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Baja_Man's avatar
Baja_Man
Explorer
Apr 30, 2016

Lake Oroville, CA

Considering visiting this lake/reservoir in early July and was hoping someone could comment on this State Recreation area. Water levels are close to full so I would imagine this place will be busy this summer, especially considering its hasn't been full for many years.

I have looked at the CA state website for info, but was wanting more first hand experience

Of interest to me....

Amenities for boating i.e., launch ramp, marina with slips, condition of such

RV spaces and sizes (wide, level, room for a car, cleanliness, etc

Restrooms/showers....enough, where located, regularly cleaned, etc

Best FULL hook up RV spaces near Marina

And anything else you can share.

Thanks!

13 Replies

  • I stayed at a rv park at the casino on south side of town, cant remember the name but it was a nice rv park and they brew their own beer at the casino.

    That is where I will stay if ever in that area again..
  • Here's a suggestion. If there isn't a specific reason you're thinking Oroville, consider Lake Shasta. My wife's parents live in Redding, so we've spent lots of time on Shasta & visited virtually all the major impoundments between there & Temecula. (This was done before the regs involving invasive species.). Shasta is hands down our favorite. Any that allow body contact will be nuts around the Fourth. Shasta is the kind of lake where the ramps on weekends resemble the ramps at Lake Perris or Silverwood midweek summer. We've been in Redding on the Fourth, but I refused to deal with the crowds on the lake. They'd be leaving shortly anyway. There were always daily rental slips available. We used Bridge Bay. (Reserve now.) Redding has a number of excellent RV parks. Mountain Gate is very good & very close to Shasta. Premiere is where we stay because of its proximity to the family. JGW in Anderson is further away, but very nice. Some of the sites there are very close to the Sac River. Make reservations now. While Lake Oroville was very nice, it's proximity to Sac probably will make it very crowded at times. Our visit was midweek. It was deserted. But it was at least 2 decades ago. Admittedly, I am biased to Shasta, but I will throw this last tidbit out. Friends of mine that used tow their boats to the River used to ask why I would drive twice as far to go to Shasta. I used to tell them it was because it was twice as good. Two of them finally gave the lake a try. Both, independently told me I was wrong. It was 10x better. Whichever of the impoundments up there you go to, you will realize how comparatively lousy it is in So Cal. (Check the current regulations on the invasive species & boating in the lake(s) you decide to go to. We sold our last Sea Ray about a decade ago because it was getting too cumbersome to rotate between Big Bear, Silverwood, Perris & Diamond Valley the way I liked. I understand it's even worse now.)
  • The 4th may be booked for any rv spaces already. Even the Dam launch site can fill up for launching. There are not a lot of RV parks at or on the lake unfortunately. The lake is beautiful and huge and will be warm and comfortable at that time of year. The fishing can be awesome. Bald Eagles, deer, and lots of other critters can be seen.

    The name of the marina slips my mind but the one major one has a beautiful ramp. As far as slips you need to start making calls now.

    There are a couple of nice RV parks in Oroville so if you can get a slip for the boat your drive will be very short. About 20 minutes or so.

    There are two Indian Casinos and one has a nice RV park. It is fairly new. We stayed there for a weekend trip to get away. We lived just a few miles South of Oroville then. When going to Oroville lake it was a simple day trip for me. Less than an hour from home to launch,.