Codorniz Recreation Area

Stayed early November. Rate is for a full hookup site with senior IA pass.

If you are looking to completely unplug from the world, this is your spot. You won’t be communicating with anyone outside the campground during your stay. It’s 24 miles / 40 minute drive each way (on mostly newly-paved roads) to town to make phone calls or do anything online. Wifi at the check-in booth only, and not reliable.

Google satellite leads you to believe it’s green here, with trees between sites. Nope. Sites are wide open to everyone. When in campgrounds, we prefer some foliage.

Friendly camp host & ranger: Very safe & quiet, and the surrounding hilly landscape is pretty. Long drive to what’s left of the lake. Tarantulas(!) and LOTS of flies & here in the cooler months, rattlesnakes during the heat.

Very hectic/busy town (Madera) with 100 or more traffic lights (which you will get all red). Went to a too-expensive restaurant that was so thick with flies we couldn't eat there. Walmart was useless, and no quality grocery stores.

Overall odd experience, will not be returning to the area. Just not worth it. Would rather boondock and have good cell service anywhere else, or be near a town with better amenities.

Remote campground but well worth the drive. We went in mid-January so it was chilly but beautiful once the fog lifted. The site we picked was near the entrance but also near the restrooms and showers so it balanced out. Very well maintained campground. Although the water level of the lake was extremely low, it was still very nice. The sites with the best views seemed to be the non-hookup sites. Would definitely go back again.

This was our first visit here and our first visit to an Army Corps of Engineers Campground. We decided to get a spot with full hook-ups, EWS. The cost per night was $30, but with the senior access pass, it was $15. We didn't use the restrooms/showers, but I peeked in. Very clean, actually the whole campground is well maintained. There is wi-fi, but it is mediocre. If you are close to the entrance booth, you get a better signal. With T-Mobile, our cell service was inconsistent.

The reservoir was quite low but apparently people were able to go fishing nearby. Other amenities include playground, horseshoe pit, amphitheater. The near town is Chowchilla, about 20 miles away.

We generally prefer boondocking but this was a nice change. We plan to return.

Side note: There are tarantulas here. They aren't particularly dangerous and they're quite cute. We only saw 2 in our campsite and several on the roads. But if you have a spider phobia, this might not be the place for you.

I had low expectations considering it was a July weekend and we were exploring the area with no campsite reservations. There were lots of sites available here and we had a good experience. As others have noted, the public road in is in poor shape, but the campground itself is very well maintained. Showers and toilets were clean and the sites were level and easily accessed. I consider myself to have good navigational skills, but I had one heck of a tough time figuring out where I was in this campground at dusk. The lake was extremely low, which I guess is no surprise for summer of '21 in California. We chose a non-electric site but were advised by the ranger that we could not run our generator after 10PM, so he moved us to a full hookup site, which thankfully was available (albeit right by the entrance - not what I would have chosen). Easy access to the south entrance of Yosemite from here. I cannot figure out why people pay twice the cost of this place for "full-service" RV parks where they pack you in like sardines. If we were repeating our trip, we'd go back for sure.

We stayed here late December, 2019. Rain was expected, so we wanted a hook up site, as our solar wasn't going to do much with all of the clouds. Surprised to see all of the hook up sites, except one were full with really large RVs! Grabbed site #2 - super nice ranger got us set up. The site faced the wrong way for us - our view in front of the trailer faced the ranger station, so we sat behind the trailer and then we had a great view! Nice walking - beautiful rocks and some really cool tent / smaller RV sites. If we came back, we would grab one of the dry sites down by the water or in a smaller loop - either 5 or 10. The lake looked like amazing kayaking! Hot free showers and I mean HOT!!! The road in was in really bad shape though... horrible shape actually. Other than that - all good!

CG had very few visitors during my January stay. Peaceful area $15/n electric/water with Sr Pass. Surprised to find good OTA television and near zero Consumer Cellular bars. Free wi-fi was also useless . . . one bar, could connect but not move data.

Very Well designed and maintained (clean) USG campground. Will return - - - can do fine without cellphone or internet ;)

Stopped for one night on Route 99. About 30min to/from highway, but great off the beaten path recreation area. Surprisingly busy within the recreation area, as the roads leading up to it are deserted (and horribly maintained). Absolutely no gas/food/services once you leave the highway.
Generous sites. Ours had a covered picnic area with full hook ups (30amp/water/sewer). Multiple neighbors were partying with music and fires, but everyone seemed to respect quiet hours. Would definitely stay here again, and longer.