Cal-ida

My review of Cal-Ida. Ok site, restrooms were clean, water was good. Problem was no one came by to check on sites. Neighboring tent site had 4 cars and at least 20 people. Site was to be 2 cars, maximum of 6 people. They were loud. Not acceptable for some to follow the rules and others don’t give a dam.

My review of Cal-Ida. Ok site, restrooms were clean, water was good. Problem was no one came by to check on sites. Neighboring tent site had 4 cars and at least 20 people. Site was to be 2 cars, maximum of 6 people. They were loud. Not acceptable for some to follow the rules and others don’t give a dam.

We arrived at the campground to find it literally destroyed by construction crews. Several campsites were eliminated and all the numbers were changed. The area where site 19 was is one big gravel parking lot. We booked site #1 and which was eliminated and the new #1 was a tent site-we have a 30' trailer. While trying to figure out our next move I tried to use the restroom but it was out of order. Eventually a person from the Forest Service drove in and I flagged her down and asked what I was supposed to do and she admitted that there was no communication between Rec.gov, USFS and the Sierra-YubaTrail folks who hired the contractor to install electric bike charging stations. By accident Rec.gov cancelled all reservations that weekend at Indian Valley Campground so she sent us there and they had a site for us. We have site #10 in Cal Ida booked in July but #10 is now #7 and we can't fit into the new #10. Not sure what we are going to do especially since the Cal Ida is pretty much destroyed right now and every other campground is booked solid. She took our number and said a Ranger would call-no call yet and we are 2.5 weeks from our reservation date. What a debacle.

We arrived at the campground to find it literally destroyed by construction crews. Several campsites were eliminated and all the numbers were changed. The area where site 19 was is one big gravel parking lot. We booked site #1 and which was eliminated and the new #1 was a tent site-we have a 30' trailer. While trying to figure out our next move I tried to use the restroom but it was out of order. Eventually a person from the Forest Service drove in and I flagged her down and asked what I was supposed to do and she admitted that there was no communication between Rec.gov, USFS and the Sierra-YubaTrail folks who hired the contractor to install electric bike charging stations. By accident Rec.gov cancelled all reservations that weekend at Indian Valley Campground so she sent us there and they had a site for us. We have site #10 in Cal Ida booked in July but #10 is now #7 and we can't fit into the new #10. Not sure what we are going to do especially since the Cal Ida is pretty much destroyed right now and every other campground is booked solid. She took our number and said a Ranger would call-no call yet and we are 2.5 weeks from our reservation date. What a debacle.

Cal-Ida remodeled and screwed up our reservation. A lady called me the day of our trip and told us that we wouldn’t get our spot. I was furious. I reserved that spot 6 months prior. Then they told me the space they still had available was in the same physical location as the space I had originally reserved. Well it wasn’t. We pulled up to the area and she had lied to me. Then I asked a USDA lady driving around the campground to check on my August reservation and I get home to discover it’s been cancelled!! We come to Cal-Ida twice yearly. It’s our family tradition. You may think I’m being dramatic but space18 now 13 was our gem. Lastly our gem space is now no longer available for reserving!! I reserved it twice a year at least six months in advance. No where are we going to go? The uncertainty of first come is just frustrationing! Especially in this digital world!!

Cal-Ida remodeled and screwed up our reservation. A lady called me the day of our trip and told us that we wouldn’t get our spot. I was furious. I reserved that spot 6 months prior. Then they told me the space they still had available was in the same physical location as the space I had originally reserved. Well it wasn’t. We pulled up to the area and she had lied to me. Then I asked a USDA lady driving around the campground to check on my August reservation and I get home to discover it’s been cancelled!! We come to Cal-Ida twice yearly. It’s our family tradition. You may think I’m being dramatic but space18 now 13 was our gem. Lastly our gem space is now no longer available for reserving!! I reserved it twice a year at least six months in advance. No where are we going to go? The uncertainty of first come is just frustrationing! Especially in this digital world!!

Campsites 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 have been removed; we were not informed beforehand. In fact, I received a "get ready for your reservations" email one week prior and another two days before the check-in date. There were no garbage cans, so prior campers left their garbage in the bear boxes, and one of the restrooms was out of order, and just FYI - there was an exorbitant amount of mosquitoes, most likely due to the creek.

Campsites 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 have been removed; we were not informed beforehand. In fact, I received a "get ready for your reservations" email one week prior and another two days before the check-in date. There were no garbage cans, so prior campers left their garbage in the bear boxes, and one of the restrooms was out of order, and just FYI - there was an exorbitant amount of mosquitoes, most likely due to the creek.

Bathroom was shutdown, water spigot not working so we had to go to the far end of the campgrounds to use that sides. One of the vault toilets over there was filled to the brim! 🤮 No dumpsters for garbage so people were literally leaving it by the recycle bins, which animals got into at night. No rangers came by except the last day- and literally did nothing but check the fee box, which was taped shut, so that was pointless. Names on sites weren’t for the right dates, as well many many people came looking for sites they rented that no longer exist!! I don’t understand how you charge people for any of that. Our fire ring was ripped up from another site and carelessly tossed into ours- no dug out spot, still had concrete attached to it that wasn’t buried so the ring did not sit properly in the ground. Asking for a fire to start that way! Never seen this place so terribly taken care of and I’ve been going here for 3 decades!!!

Bathroom was shutdown, water spigot not working so we had to go to the far end of the campgrounds to use that sides. One of the vault toilets over there was filled to the brim! 🤮 No dumpsters for garbage so people were literally leaving it by the recycle bins, which animals got into at night. No rangers came by except the last day- and literally did nothing but check the fee box, which was taped shut, so that was pointless. Names on sites weren’t for the right dates, as well many many people came looking for sites they rented that no longer exist!! I don’t understand how you charge people for any of that. Our fire ring was ripped up from another site and carelessly tossed into ours- no dug out spot, still had concrete attached to it that wasn’t buried so the ring did not sit properly in the ground. Asking for a fire to start that way! Never seen this place so terribly taken care of and I’ve been going here for 3 decades!!!