My family and I spend the long weekend (from 6/19- 21/09) at Calavaeras Big Trees Stat Park. It is located 10 minutes above Arnold, CA in the Southern Sierra Nevada. Below is the account of our stay and some tips on how to make your stay there more enjoyable.
Getting to the Campground – No Wide Turns
Upon driving into the park, we were so stunned by the beauty of the forrest that we missed our turn for the campsite and we ended up on a dead-end road, which once had been the RV dump station area (now not in service). However, that was blocked off by some very heavy logs, yes, we did try to move them but couldn’t, because making a U-turn was impossible.
As we worked on trying to turn our travel trailer around in the dead-end road, we attracted the attention of a state park ranger who came to assist us in backing out of our mess (which was about 5 car lengths out with cars parked on either side). It was a real nail biter and we were tired of driving so it just added to the frustration of being at the camp and not yet at the campsite. We made it though and the Ranger followed us in and helped us back into our wide and expansive site. He was great! Thank you Barry!
About the Sites
The sites at Big Trees are expansive and that is a plus, however, many are close to Highway 4 so they suffer from highway traffic noise (not what you want to hear at a high sierra camp site). We have done a bit of legwork and we’ll recommend the sites we think you should look for when you go.
What we didn’t expect was a spigot that wasn’t set up to accept a regular water hose. So while there is water…you have to find a way to actually get it into the RV. We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy fix. On the second day we did buy an extra water hose and we cut off one end in order to make it larger to fit over the spigot. That helped us out but we weren’t able to really cut off all the water from spraying out all over. We will keep this modified hose and a few clasps within our trailer in case this happens again.
We didn’t have electricity and were a little concerned if we could make the two days on the battery power we have with the trailer. We also did not have a sewer hook up at the site and had to conserve water and how we used our bathroom. We decided it was only for those nighttime, and early morning nature calls and that by no means would we ever be doing number 2 there. We used the nice bathrooms that were there at the campgrounds. We did great! We washed our dishes outside with a collapsible plastic side-by-side sinks and used our outdoor shower to clean up under so that our water usage did wash way into the ground…versus into our tank. We left with only 1/3 full tanks and drove all the way to where we store the trailer where we can use their dump station.
All the Fun
Big Trees State Park has a wonderful camper activity program. On Friday night we took in a sing along at the campfire area. It was quite good. The two who were leading the sing along seemed to be regulars and had strong voices. They did a lot to involve the children in the audience and had a round of jokes, which both our little hams (Ben 7 and Sam 4) had to participate in twice! Though we still can’t quite figure out their jokes, they both thought they were hilarious! The evening finished off with marshmallows over the campfire! We made smore’s as we always have to do at least once on our trips!
On Saturday morning the kids took in the Jr. Ranger programs and they were great! Ben got to explore and find bones of little creatures that were eaten by owls and Sam learned all about butterflies and made a butterfly kite. In the afternoon we took out our new Rockport Old Town Canoe and had fun on a small man made like called White Pine Lake, which is just a few miles from the park. This was fun and we enjoyed breaking in the canoe and finding a nice beach to picnic on. On our way back we went ahead and drove up to the Stanislaus River and sat along the riverbank where the kids could throw in rocks and just enjoy the sound of the rushing water.
Though not all of us got to go on hikes, I did manage to get in a walk and was amazed by the Big Trees for which this park is named. The trees are over 2000 years old and massive giants. It was very peaceful and tranquil and would be an enjoyable 1-mile hike for any family.
On our trip the campsites were full of families enjoying the first few weeks off of school. Our neighbors all had kids and that is where our kids chose to spend their time, playing with the other kids and that really what camping is all about for the kids… meeting new friends who are enjoying the great outdoors as well.
When we go to Big Trees again….
We’ll be sure to turn into the campgrounds….very important.
We’ll also try to go to one of the campsites 4-12 (See North Grove Campground map below). They are far enough away from the traffic noise, but close to activity areas. If you want to get really away from it, you can stay at the Oak Hollow Campground in the park. It is a few miles into the park through a narrow paved road. Though if you have a large RV (28’ plus) I wouldn’t recommend it.
We’ll seek out more hiking, be sure to take in the Campfire singing on Friday nights, go canoeing, maybe at another lake (Alpine and Spicer Lakes are close by). Be prepared with the modified hose contraption. We know our battery power can handle a 2-day trip, we only used 1/3 of our battery power. All in all….we’ll be ready to have a nice, relaxing time at Big Trees again!
