Arroyo Seco

This was our first time visiting. The bathrooms and showers were out of service, only portable toilets available. I based my booking on the pictures and map, it looked like the campsites were right by the water, they're not. There were many helicopters taking water from the arroyo for 2 days and it pretty disturbing since they can get very loud. Besides that we had a good time.

Arroyo Seco is a long time favorite of mine. I've been coming here for 30 years or more to enjoy the gorge. This trip was my first shot at sharing the experience with my 10 yo daughter.
Unfortunately we didn't make it back into the gorge. It was very hot, and the entirely uphill bike ride up to the gorge parking lot from our campsite was grueling and used up too much water. We biked a ways on the fire road, but had to turn back.
Lesson learned: drive up to the gorge parking lot and start biking from there, and bring more water. Pretty obvious, but somehow stuff like this didn't seem to matter so much back in the day...

Great place for a quick getaway, however yellow jackets have increased in numbers. You’re are not able to cook or relax at the camp site or day use area due to the sheer amount of yellow jackets. I had to drive to the nearest town to buy traps to be able to cook and keep our kids safe.

I don't mind paying the extra fee for the picnic area but I think campers should get dibs. Just my 2 cents.

It is so lovely under the shade. It was clean and well cared for.

Campsite was ok and maintained. However there were a lot of fire ants and wasps around the campsite so be prepared. In addition there were no functioning bathrooms or showers. Only porto potties were available that weren't well maintained.

The river was a nice place to cool down, but be prepared to come save a parking spot early if you plan on going to the day use river section as it fills fast.

No clean water during our stay; the pump was damaged. Also, the showers and flush toilets are not working.
There is a very annoying thing with the yellow jacket bugs. They will not let you cook or eat your meals outside anywhere you go. I paid $10 for 5 pcs of wood. Be prepared to pay another $10 for parking; they will charge you even if you are camping.

Hi....OK two main things....
1. We are seniors...I am 72 and my partner is 71....in which we got no senior prices? Please advise.

2. The showers were not working...none of them!! Please rectify our billing to reflect both issues above.

Besides that.... we had a great time. Gloria "when younger" had spent over 20 years up at Seco...I was abasically the same and camped out up there for about 15 years in the goverment camp...along with all my realatives. All the time I was up there I could have thrown a rock at where Gloria was....we never met! ;( It was not untill we were both around 63 years old did we finally meet.....and going back up to Seco....brought so many memories to both of us as we grew up at Seco...It was very nice....welll except for the two issues above. We came back up to seco....because of the above....and we are not flying out to our boat in Malaysia...in which we left nearly 6 years ago.... We left Mosslanding Harbor and sailed across the Pacific Ocean...to where we are now. This year....we will sail across the Indian Ocean to the Medterrian......and eventually back to the United States..... we are on a world circumnavigation! Thank you and hope you all have a great life! Cheers Don & Gloria

👍🏿

The showers & restrooms were not working during our stay, AND it was the only reason this campground was chosen. With the short notice given there were no other camping options available elsewhere.

The water hole is a 12 minute walk on the main road in direct sun or $10 a day to park in the day use area with no guarantee there will be. spot available to you.