Mary Smith Campground

Do NOT reserve a spot in September!!!! Just go. We spent good money just to arrive and find the ONLY spot that was taken was the one we reserved. The camp host had completely abandoned the place and we had to walk the entire campsite for a bathroom that was infested with ants because the main one was closed. Wouldn’t have been a problem if there was any type of heads up but it was all a surprise after a 4.5 hour drive.

Love this campground. Very clean bathrooms . Never saw the campground host. Way too many bees . We will come back. Is there a non bee season😉

We had a wonderful stay at Mary Smith Campground the last week of August. We were the only ones in the campground, which was especially nice! The glamping setup was wonderful - very clean, spacious and comfortable. The bathrooms were clean as well.

My daughter and I had an amazing camping adventure at Mary Smith Campground in late August. But I have to say it was largely due to the fact that we were quite literally the only people there for fours days. It was a bit eerie at first, but we got used to it fast! It is a beautiful place and the lake (pretty cold but refreshing!) is humming with birds and other wildlife, but here a are few things that can make your stay more enjoyable:
1.) Lots of sweat bees and little flies, right up until the sun goes down. Bring something to help with this--we had to abandon our picnic table to eat by the lake (the bees didn't follow us). Not a bad option, but still nice to have a choice.
2.) Tents get hot during the day in the warmer weather--plan accordingly. Oh, and pillows are flat and hard--depends on what you like.
3.) The lake has quite a bit of mossy debris along the shoreline. You'll need to rake or scoop it out of the way for easy access.
4.) No bears, but foxes are quite present so put your food away along with everything else at night and during the day.
5.)  You can not park in front of your site (or even close to it) so you may want to bring something to haul equipment in. If this is on the website, we missed it.
6.) The glamping tents aren't super close together, but you will definitely be able to hear and see neighbors the entire time.

That's it. Enjoy this beautiful part of Northern California. We will be back--not sure when, but someday soon.

Beautiful campground! The camp host, Tara, is wonderful!

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The campground and restroom facilities were very good and well maintained. One concern was that the camp hosts were not readily available, making it difficult to determine who was registered to be camping in the area or to seek assistance when needed. Additionally, there was no cell phone reception, which made communication difficult, especially in the event of an emergency.

I would also recommend posting signage at the water stations indicating that dishes should not be washed there so the water remains available and sanitary for all campers. A shower facility would be a welcome addition, particularly for families and campers staying multiple nights. Finally, adding a trash or waste container in a central location within the campground would improve convenience and help keep the area clean.

We enjoyed our camp. We stayed at site 14. It was pretty small but we managed to just fit our 10 person tent and a folding table. It is up two sets of stairs so be wary you’ll have to lug everything up to the site and it’s pretty close to the neighboring sites. It includes its own water spigot, fire ring with removable grille, separate bbq and a broken picnic table. We had deer visit us in the mornings and evenings to graze, they got so close! The closest bathroom didn’t have a sink just FYI and at one point ran out of toilet paper. There’s a small path near the site that goes down to the lake to give a nice view, not large enough to brings chairs or anything, just a viewpoint. The camp and lake were pretty quiet, even for Memorial Day weekend. I never saw more than 3 people on the lake at a time.

The location is a gem all by itself giving an experience of feeling deep in the woods while still right off an easily accessible road. On top of that, the camp was clean, quiet, and felt very secluded given the few campsites against a giant lake to explore. The camp guide was super friendly and helpful.

We usually go here for our annual family camp trip.

Great hosts, great sites