Newhalem Creek Campground

We stayed here in late September, one weeks before the closure date. Loops A and B open FCFS, loop C closed. Bathrooms open, dump station open with water for fill. There were only about 4 other campers in loop B with us- plenty of sites to choose from. Surprising number of pull throughs, some too tight for our 32’ fifth wheel. We ended up driving the loop backwards to orient the trailer the correct direction for our stairs to open away from the road since there was no one around. Many of the pull throughs are on the inside of the loop which orients them incorrectly for most trailers.

Lots of trees and trails right from the campground, all dog friendly. We enjoyed our stay and would consider coming back if ever in the area. Some trails further down hwy 20 are closed due to fires, but there are plenty of others to choose from.

Dump station very nice with black water flush and potable fill water available.

Verizon speeds were good at 15Mbps download and 9 upload. ATT was a trickle at 2/0.2. TMobile was roaming onto ATT. Verizon taken with a roof mounted Pepwave antenna, ATT with a smartphone.

The access roads are in good shape though you have to cross a narrow one lane bridge to get to the campground. The week after Memorial Day this place was deserted. It was very difficult to get into our site because of the narrowness of both the site and the road. The site was unusually narrow. Even with parking the tires as far to the driver's side as we could, we only had about a foot of pavement on the camp side. The actual site area ends up being behind your rig.

The site was level asphalt. Loop C is fairly wooded but less so than the other two loops. Solar production would be limited in most sites but generators are allowed.

There isn't much of a mountain view. There's a modest amount of road noise that varies based on the traffic level to the visitor's center nearby.

There is a dump station at the campground entrance that's fully functional but only has one sewer hole. Potable and rinse water are available. It's a pretty tight dump station and we ran over the curb despite going slow.

We arrived on 9/20 just after the reservation-only loops closed for the season. So the two FC-FS loops were FREE! We went to the NCNP visitor center first to check on the rate and visit the very interesting museum. We drove around both loops and picked an open pull-thru site in Loop A about 3:30. But many other sites were still open until 5-6 pm, when most were filled. Water was available at the dump and the restroom-shower building, but no hookups. Huge shade trees, asphalt roads and sites, good separation, and bushes provided the type of privacy we expect in Federal campgrounds. Several nice trails accessing the river provided some needed exercise after a long day's drive. No highway noise, so we spent a very quiet and restful night.

Sites are spaced out well. Quiet. Tall trees, a lot of sites have a lot of tree cover. Since there aren’t any hookups, keep that in mind with a solar setup. We had a hard time keeping our batteries topped up without using a generator due to the cloud cover on some days and shade trees when it was sunny out. The bathrooms should have been clean, but it seems the average camper is a filthy pig. Piss on the seats, poop smeared on the seats, you name it. The poor cleaning lady had a rough time. Don’t be an inconsiderate jerk. Just because you don’t mind sitting in someone’s pee doesn’t mean others do. Lift the damn seat if you’re taking a leak! Campground is close to some nice hikes. Two really nice ones (Trail of the Cedars and the River loop) are right in the campground. Potable water spigot near each restroom, not in the loops. Park rangers are helpful and friendly.

While this is a dry camping campground, there is a full service dump station which makes it easy to stay here. The fee is due to having the annual pass. There is a lot of "mess" left over from a forest fire, but don't let that mire the view. Overall, it is great. Lots of good trails within the park. Be sure to go on the one to the campfire. No cell service or wi-fi in the visitors center. The towns of Newhalem and Diablo are company towns housing the workers for the dams and power plant. There is one general store in Newhalem. Definitely spend time exploring the Diablo Lake area. We had about 15 hours of steady rain which made all the waterfalls bigger and the river rushing more. There are waterfalls everywhere.

We made reservations for pull-thru site 103. While we were setting up in this downhill site the park volunteers came by and said that several flatter sites were open and they gave us a list. We selected back in site 111 which was very flat and level. Pretty quiet here in early June with scattered showers for 3 of the 4 days here. If you take a chance and come here without reservations you can snag a site for 3 nights for free any time the campground is open. FYI a siren goes off at noon everyday. No announcement, just a siren. The rangers say that was used to tell the workers on the dam to break for lunch.

I travelled here with a 35’ 5th wheel and parked in site #86 on C Loop which is a dry, PT spot close to the bathhouse. Roads/site were asphalt and like many NP campgrounds, they were a little narrow. It was easy to get around, but there were a couple of turns I had to watch closely. While my site was a PT, I ended up backing in due to the sharp curve on one end and the location of some trees. It was pretty easy to back in. Sites 49, 103, 5 and 38 would be better for bigger rigs. Bathrooms were cleaned daily and were convenient for the whole loop. No showers. There was some shade, but pretty good opening to the sky for my solar panels. Very spacious sites and a very quiet campground. Level site, no extra boards needed. There were several easy hikes right from the campground into Newhalem and that accessed the creek. Lots of kids had fun playing in the creek. No wifi, didn’t check OTA, but had 4 bars with Verizon. I would definitely stay here again.

Campground was really pretty. Some sites are level; mine was certainly not and was one big hill. Since the dump station is still closed due to COVID (which makes little sense now as we've learned that COVID is not transmitted from surfaces), the only water spigots are far from the road and can't be accessed by RVs. I have a pretty small water tank so this was annoying. I went in expecting very little cell service based on recent reviews, but I had three bars of AT&T 5G so I was good to go for work. Ran my generator without anyone taking issue since the site is in the trees so I wasn't getting anything from solar.

We spent three nights here in July 2021. When we first arrived I was a little disappointed. While far from on top of each other, we were closer to neighbors than I would have liked, and a lot of the trees around the campsites were down and left on the ground around the campsites. No showers but working flush toilets of so-so cleanliness. However, by our second day I was appreciating how lucky we were to have a base camp to explore the surrounding area - beautiful views of alpine mountains, lakes, and waterfalls. There are three loops. The A and B loops are obviously older and have more level sites. The C loop sites lack bear boxes, and several are a substantial distance from the bathroom facilities. However, the C loop has views through the woods of the mountains that are not visible from the A or B loop. There Is a river loop trail between loops A and B that is worth taking, and there is a trail from the B loop to the Visitor center. Behind the visitor center, do not miss the walk to the look out point, as the view from there is picture-perfect. We were there from a Saturday to a Tuesday in June. On the weekend, there were number of families who exercised no control over their kids and it was a bit like camping at a playground well into the evening. At one point taking my dog for a walk we were almost run into by kids running laps around the campsite on their bikes. By Sunday night, however, it was calm, quiet and peaceful.