East Campground

We have stayed at this campground several times as we traveled. It’s a very nice area with fantastic views of the reservoir you will not forget. You can walk down to the rocky shore on a steep trail between campsites.
There are showers and a dump station and the electricity is great to recharge and use air conditioning if it’s hot (there isn’t any shade).
There is very little privacy here, some sites are a little better in placement, but no vegetation really. Any size rig can find a spot here. Rangers are definitely around to check on things.

We arrived mid-afternoon after driving from Salt Lake City towing our 23’ Airstream. The snow capped Ruby Mountain range is the stunning backdrop for site #2, which is the site we chose.

Camping in Nevada state parks is “first come, first served,” and check-in is east here: A self check-in machine is at the entry and it accepts credit cards. Recommended: Drive through the campground first to find your site (and see what’s available) because you need to enter the site number in the machine.

We drove through, thinking we wanted a water view of the South Fork Reservoir, but no spots were open so we took #2. Very happy with our choice. More protected from wind, very level, and also less chance of insects. The views of the Ruby Mountains are gorgeous.

All sites have 50/30 amp power, covered picnic tables, fire rings, and wind/ privacy screens. Clean showers and flush toilets are located centrally in this campground. Our site #2 has a small path that leads right up to it. Potable water is available at spigots throughout the campground. Fill before you park! Dump site is near the park entrance. Firewood is available either through the ranger station or at Khoury’s market in Spring Creek.

Side Note: Khoury’s supermarket in Spring Creek is a full-service market that is fully stocked with fresh produce, a wide selection of meats, other groceries, pre-made foods, and a quality liquor section. I found prices to be quite reasonable. Also, the Ace Hardware in Spring Creek has all your RV supplies.

Activities nearby: Fishing! The South Fork Reservoir is stocked with all kinds of fish: rainbow trout, brown trout, large and small mouthed bass, and channel catfish. My husband couldn’t believe all the fishermen- and they were catching fish! We saw at least three people reel fish out of the water.

Lamoille Canyon and Ruby Mountains offer a wide array of hiking trails, mountain lakes, bird watching, etc. Also, the California Trail Interpretative Center is located three miles west of Elko on I-80 and is so well-done. This is a must-do for any California/ Emigrant Trail history buffs.

We loved this site and plan to return. It was so peaceful at night. And so relaxing and beautiful during the day.

We stopped here hoping to try something different than the RV parks along I-80 driving between UT and CA. It was the end of August and I know camping includes bugs but the bugs were so bad I don’t think I could have sat outside at all, fine for not unhooking passing through but not enjoyable for full camping experience. One thing to note is that we followed the Campendium directions and it lead us to the far side of the lake. The dump station and what appeared to be the hookup sites are actually at the first main entrance as you come in.

We were here 5/18/21 - 5/24/21 and it was sunny, cold and windy. The sites have electric only/covered picnic table and some screen thing (wind screen?). The sites are gravel with a cement pad for the table area. Nice views of the snow capped Ruby Mountains and the reservoir. It was a short drive to visit Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains. They have water spigots dotted around and a dump station. They have toilets and maybe showers, do not know as we did not check them out. The first day we were worried as there was zero AT&T cell service and then all of a sudden there was 2 bars and 60+ down/18 up. There appears to have been a outage.

Easy access from interstate, not too far away. Beautiful lake and the ruby mountains were gorgeous with snow on them. Our site has electric, some also had water. It was $25 a night plus $5 extra if you were from out of state. GREAT AT&T if you work remotely. Speed between 50-70 down. Only a few campers when we visited, mostly open sites.