Sportsman's Beach Recreation Site

Arrived 1 Nov 2023, for two nights. We selected space 17 on the lower level. The roads are paved, campsites are gravel and fairly level. Our site had a covered picnic table and fire ring. That was it. No water, bring your own, no electricity, no dump station. The trash dumpsters were overflowing, and people do not pick up after their pets. We did not use the restrooms, so we can't speak to their condition. AT&T cell service was 3 bars LTE. Good place to stop for a night or two and the view of the lake was wonderful. Some highway noise but not terrible.

We arrived on Monday the 30th of October 2023. Sadly BLM had not maintained the campground it seemed for some time. The garbage was full and overflowing onto the ground. We called BLM and we were told others had concerns with the full garbage. She stated to us several emails over the last few weeks had been sent to the manager of the campground regarding full garbage containers. Bathrooms were not maintained bring your own TP. Some of the bathrooms were unusable because of the biohazards on the walls and toilet seats. The kiosk was so weathered you could not read the fees. No envelopes to pay your fees. We pay these fees to maintain and add improvements. I would think the BLM would at least use the fees to keep the bathrooms clean, garbage emptied, kiosk updated and readable, and envelopes available so we can pay the fees. Any other remaining fees could go to improvements.

Stayed here in early October 2023. I had been here before when the lake was dead. Nothing but flies. No birds. But this time there were waterfowl on the lake in the morning and a big flock of happy birds in the evening and morning! As an SUV camper for the most part, I enjoyed this spot. I stayed at a nice hillside site on the lower level and set up my privacy tent because I hate vault toilets. The atmosphere was quiet and relaxed even though there were many campers upper and lower due to the Columbus Day weekend. The picnic tables and fire rings are in great condition, the campsites were clean.

This is a well maintained campground with nice mountain and lake views. Vault toilets could use some maintenance, but fit the bill. Sites are well spaced and I found plenty available late on a Saturday in April.

There is freeway noise night and day. This didn’t bother my sleep inside of a noise insulated Sprinter van, but I’d expect tent campers to find it annoying.

I was there in late October. Vault toilets. Each site has a covered picnic table. Was windy for most of my stay but typical for that area from what I understand. I enjoyed seeing bighorn sheep in the area as well of tons of wild horses at the south end of the lake. I was a little sad to see how much garbage was around. Some of it probably blew in because of the winds but a lot of it was left behind by irresponsible and unappreciative campers. love it, or lose it people. Leave it better than you found it please.

Stayed here late June 2022 in the upper campground section since there were a few rigs on the lower section away from the highway and I wanted to run my generators without unnecessarily disturbing anyone. It wouldn't have mattered anyway since it was super windy which drowned out all the highway noise anyway. There were a half dozen RVs down by the lake and I had the upper section completely to myself save for a big rig who stayed for a few hours in the turnaround area. The asphalt pads in the upper section all need work, as in need to be completely demolished and repaved since there are tons of broken asphalt pieces everywhere which may or may not affect your leveling attempts.

The hike down to the water is longer than it appears but my young kids did it with ease, my knees however, told me to drive down there instead. There are lots of signs indicating bighorn sheep in the area but I didn't see a single one.

I picked site 5 because it appeared to be the longest site in the upper portion that would allow me to back-in and stay attached but you can go to the lower area and find pull throughs for very large rigs. If going north to Reno, get your gas in nearby Hawthorne as it was pretty pricey before Reno, but this was June 2022 where gas was stupid high everywhere.

I liked this spot and love the BLM and its campgrounds. I would recommend and stay here again.