French Gulch

Amazing place with kake View and Assess went with church for 4 days.

Great camp ground for large groups. Close to water with short walk.

We've been coming to this site for the last fifteen years and it seems as if every year there is something wrong with this site. This recent instance we had a couple issues come up that made the overall experience a little problematic and unfortunate. On multiple days during our stay, we had random cars and groups of people visit the site that were not part of our private group. They came and used the bathrooms and showers without permission. I confirmed with the rangers during the our stay and those showers are only supposed to be for the private reservation guests. One reason I think this occurs, is due to the lack of fencing and signage for the exterior parts of the campsite. Back when we first started visiting the site, the campgrounds was better maintained. Today, a lot of the wood fencing that is set around the grounds are old and deteriorated and has various gaps. Additionally, it would be useful to have a lockable gate or signage stating that the facilities and sites are only for reserved campground guests. In previous years, we used to have park rangers or facilities members come to the site daily and take out the trash and provide toilet papers of the bathrooms. While we did see the rangers daily, it was usually a very quick trip and they only did an inspection and did nothing more. We also did report to the rangers that the hot water wasn't working for the men's restroom. They did send out maintenance who attempted to fix the issue but unfortunately they weren't able to fix the problem. While this sounds like there are many issues with this site, we do love coming back and enjoying the outdoors. The beautiful views and closeness to the lake make it worth it. Although it would be nice to have a problem-free visit to the site, especially since we're paying $400 a night.

NIce pavillion and paved fire ring. Nice clean large bathrooms with showers. Nice view overlooking the lake. Great breeze up by the fire ring. The back side of the campground (below the bathrooms) is very near the main highway, and can be loud at night if car sounds bother you. Its also very warm due to lack of breeze. But the Campsite is also close town (10 min) so you can easily drive in a get supplies. Would have given it a 5 if there were more "flat" areas for tents....lots of space, just not really flat...But great sunrise views at the boat ramp.

Nice view of the lake and a lot of spots to camp. Beautiful environment and awesome scenery.

I reserved French Gulch for my Vintage BMW Motorcycle club. Showers are an important amenity for us because you tend to get hot and sweaty riding. Much to my chagrin, the showers are not operational and apparently haven’t been for quite a while. Additionally, the general upkeep of the restrooms is lacking. The women’s restroom is down one stall, the hand dryer in the men’s is not operational, leaking fixtures, no hot water, etc. I complained at the Kernville ranger station and they called the concessionaire. The person on the line sounded shocked that such a situation exists and said he’d send out someone to “look at it”. Awhile later a person from the concessionaire did arrive. When I told him of my complaints, he responded: “there are no showers, no hot water and they are going to tear down the restroom building and replace it with pit toilets”. This is an example of why the Forest Service should not be using low bid contractors to run their facilities. The buck just keeps getting passed and nothing gets maintained or improved. Additionally, the idea of tearing down the facility is ridiculous. I would say that a few thousand dollars spent to repair the facility vs many tens of thousands of dollars to replace it with and inferior building is not the way to go. The Federal government should fund the Forest Service sufficiently to have their employees run the campgrounds, as they used to.

Camp Hosts Sandy and Ken were GREAT, could not ask for better!
The site location is GREAT!

Construction 24/7 at the Damn was not so great, I truly feel for any of the local residents up there as the lights, the backing up of trucks, and the smashing of huge rocks have to get old. It can be heard for MILES on the water and does not add to anyone's experience.

The 30-year-old bathrooms are due for a complete overhaul as the fixtures are leaking water 24/7 and with the price that we are more than happy to pay for the site (it is not cheap) they need to spend some resources to get things up to date.

Thanks again.. See you next year for our 18th visit ;-)