are in the trees so there is lots of shade,…read moresome sites have a lake view and you can walk right down to a few small beaches on the lake. But this is not a good choice if you are looking for peace and quiet. The leash rules are not enforced and dogs are running around making trouble, people are being pretty loud until around 11-12 at night and the steel bathroom doors are slamming, and there are lots of loud jet skis on the lake during the day. It might be worth a try in the off season.

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Sunset Campgroud
Sunset Campgroud
Sunset Campgroud

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Union Valley Reservoir - lakes - Updated June 2026

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