McConnell State Recreation Area

This place was empty except for one other campsite and it was lovely! The bathrooms were clean but rugged at my end of camp. On the day use end they were much nicer. The showers were down there too but I didn’t use them. Cell service was good enough to work on zoom all day when I was here. Mornings were a little ripe with fertilizer from surrounding farms but it burned off with the fog and was actually fine. The coyote yips close by at night kept me close to the van cuz I’m chicken. I saw a ranger drive through once but otherwise nothing else. I would definitely stay here again.

We stayed here in September, 2020 - had to totally rearrange our plans due to fires, so this was a random un-planned stop. The ranger assigned our spot and that ended up being nice as we did not have to un-hook (lazy and for one night, why un-hook if we don't have to). Our site was a pull-thru, which was more of a wide spot in the road. Nice trees and a really nice day use area with river access! It was hot, so being able to get in the river (nice swimming hole) was a plus. Dogs are not permitted on the beach, so our Lab pup was sad (but what she doesn't know won't hurt her). Rangers were really nice - there was a homeless woman in her car with loads of stuff that they had to deal with as well as we had to deal with mosquitos... other than that nice! Easy access as we travel the 99 often.

Beside hwy 99, easy to reach, paved road, only cash, no cards, sites are not too bog but as we were the only rv we fit into no 17 very well, in fact we occupied no 15 and 17 with our 25 ft rig with view on an open trash container (what for the bear foodstorage?)
Shower ( cannot lock the door) needs token (75 c for 3 min), not clean and a bit rotten, only 1 coathook, no bench drinking water yes but no dump

This park is only a short distance off of busy Hwy 99, but is a world apart. Located on the banks of the Merced River the park has an abundance of large oak and sycamore trees. We stayed here on 2/13/2015, and only one other camper showed up. No rangers or host were on site. The grass needed to be mowed, the campsites raked, and the bathrooms and showers repaired. But, we loved the quiet setting and the abundance of wildlife, birds, squirrels, fish and coyotes. We would definitely return. Twenty camping sites, no hook-ups, & no dump station.