Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area

Driving into the park, we thought "what a beautiful park". And it was. We had a pull through site on the water; roads were paved, there was grass which was a welcome site after so many parks were just dust and dirt. We rode our bikes around the park and down to the boat launch and store. However, the coots are all over....and so is their poop. There was a concrete place to put chairs on but we had to tiptoe around duck poop to get there. And there are flies! Two or three came inside every time the door was opened, and the side of our car would get covered in them. It just wasn't pleasant and I'm glad we didn't stay more than 2 nights. If it weren't so far off I-5, it would be a good place to overnight.

Sorry, but I can't remember what we paid here as we reserved it a week or two ahead of time - just put 30 as it was somewhere in that range. We wanted a last night stop somewhere in this area after a week's trip, so picked this as we like water features. While the campground is laid out nicely - in two big u shape roads and all sites are long pull thrus, it was the lack of camper control and common courtesy that was unacceptable. We were here in September, 2020 during COVID. There had to be 15 or so people in the site across the road from us - well behaved, but there is a 10 person limit. And then there was the birthday party in the site next to them... literally 60+ people (we saw only one mask) with amplified music on two giant speakers. Their friends kept showing up and parking in the empty site next to us. The Sheriffs came 4 times... on the 2nd or 3rd time they should have been asked to leave. The trash and mess in the morning was actually quite funny. Also in a crowded situation I don't like seeing dogs off leash. And we have a dog... Just not our style... and maybe bad luck to be by the campers from hell. But I did do a campground review video as mid-week non-summer might be ok!

We very much enjoyed our stay here. There were a few quirks but overall this campground had gone on our "favorites" list.
We stayed Tuesday through Friday in late February. With being midweek we are very few neighbors and the rest of the park was dead.
We opted for the extra $1 a night for a water front site which was totally worth it. The sites are huge and very well spaced apart. You are about 50ft to the waters edge.
All the sites are pull throughs which are fantastic when you have a tow vehicle.
This lake and facility are quite large. Tons of areas of explore. There's a full quickie Mart store but wasn't open when we were there.

So on to the some of the issues brought up by other reviewers:

The smell of cows, we barely smelt it one night and it wasn't bad. If you travel at all around in the back countries you're gonna run across being near a cow field. You get used to it.

Bird noise: There are hundreds of ducks and other birds that do some singing/chirping in the morning, we rather enjoyed this and so did the cats.

The water: the water is canal water, we did not swim not had any desire to. It's not very clean but to camp by and enjoy it, it's perfect.

Okay so my biggest complaint is their extra vehicle fee.

We have a class c motorhome that we flat tow a Jeep Wrangler behind. They wanted $12 extra per day for it Jeep if I unhooked out. Needless to stay we didn't unhook the jeep and avoided the extra fee. These extra fees are rediculous. I'm only ever driving one vehicle at a time.

Anyways. Other than that we love this Park and it's proximity to i5 with full hookups and the price.

Verizon download speed 2mbs.

We have camped here every Summer the last three years for one night as a layover as we work our way home down south from NoCal. Unfortunately, we have had some bad experiences here. As you can see it could be quite the oasis off the 5 fwy. Three years ago "day trippers" were parked in our reserved camping spot for about 40 minutes before they showed up off a boat to remove two of their cars. At that time, staff was not sure what to do to help us. This year, our spot was even more dirty then previous years. Trash was everywhere in our site. For $48 for the site (including reservation fee) and $5 for the puppy, there should be an attempt by staff to clean up the sites. We tend to arrive around 4 pm so timing should not be an issue. I can tolerate a bit of trash but, after ten solid years of camping this is by far the worst. 4.0 stars because of the lake and mainly because the awesome sunsets we have had here. A very low 1/2 star for cleanliness, which weighs heavily. Too bad...

Surprised to discover that even without a reservation we were charged the $8 reservation fee. The attendant said during "peak" season this is their policy. Dogs are an additional $5/dog (limit 2) but they did not charge us for ours.

All the sites are u-shaped pull throughs and the outer ring sites border the lake and most have unobstructed views. The sites are MASSIVE and each has a couple trees, not much shade in most however.

It's worth noting they have a "no swimming" policy and dogs must be kept on a 6ft leash at all times. Big centrally located playground and basketball courts.

This is a well run county park with full hook up and beautiful waterfront views. There is lots of space between sites and they are all pull along sites for easy in and out. Even the non waterfront spots have water views because the sites are staggered. Full hook ups and each site has its own trash bin. Nice. We have always been here on a weekday, off season. I imaging on the weekends in the summer it can get quite noisy. There is no swimming allowed, but there have always been a motorized watercraft or two buzzing around. Fishing is allowed. Cell service was strong for AT&T.

The first impression of the campground was very good, lots of space and plenty of greenery. However, the restrooms ruined our total experience! We dreaded each time we had to go to the restroom. toilets seats were missing as well as locks but that wasn't the worst of it. Flies and insects everywhere and that even after it was "cleaned", which just meant hozing down the floor with some water I fear...
The showers were in the same state and really disgusting, we showered in swimwear in record time just to be out of there.

While you could swim in the lake, the water didn't look very appealing. Good for people with big RV's with their own facilities to have a place to take out your boat but certainly avoid at all cost with small campers or with tents....