Tule Recreation Area Campground

The place has puncture vine throughout. Even taking my dog out and staying on the blacktop she was getting thorns in her paws. The place is well kept but the problem of the plants is a thorny one. (Pun intended).

Overall the place is well laid out. Sites are pretty large with picnic tables, hook to hang your lantern, and firepit with grill.

The campground is between the day use area and the road so there is traffic noise but it is slow at night. The reservoir is on the other side of the day use area. There are 2 boat launches, fuel seems to be available for boats (I paddle a kayak).

The staff are nice. It is only about an hour to Sequoia NP.

I have a 25' tow behind trailer and we had no problem finding a site to fit into. Chose the dry camping option since we have solar with generator backup. Reservations say that the sites have water but sadly no. Water faucets areshared between sites and the ones supposed to be near up were pretty far out of reach. We did fill up at a faucet before setting into our pull through site.

Yes, they've mowed the weeds and grass, but goathead plants grow flat and are everywhere! Even walking only on pavement, I have to pick out stickers from my shoes and my dog's paws everytime we go outside.

I reserved site 24 with electricity ($15 with Senior Pass) and quick access to open space for walking my dog, without potential encounters with other dogs. I thought that since the campground is virtually empty during the week, we would have a quiet, peaceful stay...NOT.

The site directly across from me is occupied by an employee. When she is working or not at home, her small inside dog yaps constantly and her medium sized dog is in a wire cage outside. The outside dog quickly acclimated to a new neighbor, but it is sad to see a dog contained in this way for hours most days.

The lake is very low this time of year. Most days, big machinery is moving earth in several areas close enough to the campground that the noise is disruptive.

Also, be advised that Mountain Home State Forest (Giant Sequoia groves) is closed to the public due to fire and weather related damage.

I did not use camp bathroom or shower facilities.

It’s not a bad place to stay during the week, but definitely needs some TLC. The lady who checked us in at the gate was very nice. Lots of trash everywhere - could be because we arrived for 2 nights on a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty busy during the day with day trippers. They lock the gates at night, I guess to keep out the riffraff, as it was pretty empty and calm on a mid-June Monday.

We had an electric/water site, level enough. Starlink should work anywhere as there’s not a ton of shade. My dog liked the grass by the playground but hated the dry weeds and stickers around the campsites. And the water in the whole South campground (not sure about the North side) went out unexpectedly on Monday morning. Not sure how often that happens or if/when they got it fixed. We were glad we were leaving. Didn’t use the dump station, but they do have one.

I would say it’s okay for a night on the way to Sequoia/Kings Canyon or if you have a boat and like to fish.

Really nice, flat, open CG with a lot of grassy areas. Nice lake with fish! Caught some nice sized largemouth bass on my trip. The only thing that messed it up was...I got my kayak stolen. The staff and local authorities were nice in trying to help me get it back, but we had no 'success'. I would return, but only in the off season because it looks like it can get really crowded there.

If you walk your dogs in the huge grassy areas be aware of a thorny low weed. The thorns will stick in your dogs' paws.

Since my first visit, I've been back a couple more times. This area is flooded right now (Mar 2023). Keep an eye out for the HUGE goat herd across the lake!

Word of warning: if you need to do laundry there is a laundromat on Springville in Porterville - DO NOT GO THERE. I thought I was gonna get mugged there. Three (of 20) washers were working, and only two dryers were working.

Good access from Hwy 190 out of Porterville. No check in required, our sign was on the post at our site. Lake is extremely low, so we could barely see the water from our site. We were in a 50 amp pull thru site, which was level front to back and about 4 inches low on the lake side. All the sites slope towards the lake. It was hot even in mid-October, in the low 90s most days, but cools off as soon as the sun sets, 60s at night. Lots of little "stickers" on the ground, they get on your shoes and end up in your rig. Very few insects even in the evening. Bathrooms were good, lots of showers but most 1/2 were closed for maintenance, hot water was great. Some litter in the park. All the grass was dead being late in the summer. Park was almost deserted, about 4-5 other guests, very spread out in the campground. Tribal gas station up the road had gas for 80 cents cheaper than in town. Our site was closest to Hwy 190, but heard very little road noise. Saw park ranger a few times.

Little hiking within an hours drive, but there is a few miles worth at Bartlett Park and Big Sycamore trail near the dam.

AT&T cell service was better than expected, got 2 bars of 5G unboosted. With the booster, we could stream all the services easily. No HDTV channels.

We stay here during July 4th weekend and it was HOT. The site we reserved was a pull through and have E/W hook ups. Easy to level and overlooking the lake from far away. A couple minutes walk to the lake and playgrounds. The campground provide hot shower and seem to be very well maintained. Watch for the plant/stickers (they are sharp and can poke through your thin flip flop). Most tree are young and doesn’t provide much shade, so bring your canopy and stakes them down real well. They have free life vest to borrow if needed and boat rentals. 2 dump stations near ranger station. Amazing sunset view. There are no cell service for most carriers.

Large open spaces and our site (94) is a pull through. Beautiful views of grassy Hills and a large lake. Electric and water and hot clean showers and bathroom facilities. The person who checked us in was friendly and courteous and quick- no wait times. The fee was 30 dollars and 1/2 off that with a senior pass. There are only four other RV’s in our section of the park that night and we felt very safe. Beware of the road grates as you are exiting the park. The grates are meant to keep People from driving in the wrong direction but they could damage your tires if you do not take care and pay attention to the signage. We had no cell service with Verizon.