Boat-in Sites (Lake Sonoma)

The lake was not busy, so it was quiet and pleasant. Unfortunately, we had some negatives to this trip. We stayed at two adjacent campsites, one site we had from Monday through Friday and the other from Tuesday through Friday. When we arrived on Monday, the trash cans at our campsites and the neighboring campsites were all overflowing with trash. Worse, over the following days the wind and raccoons blew and strew the trash all over, including into the lake. Finally, on Friday morning while we were away in our boat, the trash cans in the campsites were emptied, presumably by the crew responsible for this task. Unfortunately, at about the same time, someone also took our two boxed inflatable kayaks, our boxed inflatable towable two-person tube, our two fishing poles and gear, and our flip-flops, all of which were located down at our beach area where our boat is normally parked. Our beach-staked boat anchor line and the two floats in the water that were attached to the anchor line should have made it apparent that a boat is still being parked there, as should the tents located up the hill at our campsites. If we try to view the taking of our equipment in the best light, the cleanup crew may have taken our items because they thought the items were abandoned. Having said that, it's hard to believe that someone would think that we abandoned over $500 worth of equipment while leaving our tents and other equipment at the campsites. The trash issue and the theft of our equipment were significant downsides to this camping trip. :-(

The lake was not busy, so it was quiet and pleasant. Unfortunately, we had some negatives to this trip. We stayed at two adjacent campsites, one site we had from Monday through Friday and the other from Tuesday through Friday. When we arrived on Monday, the trash cans at our campsites and the neighboring campsites were all overflowing with trash. Worse, over the following days the wind and raccoons blew and strew the trash all over, including into the lake. Finally, on Friday morning while we were away in our boat, the trash cans in the campsites were emptied, presumably by the crew responsible for this task. Unfortunately, at about the same time, someone also took our two boxed inflatable kayaks, our boxed inflatable towable two-person tube, our two fishing poles and gear, and our flip-flops, all of which were located down at our beach area where our boat is normally parked. Our beach-staked boat anchor line and the two floats in the water that were attached to the anchor line should have made it apparent that a boat is still being parked there, as should the tents located up the hill at our campsites. If we try to view the taking of our equipment in the best light, the cleanup crew may have taken our items because they thought the items were abandoned. Having said that, it's hard to believe that someone would think that we abandoned over $500 worth of equipment while leaving our tents and other equipment at the campsites. The trash issue and the theft of our equipment were significant downsides to this camping trip. :-(

We found an ideal campsite for our style of camping
Recon
Pick your site
Just a great experience

Camped at Skunk Creek camp, and had that campground (actually the whole northern tip of the lake) to ourselves. Easy to haul our tandem kayak from the lake to our site, and all the sites seemed to have at least one flat place for a tent. Fish jumped all around us all day (taunting us; we didn't bring fishing stuff this trip), and several dinner-sized small mouth bass swam within arms' reach of where i stood. Yellow jackets came out every time we had food, so be aware of that if you come to this campground, but we found that walking while eating, or moving away from the cooking site helped. The paddle out to the campground from Yorty Creek Recreation Area took an hour and a half, but that included about a half- hour stop for lunch on the way. Motored boats mostly respected the no-wake zone, at least once they saw us. Took a couple of day-trips exploring the inlets on the north end of the lake. Definitely will return.

LOVED the location!! Gorgeous views of water and mountains. The site was great, except campers before us left food trash everywhere which attracted yellow jackets, highly recommend wasp traps in the summer, which was as life saver for us! Such a nice spot as a central base for exploring and and playing in the lake.

Stayed at Buck Pasture, site 13. Perfect for kids, rocky beach like shoreline. Only bad thing I can say is the yellow jackets were really bad. Had to eat all meals inside our tent. Will go back but with a lot of tlbee traps!

Great site, easy paddle in. Well marked and maintained. Excellent fishing.

Had a blast! Easy access and great trails!

There was garbage everywhere when we showed up on Thursday. No one ever went to clean up in the 4 nights that we were there. We were there Thursday thru Monday and not one time did anyone go to empty trash cans or clean up. Disappointed that no one cleans!! We were careful to put food in tiny bit of room left in trash can so that we would not get visitors at night time.

The site was spectacular and we loved everything about our trip with the exception of one item. Trash had not been removed from any of the nearby campsites so we had to keep track of our garbage separately and pack it all out. Additionally, one of the trash cans of a nearby site had fallen over and the trash was scattered all over and partially in the lake. Another couple who arrived days before us said no one came for the trash in several days. I've camped at the lake sites many times and never had this issue and hopefully it was just an isolated issue. Everything else was perfect though as usual!