Red Rock Canyon Adventure Park

The sites were about 9 feet apart, very crowded. The lift station was not working and seemed to not have been for a few days at least. The bathrooms were worn, a few new toilet seats would have been a good improvement. I didn’t look in the coin operated showers.
The park itself is worth a look, very pretty red cliffs and the “California Road” where wagon ruts were supposed to be visible – we looked hard and did not find any. This used to be a state park, now owned by a person – we don’t need to go back, the sites are too crowded and the smell from the lift station was bad…

This place was such a disappointment. I don't often pay for campsites that aren't inside a National Park, but this place looked so pretty and it was in the location I needed.

I should start by saying that if you book an RV spot (I think they cost around $30) and whatever you're staying in has a toilet, your experience will probably be a lot better than mine. Although very close together, the RV sections seemed fairy nice.

My experience, however, was a little different (if you don't want to read all about my experience & just want the basics, scroll down to the section "the campground"):

I booked my tent site ($20) on their website a few hours before I arrived. I arrived well before sunset, and there was a sign up that said the office closed at sunset. No one was in the office and there was another sign that indicated they would return at 10AM. This wasn't a big deal.

When I booked my site online it told me to select an area (there's three different sections of the park), and then once I arrive I could choose any available campsite. I chose the Walnut Grove area. They have a map on their website showing the areas where there is tent camping. What they fail to mention on their site, is that there isn't any obvious parking for most of these sites in the Walnut Grove area. A couple of the campsites on the map were in what was signed to be a "day use only" area, a couple of the sites on the map looked like walk-in sites, but I had no clue where to park my vehicle, a couple of the sites I just couldn't find, and most of the sites were on the main road that goes through the canyon and had no obvious place to park (I looked for dead or trodden grass near the sites to give me a sign that people were just parking in the grass & didn't see any.) Also, at first it was hard to distinguish between which sites were day use picnic sites and which were campsites, because the website told me the campsite area I chose didn't have fire rings.

I finally decided to just pull onto the grass, but I noticed that multiple campsites had trash at them (most likely from guests using the park during the day). Nearby a dumpster was overflowing with trash, and I eventually saw that every section had one or two dumpsters either filled to the brim or overflowing.

I decided to stop off at the toilets in the Walnut Grove area. To get there you cross a wooden bridge that has wood planks laying over the original structure, which seems a little hazardous for navigating after dark. I could smell the bathrooms (an actual running water bathroom) from the bridge, not a great sign, but it appeared to be coming from the men's. In the women's side were two spiders the size of my palm, one in each stall. (Yes, I am afraid of spiders. In most circumstances I can get over it, but a spider of this size, that didn't seemed particularly frightened by my presence, hanging out close by while I sat on a toilet was a little too much for me in this moment.).

Between the frustration of trying to find a campsite/parking, the overflowing trash, the horrible smelling bathroom, the giant spiders, and the trash at the campsites, I finally decided to check out another area. Despite finding another overflowing dumpster, this area was a little better. The campsites were on a gravel loop, with a cleaner, but still not great bathroom at the front of the loop. At this point, I was hungry, tried, and frustrated, so I just stayed there. The office was still closed when I left in the morning.

I'm not a particularly fussy camper. I don't mind picking up a little bit of trash at a campsite. I frequently camp in areas that don't have toilets or any amenities. But when I pay $20 to camp in a tent, I do expect to have the campsites, the toilets, and the overall campground maintained and cleaned to some acceptable degree.

The campground: You drive down a short, but steep and curvy hill to get into the canyon. The red rocks of the canyon wall give off a pretty glow, especially when the sun is lower in the sky. The park is labeled into three different sections; if you are tent camping I would advise going for the first campground called Canyon Campground. Also, unless you're concerned about it filling up, I would go down and look at the areas before booking one. There are three running water bathrooms throughout the canyon; the toilets themselves look clean, but the bathrooms as a whole don't; also lots of bugs and a couple large spiders inside. There was trash at many of the campgrounds and most of the dumpsters were overflowing with trash.

The area: If you are coming from highway 40 you'll pass through a small town that has a Sonic and a local restaurant or two. Watch your speed here, there was a police officer every time I drove by. Otherwise there's not much nearby.

Booking: You can book online, but they did have envelopes & a drop box by the front office.

Cell service: I could call out, but couldn't text or use internet.

Ok, I found this state park in my 2019 atlas, Google maps took us from I40, exit 101, on rte 66 and all through the back country on very rural rough roads, like the ones going to your grandma's farm. Beautiful country but not one sign, anywhere, about this campground. We just kept following Google map and came to Hinton then just a short trek to the entrance for Adventure Park. No one in the office and a sign asking for 10 to enter. Didn't know it had turned private, didn't know if it had rv lots or electricity? Nothing, no info. So we went on in down the winding steep hill, 5pm. If this was horrible we had time to try to find I40 again and a walmart. We pulled in at the very front with two other rvs, so yes, water and electric, very nice green lawns and fire pits and tables. I just asked 2 ladies where the road went and they told me there are many many more sites down the road. This is really hidden, private, unadvertised , quiet, beautiful red rock canyon walls. It is too cold and a hard wind is keeping us from exploring but surprise , don't give up! Find it and enjoy it!

Had reservations for two nights. Due to unprecedented bad weather we wanted to see if it was possible to move to another later date. Left phone messages, emails, website messages for two days. Never got a call back. Reservation came and went without being able to use it. I would have completely accepted if we were told that the cancellation policy was that no refund was available and we could not reschedule, but to simply be ignored and have no response was frustrating and meant we had to wait multiple extra days before we could try to look for other options. Unless you are 100% certain you will use a reservation at this site, I would advise to go elsewhere as they will never call you back if you want to make any changes.

I’ve been going here since I was a child, we had Methodist youth camp there or nearby, been too long ago for me to remeber where the camp is exactly, I didn’t see it, it has a pool and cabins as well, I think maybe method camp is next valley over to the East. I saw Methodist road, that’s gotta be it. But as far as red rock. Yes I’ll go again soon. So nice. I guess $30.00 a night is becoming the going rate most places. Even if no sewer hookup. Dang inflation everything’s goes up except my wages. Lol. Not funny really. I’ll certainly hike some of the trails there next time. Just no time this trip. Definitely check this place out. 😁

It is a steep little road going down into canyon but it is very beautiful once in there. We had plenty of shade . Husband put up hammock. Drones flew frequently. Electric and water at camp site did have one dump station in the park and had one when leaving at the top of the ridge. Good cell service. There are several hiking trails we did not get a chance to explore. Will have to visit again.