Dinkey Creek

Love it here. It’s a classic.♥️

It's a big campground with lots of people on a weekend. It never felt crowded though. The swimming in the campground areas is really fun and there's lots to do nearby. The Dinkey Creek general store outside the campground is convenient for anything you might have forgotten. Bring lots of water, the spigots in the campground are all non-potable.

We were in loop g spot 85 and it’s a fantastic spot but we were not informed prior to our reservation that the bathrooms were closed. A heads up in the 3-4 emails you receive about your reservation leading up to your stay would have been very helpful. Also the people staying in 84 were so inconsiderate and basically camped on top of us. They had way more people than allowed and they would walk through our campsite at all hours of the day & night. My family has been coming here for 10 years & we’ve never had anything like this happen before. It’s a tradition for our family to come to Dinkey every year but after this experience we are rethinking our camping plans.

It's a big campground with lots of people on a weekend. It never felt crowded though. The swimming in the campground areas is really fun and there's lots to do nearby. The Dinkey Creek general store outside the campground is convenient for anything you might have forgotten. Bring lots of water, the spigots in the campground are all non-potable.

We were in loop g spot 85 and it’s a fantastic spot but we were not informed prior to our reservation that the bathrooms were closed. A heads up in the 3-4 emails you receive about your reservation leading up to your stay would have been very helpful. Also the people staying in 84 were so inconsiderate and basically camped on top of us. They had way more people than allowed and they would walk through our campsite at all hours of the day & night. My family has been coming here for 10 years & we’ve never had anything like this happen before. It’s a tradition for our family to come to Dinkey every year but after this experience we are rethinking our camping plans.

Great place to camp with the family! When we visited, the restrooms were closed, but there were porta-potties at each campsite. They were somewhat maintained, though the camp host rarely came around to clean them, so I didn’t feel comfortable letting my child use them—that was the only downside.

Other than that, it was an overall great camping experience. The water was beautiful, and the fishing was great too!

Great place to camp with the family! When we visited, the restrooms were closed, but there were porta-potties at each campsite. They were somewhat maintained, though the camp host rarely came around to clean them, so I didn’t feel comfortable letting my child use them—that was the only downside.

Other than that, it was an overall great camping experience. The water was beautiful, and the fishing was great too!

My parents have been going to Dinkey since they were teenagers. I have rented the group campground every summer for 8 years. The location continues to be unique and beautiful. However the service, such as it is, was terrible this year.

First, the flush toilets (which we don't even use at the group site) were shut off for vague reasons never fully explained. This sent many campers to the vault toilets that are clearly assigned to the group camp (they are within the area that state the group camp reservation name. Also, several of the vault toilets used by campers at the simple cabins were also offline, and replaced with porta-potties that no one wanted to use, shunting yet more people to the group site toilets. This was a significant inconvenience.

Second, there is no communication with campers prior to arrival. We are somehow e-mailed about payment details, and generic reservation reminders, but never any communication about water drinkability, toilet functionality, or anything else. You show up (in our case after driving five hours) and you get what you get.

Third, one of the camp hosts was unbelievably rude on repeated occasions. When we asked why so many people were using the group site's toilets, we got a snotty tone and a made-up answer that they were for common use (never the case over our previous visits). When we asked for more checks of the toilets for toilet paper due to the increased usage, we got an eye roll. We got chewed out for having small, glass-encased candles in the bathrooms for light and scent. If this wasn't allowed, then no problem, but we'd been using them for the last seven years, and no host or ranger had said a thing. This same host also chewed us out for leaving a small bottle of hand soap at the faucet outside the toilets, our regular practice for seven years. We got repeated demands to read the rules, none of which specifically referred to the things we were being criticized for.

Seriously considering taking at least a year off.

My parents have been going to Dinkey since they were teenagers. I have rented the group campground every summer for 8 years. The location continues to be unique and beautiful. However the service, such as it is, was terrible this year.

First, the flush toilets (which we don't even use at the group site) were shut off for vague reasons never fully explained. This sent many campers to the vault toilets that are clearly assigned to the group camp (they are within the area that state the group camp reservation name. Also, several of the vault toilets used by campers at the simple cabins were also offline, and replaced with porta-potties that no one wanted to use, shunting yet more people to the group site toilets. This was a significant inconvenience.

Second, there is no communication with campers prior to arrival. We are somehow e-mailed about payment details, and generic reservation reminders, but never any communication about water drinkability, toilet functionality, or anything else. You show up (in our case after driving five hours) and you get what you get.

Third, one of the camp hosts was unbelievably rude on repeated occasions. When we asked why so many people were using the group site's toilets, we got a snotty tone and a made-up answer that they were for common use (never the case over our previous visits). When we asked for more checks of the toilets for toilet paper due to the increased usage, we got an eye roll. We got chewed out for having small, glass-encased candles in the bathrooms for light and scent. If this wasn't allowed, then no problem, but we'd been using them for the last seven years, and no host or ranger had said a thing. This same host also chewed us out for leaving a small bottle of hand soap at the faucet outside the toilets, our regular practice for seven years. We got repeated demands to read the rules, none of which specifically referred to the things we were being criticized for.

Seriously considering taking at least a year off.

We have been coming to Dinkey Creek for over 30 years. And it just seems lately that every year things get a little worse. This is not the first time that the water and flush toilets have been shut down. I wish either recreation.gov or Dinkey campground would notify the people that have reservations That things have shut down and they should be aware of before traveling all the way up to Dinkey. It’s getting quite expensive to camp at Dinkey with fewer and fewer services available again. This was not the first time this has happened to us. I think they need to spend some money and update their plumbing system. I understand they receive water from a spring And that the spring was not able to keep up with demand. They said they were shutting the water down so that they would have water to fight fires, but when the firefighters came to put out a fire, they were using the creek water to battle the fire. I guess the bottom line for me is it would be nice to know in advance before going to Dinkey, that certain amenities and utilities, are being shut down.