Need suggestions for Campgrounds near Stockton, CA

[kbfeip]

Will be picking up a new TT Thursday a.m.  Would like to camp with hook-ups east of Stockton off Hwy 88 somewhere.  Ultimate destination is Mt. Aukum, just east of Plymouth to the in-laws.  (Not to worry...great folks, love 'em to death, and super at Russian Rummy!)

We'll be passing Ione, Plymouth, etc.

Have done the 49er Village thing, and hope to learn of other options.  Trailer is 30'.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Tom]

It's been a few years, but we stayed at Lake Camanche (aka Camanche Reservoir) a number of times. Closer to Stockton is Flag City RV Resort in Lodi, a nearly-new campground on Hwy 12, near the intersection with I-5.

There are numerous other places at the various lakes/reservoirs, but not necessarily on your hwy 88 route.

Closer to home are any number of places around the Delta - see here.

 

[buckle823]

Stay away from Windmill Cove RV Park. This is the single worst campground we have stayed at to date. The campsites are in the middle of an oval of permanent residents. It is dirty and way off of the beaten path. It took us 30 minutes to get to the place off of the 5 freeway. The managers were watering down the dirt sites, and sprayed our clean truck and trailer with dirt and mud. The pictures in the website do not tell a true story. The river is right next to the campground, but it is brown.

 

[caltex]

Buckle823, that's interesting.  I have boated by that park many times but didn't know it was listed as an RV park.  I assumed that everyone was a permanent resident. I can believe that it would be very hard to get to, and since it doesn't look that good from the water, I would agree with your lack of recommendation.  If you want to be on the water, the sites at River Point Landing (Buckley Cove) would be much better.

 

[Tom]

Robert,

I listed Windmill Cove in my file of RV resorts on the Delta although, like you, had previously thought it was full of permanent residents. OTOH I believe they went through a change of ownership and the new folks were cleaning things up. But we've seen/heard that story many times on the Delta over the years.

I have to agree that Riverpoint would be a much better location.

As for the complaint of "brown water", I assume the river was in flood. Delta water is brackish at best, but turns brown when they let water out of the dam(s) upriver &/or we have heavy rains, either of which churns up the mud.

 

[kbfeip]

We had decided to head for Angel's Camp RV Park, but nobody answered the phone after several attempts.  Instead we headed for Tower Park Marina, which either up until recently was a KOA I believe.

Anyway, $34 a night, full amenities incl. free wireless, and level gravel sites.  The sunset over the Delta tonight was beautiful.

We too delivery on our new TT today, and so far couldn't be more pleased.  The short trip from French camp to Lodi wasn't really enough to get a feel for how the truck handles the load, but so far so good.  The Hemi engine has plenty of pulling power, accelerating just fine up the fwy on ramps.  It's not mountain grades pulling, but I get the feeling it will do just fine.  We had the Equalizer hitch system installed, and on an incredibly windy day (Tom can vouch for that) we only felt slight tugging at the tail of the truck in heavy cross winds.  That was enough for me to pay attention to, but remember I'm used to pulling a 20" boat with my 34' class A....nothing moves that around much.

The trailer bouncing caused the tail end of the truck to porpoise slightly until the road settled.  Nothing overly disconcerting, but I hope to learn more about the set up of the hitch system for alternate ride settings.  The default is set to 5.

As for brakes, with the controller we had plenty of stopping power.  I mean lots.  It felt very reassuring.

The best news is how wonderful it is to be inside such a roomy RV!  Thirty four foot of class A without a slide is no comparison to thirty foot of TT with a slide.  And so much value for our $.  New appliances, remote control heat and A/C, super insulation and comfort, we're happy campers...big time!


 

 

[Tom]

... we headed for Tower Park Marina, which either up until recently was a KOA I believe.

It became a KOA in the last year or so and IMHO went downhill as a result. This used to be a favorite of mine. But, when I checked out some sites for a friend recently, I called him to say "stay away".

We still visit the marina by boat periodically and were there with a group at Thanksgiving. The restaurant is very good; They have good food at very reasonable prices and the restaurant owner and staff fall over you with service.

I can't figure out what it is about KOA's, but they appear to have extra staff on hand who don't do anything. They drive around in yellow golf carts, but don't appear to understand who the customer is.

We stayed at a KOA last night and, when I tried to check in, 3 people looked on while one person fielded phone calls and I waited until she got off the phone. The other 3 people, all dressed in yellow 'KOA' shirts, took it in turns to tell me "she'll be with you shortly".

 

[kbfeip]

We've had good service here so far, and with a pretty empty campground it's hard to complain.

I'll post further if anything changes.