Our family went camping at Collins Lake Recreation last summer. We scheduled this camping trip right before back to school for our last summer adventure. We were not scheduled to camp at Collins Lake, we were actually scheduled to camp at Clear Lake. We had our reservation for quite a while but due to the devastating fires we had here in California, a fire was very near to Clear Lake and they were closed. My heart and prayers go out to all those who were affected by these fires. Having to change our camping plans seemed like such a small problem in light of what our local communities were facing.
Collins Lake was wonderful. The staff at the main office were very friendly and helpful. The main office was also an ice cream shop, coffee shop, convenience store, and a cute gift shop. They had anything you might have forgotten. The ice cream was delicious and ONLY $2 for a giant bowl. They had so many flavors, not just your basic flavors. How fun to go camping and have ice cream available. We visited the main office daily to purchase ice for our coolers, and it was an added bonus to enjoy their delicious ice cream.
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Another added surprise was Collins Lake had movie night on the beach, they do this every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We attended the Thursday showing of Little Rascals. This was so much fun for the boys to watch a movie on the big screen right on the beach. I brought popped popcorn for a snack, which came in handy for movie night.
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There was a sand beach area with a dock the kids could jump off as well as a playground near the beach. This main area is where the showers were located as well. Shower use was available for a small fee ($1 for 4 minutes, $1.75 for 7 minutes). Our campsite was down the road more. Where our campsite was located there was a lake view and lake access, but it was a rocky area, which my boys did not mind, but I preferred the beach area for swimming. For camping, I really like the spot we had. Near the main area, it seemed like there were a lot more campers, therefore more noise and activity. My husband is a light sleeper so I know he would not appreciate camping in that area.
They also have group campsite areas, which are great if you are a group or camping with a lot of family or friends. If you are a single family camping and the noise keeps you up, I would recommend not camping near those group sites. No one was out of hand or rowdy in my opinion, they were just up, enjoying music, conversation, laughing, enjoying camping, kids playing flashlight tag, etc. Our boys are early risers, so even though we did not have a set bedtime so to speak, they are ready for bed by 9 p.m. even on vacation. I am a heavy sleeper so the noise does not bother me at all When my head hits the pillow I am out, but if you have a light sleeper that is something to keep in mind. If you can find a campsite off the main road and off the main beach or camp area, although you are farther from the showers and main beach area, it will be much quieter.
Collins Lake offers paddle boat rentals, kayak rentals party boat rentals that come with a slide. These look like so much fun. There were people fishing, offshore and on boats. They have RV hooks ups as well as cabins available. I was really impressed with this location. They were also very near to Sacramento which was nice. I was surprised to see they only had portable bathroom facilities, but I must say they were the cleanest I have ever seen. It seemed as though the staff serviced them daily. I was pleasantly surprised that it seemed as the floors were mopped each morning, I never saw staff doing this, but they smelled like pine-sol and you could tell they were cleaned. I am so grateful for this. Our campsite had a fire/grill pit and we had a water spigot right next to it. Some neighboring sites had shared spigots.
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If you are looking for a family-friendly campsite I highly recommend Collins Lake. Here is the link to their website for more information http://www.collinslake.com/. It is a little over an hour drive from Sacramento, between Marysville and Grass Valley.
This article is from our friend Jessica at blogaboutitall.com. Be sure to check out her site!
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