Cher-Ae Heights Casino

The RV lot is not the best design, kind of a parking free-for-all with everybody doing their own thing, but it worked. We had a lovely view of the ocean from our spot. There are water spigots on one side of the lot and several trash cans. It costs $20 to park, and you can stay up to 3 nights, which we did. The lot is well lit and patrolled regularly. The casino gives $10 credit per day when you join the players club. We went to Bingo, which was awesome, and everyone that worked at the casino was very nice.

The best thing about this spot, that made the $20 well worth it, was the things you could walk to in the surrounding area. Walk south on Scenic Drive about half a mile for access to Baker Beach. There isn’t much of a walking path, but traffic on the road is light enough to make it without much stress. Gorgeous views along the walk, delicious wild blackberries but also a lot of poison oak, so forage carefully. It’s a steep trail down to the beach, but it is well maintained. Wouldn’t recommend doing it with kids or dogs. The beach is very secluded, beautiful rock formations, very soft sand for lounging. Check the tide schedule because there are tide pools with starfish, sea urchin, and sea anemones. Walk half a mile north on Scenic Drive, there’s a ton more wild blackberries on the way and then a pizza spot that does $9.99 for two slices and a beer. Best pizza we’ve had in a while. You can also drive to both spots but we prefer to walk.

This is just the overflow parking lot for the casino, but there is an amazing view. The $20 fee is good for 1, 2, or 3 nights. The casino is very welcoming, and I felt very secure leaving my RV there while we were sightseeing. There are water hook ups, but nothing else. There was no pressure to spend money at the casino either. We did go to the grill for breakfast on our last day.

You pay $20 cash for 1-3 nights to stay in the casino’s overflow parking lot across the street. There is water available and garbage cans. Walking the grounds gave us a lovely view of the water, but we didn’t find any easy beach access. It looks like you should be able to walk down Scenic Drive and find beach access but there isn’t much of a shoulder, so we decided against exploring. Instead, we stopped at Clam Beach a few miles down Hwy 101 and had a lovely time.

The sites would best accommodate 24 ft or smaller rigs backed-in. Larger rigs fit, but there isn’t much room to turn around. We pulled in without unhooking since we were the only ones there, but ended up moving when another larger rig arrived. Probably would not have fit if there were multiple vehicles parked in the lot.

We didn’t visit the casino, other than to pay our camping fee so cannot report on it or the restaurant.

We had 4 bars of Verizon 4G.

To stay here, you have to pay $20 cash to stay up to three nights. You will need to go in and fill out a short form at the Players Club.

Pros: With our Netgear Nighthawk modem (with MIMO antenna), we got 78 mbps down and 15 mbps up on AT&T! Without the modem, we still had two bars LTE of T-mobile.
There’s free water hook-ups and trash!
The casino and the RV lot are clean and well-maintained.
Great location right by a bunch of Redwood parks.
The view is pretty nice- ocean view through some thick trees.
The RV lot is separate from the regular parking and on top of a hill- great for solar!

Cons: I suspect the $20 is to act as a gating mechanism to keep out certain RVers but it seems a bit silly to charge money to park in an empty lot?
While very nice for what it is, it’s still a casino parking lot.
Because it’s a casino, there was quite a bit of noise at night- a tree fell during our stay so there was chainsaw noises at 2 am (I assume the tree had to be cleared from the road so probably nothing they could’ve done about that) and car doors slamming at all hours.

Verdict: Would definitely stay again if I needed a cheap place to stay in the Redwoods for a few days!

Really glad to have this spot near Redwoods NP. Same as others have said, come in from the North. Was a little concerned about cell service (why, oh why do we still talk about "bars" that mean nothing?!) but I was pulling 40 mbps down on my Verizon hot spot so nothing to complain about there! Everyone staying here was nice enough. Some vehicle noise early in the morning with the early risers hitting the road. A few folks with their dogs off leash but comes with the territory. I parked facing the ocean. Being somewhat unlevel doesn't bother me. Locals were celebrating with some fireworks and mortars yesterday evening but wrapped up before sundown. I never saw security in the RV lot but they might have come by after I went to bed.
When you arrive scope out the lot to make sure its for you. Go to the casino to fill out form and pay $20 CASH.

Basically $20 gets you 1-3 nights (all same price) of camping in their RV parking lot. It's not very big and unlevel, but it did the job and we had no complaints. If you park by the blue and white "RV Parking" sign and trash can, it's not hard to get level. The other spots it might be more difficult as they have more slope. There was only two other campers there while we were there for three days in Feb. It's quiet with a view through the trees of the ocean and sunset. Bonus: water spigots you can use to fill if you need to, but no other services besides a trash can. <5 min walk to the casino. Easy in and out as long as you approach from the exit that is north of the casino (the exit south is narrow and unpaved in sections, plus has major dips and holes). Generator quiet time is 10pm-8am. There was a guest wifi for the RV lot that you can get the password from casino when you check in (enough to do basic internet stuff just fine). We were able to get 4G (no LTE) AT&T with our Weboost about 3-4 bars, 1Mbps.

$20 for up to three nights. Agree with all prior reviews. Great spot. Also especially agree with John T.....DO NOT approach from the south along Scenic Drive. That road is barely adequate for a car, let alone an RV. On the other hand the views are to die for, so if you have a toad go back and check them out. Or even walk. Lots of trails down to the water.

The RV parking lot is the second lot on the left at the top of the hill, by the tribal offices, and is marked with an "RV parking" sign. The first lot is the valet parking lot. Back in on the side overlooking the grass. There is a row of water hook-ups along that side. The lot is seriously sloped, but is OK as long as you park in that direction. Go to the desk right inside the door at the casino to pay the $20 (cash only) fee. You can stay up to 3 nights.

Come in from the Trinidad end (Hwy 101 exit 728). DO NOT let your GPS bring you in from the south (exit 726). That road is narrow, potholed and partly single-lane, with a horrendous bump that would ground a low-clearance RV.

There is some local traffic around the RV parking lot, but other than that it was very peaceful, and I could hear the ocean from my trailer. I never heard a sound from the casino parking lot. Verizon 4G was 3 bars, -108 dB, 21 Mbps down and 2 up.

Trinidad is a sleepy little fishing village, and the coast is spectacular. This is a good base for the Redwoods National and State Parks. With my stay here and at the casinos at Loleta, Blue Lake and Smith River, I got a total of 11 nights along the northern California coast for only $31.