Spruces - Big Cottonwood

We normally love staying at Spruces, however, we weren't told before arriving that a water pipe was broken and therefore there was no available drinking water. What was even worse the only available facilities to use were Honey Buckets. We had planned to stay for four nights and only stayed for one.

The campground is beautiful and we loved our spot, but they did not give enough of a heads up about the fact that there is absolutely no water. Just porta potties. Thankfully we were in a trailer, but the other families around were all in tents and some ended up leaving early due to the lack of water, or were local and had to go home overnight and enjoy the site only during the day.

Also, we were specifically told that parking on the road out in front of the campground was fine - ‘they’re not ticketing’ but my mom and dad came up to the campground to visit us for the day and left with a $150 parking ticket. We asked the camp host and they said this was the first they’d heard of it and that they’d talk to the sheriff. But that doesn’t do my parents much good. Unfortunately it really soured the whole experience.

The bathroom situation ruined the trip. The primary bathrooms were entirely closed with portable toilets as replacements that were overflowing with waste and toilet paper. Such a waste of a beautiful space. An avoidable situation.

Fly city during the day. I’ve stayed at a lot of different spots here and this one was pretty bad with the flys. It was near a swamp part of the creek where the water spreads out and slows down. It was also right next to the dumpster and restrooms.
During the night no problem with flys. Only during the day

We stayed in a glamping tent it was perfect for our family. We took our kiddos and it was so nice not having to worry about setting anything up, everything was ready to go. And the campground was quiet and peaceful. We also hiked to Lake Mary which I highly recommend. Such a beautiful trai! Overall we had a great experience.

Clean, easy to park, great trails, great bbq grill and fireplace. Plenty of seating.

We love this campsite for our small family of 5. We have reserved it in the past with family, and the campsite can easily fit 2 large tents with space for a smaller one, too. The parking is large and can easily fit 3 cars, maybe even a 4th. The large pine trees are great for hammocking, and we fit all 4 of our hammocks at this site if you don't mind a little sap getting on your straps. The pipe for water was broken while we were up this week, so the bathrooms were out of commission this time, but they kept the honey bucket very clean! It was not gross at all! We were very impressed by the staff and the cleanliness of the campground. This will be one we return to time and time again. The little kiddos also love the little streams right next to the campsite.

Campsite was clean.
Bathrooms were clean.
Guests and staff were respectful.
It was great!

Some hand soap in the bathrooms would be a nice touch. They charged $15 more per extra car, seemed ‘nickel dimey’.

The site was great. Unfortunately bathrooms were out of order when we got there and the water was shut off.

Our site had a fallen tree across the area that would’ve been a tent site. And the table was bent over so that the surface was on an angle. We had to scramble to find a way to stay close to our family’s other camp site and it was frustrating. The fallen tree should have been removed by whomever felled it (I’m assuming the Forrest service). Or our assigned site #53 should not have been listed as an available site (the parking was not even long enough for a trailer so it’s not possible to camp in a tent or trailer).