Rancho Seco Recreation Area

The location is in the countryside, so it's a little further out than some - but that's why you come out here! The lake is beautiful, with trees and wildlife. The dog park is large, with grass, and on the end of the lake. Site #9 has a bit too much slope down towards the back, so we were not quite level. We air level, so a 5th wheel or trailer can probably get level. The best sites are 1-6, but 1-10 have 50A.

Our visit was in January 2022, and we just booked January 2023, so that's our strongest feedback.

Nearly had the place to ourselves on a weekday night in early April. Perfect weather, spacious campsites, spectacular sunset colors over the lake and sunrise over the grazing fields. Fair cellular reception for T Mobile and Verizon (2 bars each). It’s at least a 30 min drive on 2-lane roads to get here though from CA-99, so not that convenient for just a one-night stopover, but worth it for the peace and quiet. Check in was over an intercom after hours, and be aware that there is no access at all if you arrive after 10pm!

I was very happy to find a campground that was open during the lockdown. I was surprised at how beautiful and clean it was. It was a long way from the freeway so be prepared for that. The staff was great on the phone and when I arrived. I was put in the dry camping overflow area and was provided my own garbage can. There were eucalyptus trees and others for shade but I had plenty of sun for my solar panel.

Only electric or man-powered boats are allowed on the lake so there is no oil scum on the surface. There is good fishing here.
There is a dog park area with a side for small dogs and one for large dogs, both with access to the water and plenty of trees. My old dog became a puppy for awhile after her off-leash dip in the water and roll in the grass.

There is a nice dirt hiking trail (no dogs allowed there due to livestock.) It is a ways from the campground. This is a large park so there are plenty of places to walk dogs even without the trail.

I always had at least two Verizon bars, sometimes three.

Great location just 40 minutes south of Sacramento. Campground staff are extremely friendly, fun, helpful, and routinely go by checking garbage cans at each site for emptying and during the evening, make rounds asking campers if firewood is needed (firewood is $6/bundle).

We stayed here for two nights just after mid-Nov. When making the reservation online, the majority of RV/trailer sites showed as booked when making the reservation. However, upon arrival and during our stay, most sites were empty, except for roughly 7 very experienced, elder full-timers who were temporarily visiting as well. The majority of campers during our stay had dogs, and like us, completely adhered to the campground's pet rules, which was nice.

The entire campground is very well maintained. Water, 30A/50A electrical, fire ring, grill, picnic table, and garbage can are available at each RV/trailer site. All tent sites have a water spigot, fire ring, garbage can, and picnic table. The dump station is clean with easily accessible entry and exit (free with stay). The dog park is also well maintained and clean, and the entirety of the campground has doggy-do bag stations throughout so that you can clean up after your pooch and properly dispose of the waste. The restrooms are clean, and in fact, smelled pretty darned decent. Upon our arrival the lake was just stocked with fish for those interested in the activity. The lake and beach are also very well maintained.

Many amenities such as groceries, food, fuel and what-not are about a 15 minute drive from the park near residential areas if additional supplies are needed.

TIP: Site 10 is a back-in, but is also accessible via pull-through if you drive immediately past the site, turn left at the corner/mini-intersection, and turn left between a couple of small trees into the relatively open field directly behind the site and between the restrooms. A number of the RV/trailer back-in sites are situated in this manner. This site was on gravel and pretty level. Most RV/trailer sites are on gravel and appeared to be pretty level.

NOTE: Cows roam freely on private, fenced property adjacent to the RV/trailer park. They tend to roam along the fence at night when its pitch black. The sound of leaves rustling may startle you if you're outside because you can't see anything at night absent a flashlight, headlights or other source of lighting. Quick story: While sitting at the fire ring with a warm fire going and relaxing, our pooch suddenly stood quietly and was very alert. Suddenly, I heard leaves rustling, but could not see a darned thing. It was a little unnerving because the park was peacefully, yet, eerily quite. Being startled by our dog quietly standing like a statue and hearing leave moving as though something was headed in our direction, I went inside the Airstream, grabbed a flashlight, and upon viewing where the sound was emanating, viewed 7 all-black cows just strolling along the fence line across the roadway from our site, going on about their business.

We would definitely stay here again to enjoy this well-maintained campground, peaceful environment, and heck, also for the excellent staff..

Located in the rural outskirts of the Sacramento metropolitan area, this is a nice area that offers a nice lake to go fishing. If you need to do a pitstop or want to take advantage of the fishing derby (twice a year), this a nice place to camp. Unfortunately, most of the sites are very close together unless you get one of the handful of outlining RV sites. Because of this, it tends to be noisy throughout the day. If you're willing to deal with this, this location should not be an issue for you.

Personally, I fish this area quite a bit and doing an overnighter to serve this purpose was more out of convenience rather than choice. There are many other places I would prefer to go as a local.

If you're passing through or getting away from the urbanized environments, this could be a good option for you. It's decent enough for a couple of nights with hook-ups (power and water with a dump station available). There is tent camping as well right next to the water, but they're very close to each other. This can be very crowded during the Summer months. Be warned of this.

Note: When making online reservations, there's an $8 fee on top of the $20/night fee. This is reflected in the price paid.