Cow Meadow Campground

mosquito torture chamber

Enjoyed this campground very much and thought it was a very pleasant place.

This campground is quite cute with large spaces for setting up camp, hammocks, and a cooking area while not feeling cramped or tight on space at all. On top of that, you will likely, around late July to early August, be sharing your site with hundreds of tiny baby frogs, which are absolutely adorable and will seek refuge in anything you leave on the ground (I mean it, I had a dozen in the bag my camp chair stows away into). The water running nearby is crystal clear, yet too brisk of a current to paddle board in. If you intend on paddling to the reservoir, beware of the toxic algae that may be present in the water, as it will make your dog or young children very sick.
Now, for the negatives: there are thousands of the most blood thirsty mosquitos I have ever encountered. I'm typing this with 14 bites on my left leg, 13 on my right, and 8 more spaced out around my arms, sides, and even my face. Lemon Eucalyptus spray had a good effect during the heat of the day, but was rendered useless in the early morning and late evening, as the mosquitos occupy every inch of the air around you. I would recommend bringing a Thermacell if without a pet, which unfortunately we couldn't use as we had our dog with us, and soaking all camping equipment in Permethrin. Even with that, baggy clothing and mosquito nets will likely be required if you intend on spending lots of time outside at the campsite.
Aside from the mosquitos, I spent the full three day stay listening to our neighbors generator, running even when they weren't at the campsite. They of course took the central campsite, ruining the silence for everyone. The camp host did not respond to any phone calls, so this issue persisted. We also had to call in a fire that was made by a reckless campsite, despite there being an explicit (two signs at the entrance stating such) no campfire rule. Bad decisions and mosquitos can ruin a good trip pretty fast, so just be advised you may encounter plenty of both.

The only bad thing was the thousands of mosquitos!

There was garbage piled up across from our campsite. Beautiful area, but too many mosquitos for us.

Thievery! I was caught very off-guard, as this is usually a hardcore fisherman's camp and the campers' honor is strong. No one thinks twice about leaving equipment behind while going on a day's excursion. Until now, Fortunately, I left minor stuff, intended to show the site was occupied. But when I returned, much of it was gone. Stolen were a cheap camp chair, a pair of water shoes (drying), an outdoor dog bed, an electric water kettle (without the cord, idiot!), a coffee mug, and a towel. They also initially took a pair of flip-flops, but realized one had a broken strap, so they dropped them w/in 10' of their original location. No host to report to.

Excellent experience— been coming here since 1953! 70 now and camped with my grandkids—- nothing much changed…. Campfire and s’mores!

We had a great time in Cow Meadow. The campground is a little off the beaten path which added to its charm and made it a very quiet and peaceful setting. There is about 1 mile of mostly decent gravel road that takes you back to the campground from the highway. The road had patches of washboard and a few giant dry puddle beds to navigate. The road was no problem to travel in a Honda Pilot but might give someone a little anxiety in a small car. We stayed there three night mid-week and the campground had only 2 other groups while we were there. The campsites were huge. The river running nearby was awesome. We caught a few fish and saw other people catch fish too. The mosquitoes were horrific all day and night no matter how much bug spray we put on. All and all it was a great campground but the mosquitoes sucked bad. My wife and daughter had dozens of bites.

Spoke with horrendous reservations got completely discombobulated I lost money and had a fair to poor time ducking the smoke my father and I left early and received an $11 credit. After renting for seven days we only stayed three. Will not be back if I ever camp in that area I will chase craft camp it, 😕

Always enjoy my trips to Cow Meadow