Bumping Lake Campground

We had booked a couple sites in the lower campground loops for a long weekend of group camping. Sites 47 and 49. There is one water source in the lower campground, a typical forest service hand pump. Water was cold and clear and quite potable, but you will work for it. Water is available from taps located every few campsites in the upper loop. Sites vary in how level they are. As I recall, 47 was more level than 49, but we still had to dig out the leveling blocks to augment the hydraulic jacks.

Plenty of site vacancies but the sites remain reserved. Too bad. There were at least two adjacent sites near us that had reservations all weekend, but nobody arrived, thus preventing other campers from using those sites.

Sites are nicely located, not squished together with plenty of vegetation between the two. Like a lot of other Forest Service camp sites, location of site amenities can be strange. My picnic table and fire ring were at the back of my site and not on my curb side, making the campsite kind of inconvenient to the rig.

Most camp site parking pads are small gravel at the lower campground, with only a couple that are fully paved. The upper campground has more fully paved sites.

No cell service or any kind. Our campers had both AT&T and Verizon and both were non-existent.

A pleasant surprise at a Forest Service campground, a dump station. Dumping is not included in your campsite fee and was $10 as of this writing. Considering the low cost of the camp sites, and additional $10 to dump and not carry all that waste and water home is a huge plus.

The road to Bumping Lake is very bumpy. Paved and “maintained”, yes, but with some poorly repaired potholes and a lot of very rough sections of road. Hit a couple of seemingly innocuous dimples in the road that completely rearranged the contents of a cabinet or two.

We will be back.

Arrived without reservations, most sites had “reserved” signs, but many without campers. Pit toilets were clean, but be aware of choosing a site too close as the odors downwind travel. Incredibly quiet, very peaceful, lots of trees and well spaced sites. Also note: Bumping Lake is on a flight plan for naval air trainings, it’s fun to watch F-18 Super Hornets scream overhead a couple times during the day, shattering the quiet. Swimming areas along many campsite are fun to explore.