RV’ing California’s Wine Country – Thousand Trails Russian River

When planning our next stop after the job in Williams, California, we knew we wanted someplace fairly close for a shorter travel day, and we planned for some rest time. We also wanted to stay somewhere in our Thousand Trails membership. That’s how we found Thousand Trails Russian River in Cloverdale.

We were in luck to find 5 nights available on short notice, so we booked it and planned our route. While it only offered 30A hookup and water, but not sewer, we weren’t too worried and just planned to use the bathhouse.

If you read last week’s blog A Week of RV Life- On the Job In California, you know that we had to take the longer route up and over Clear Lake since the shorter route was just not safe for RVs our size.

Climbing the mountains and going through warm valleys, we saw beautiful scenery, but the hot temps made us wonder if we would regret having only a 30A site. Luckily, since putting in our chill cube and having a soft start on our other AC unit, we have found we can run both of our ACs (and not much else) by using the 30A and our batteries. Thank goodness for solar! Plus, we got lucky and scored a spot under the trees.

We arrived at the park with plenty of daylight left (they don’t allow after dark arrivals due to the narrow and curvy roads in the park). It’s a pretty steep hill coming in, so if you are a big rig like us and can’t fit into their swooped parking area, you’ll find a flatter spot just past it in the road.

When checking in, Lauren was awesome to chat with and suggested a few things for us to do. Obviously, the river on property was an option since the campground has two access points, and they have books, games and movies to borrow or play billiards at the lodge.

She told us about the Charles M. Schultz Museum, Peanuts comic creator (check out that blog here) and that Sonoma County was home to tons of wineries and we’d enjoy them just as much as Napa Valley, without driving as far, which we ended up finding and visiting the Coppola Winery (check out that blog here). She also told us about several little towns in the area to explore, and one of our favorites for coffee (we restocked our supplies at both Black Oak Coffee and Roasters and the Flying Goat Coffee, right on the downtown square) and treats (like delicious ice cream at the Noble Folk Ice Cream and Pies with clearly marked gluten free and vegan options) that drew us back several times was in Healdsburg.

With options, and a map to the park, we headed for our spot.

We set up the rig to cool off and went to explore for a bit while the AC worked it’s magic. When we came home, we made dinner and started checking out maps and planning our visits for the week. We also had to get groceries and fuel, so planned for those stops as well.

The weekend was busy and crowded, as expected in the summer, but everyone was nice and not super noisy. By Monday, the park cleared out and it became super peaceful. There were lots of pups, but everyone seemed to be responsible and keeping them secured and cleaning up after them. There are dog waste stations around the park, including down by the river and beach area.

The roads are pretty curvy and steep in some parts, and some are loops or one way, so be sure to check your map so you don’t get lost like I did on a run one day. But they do have lots of trails through the woods, and we encountered deer several times during the week.

There’s trash and recycling dumpsters near the bathhouses in several locations, and the dump station is next to the main bathhouse.

The bathhouses have 3 bathroom stalls and 2 shower stalls in the ladies room, and the men’s room had 2 of each. One of each of those were handicap in both. They have a door code so the doors stay shut so critters stay out of them. Since there’s lots of wildlife, that’s a good thing!

For Thousand Trails bathhouses, I’d rate these middle of the road. They aren’t the best I’ve been to, but certainly not the worst. You will find sand in them since a lot of people are tubing and swimming in the river, but they are maintained. Some spiders in corner up high, but windows are open for circulation and it is the woods, so that’s to be expected. In the two bathhouses closest to us, at least one bathroom stall was out of order in both and the shower latch was broken in one, requiring the use of tape on the wall to secure the door. But I did like that they had hooks and a bench that stayed dry and the shower head wasn’t aimed at the door opening, plus it had a shelf to put bath products on, something missing from many of them! Even with the busy weekend, I had no problem getting to an open shower quickly.

This campground has that woodsy older campground feel to it, but in a good way, in our opinion. We felt relaxed after our stay here and will keep it on our list if we are through this way again. If you are a Thousand Trails member, this is part of the Camping Pass, so as long as you have this region, you should be good! They do allow non-members to camp here, too. And if you don’t have an RV, no worries–we saw lots of tent campers and they have cabins available, like most of the RV parks we’ve stayed out.

If you’re not a Thousand Trails member, but are interested, use our referral sign up, linked here, and we will get your information to Sharon and Warren Lewis, our specialists, to help you find a membership that works for your budget and camping style!

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