Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon

We stayed at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon in Acton, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A fairly typical Thousand Trails campground, but with a recently renovated 50 amp section with large sites.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-09-29
  • Check out: 2024-10-06
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temps 89-102°F (!), lows 63-73°F
  • Negligible wind, gusts to 11 MPH

Noise:

  • Some road noise
  • Some train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #K-45, pull-through, sand
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • Mostly level site; high in back and driver side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Large sand site about 65 feet long by 40 feet wide
  • Picnic table
  • A couple of tall trees
  • Somewhat unclean site, as usual for Thousand Trails
  • Non-invasive ants

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, very conveniently located
  • 65 PSI water, very conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, a little inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 80-95 Mbps down, 15-19 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 35-50 ms ping
  • AT&T: 2-6 Mbps down, 0.05-0.25 Mbps up, 40-115 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: negligible service
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool
  • Package delivery to welcome center for $10/package (didn’t use)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Decent campground close to LA area

The Gold (K) section has all 50A full hookup sites, so we headed that way first. The sites are mostly pull-through and decently sized. We lucked out and got a site on the last row with a gorgeous view of the hills. These sites also have the advantage of being further from the railroad tracks along the park’s edge. The Platinum (B) section is half 50A but has the extreme disadvantage of being buddy sites. Other sections are 30A or W/E only, so there’s something for everyone. We camped at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

View out our windshield:

View out our windshield

From outside:

View

View

Watching baseball on TV while griddling pancakes and bacon:

Watching baseball on TV, griddling pancakes and bacon

A neighbor had a cute outdoor cat that was curious about our truck:

Neighbor cat

Clubhouse:

Clubhouse

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Another neighbor site, with lots of space:

Neighbor site, with lots of space

Some other sites were also very wide:

Some other sites were also very wide

It was too hot to walk around to take pictures of other sites, so I flew my drone to get an aerial view; here’s above our site:

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

This is the 30 amp section, with buddy sites (eww):

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Looking back to the 50 amp section where we were:

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Heading back down:

Aerial view

Aerial view

We’d be happy to stay here again, though only in the 50 amp section; the rest of the park is 30 amp and buddy sites. Unfortunately, you never know what you’re going to get with Thousand Trails (though they are slowly rolling out a more conventional booking system).

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Travel from Dunlap to Acton, California

We drove our coach 223 miles, about five hours of driving, from Dunlap, California to Acton, California.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map:

I discovered lots of ants coming up the Starlink cable when packing it up; we were happy to be leaving the invasive ants behind:

Ants

Curvy road:

Curvy road

Cutler water tower:

Cutler water tower

Rest area:

Rest area

Road disappearing into the distance:

Road disappearing into the distance

Pipes and vines:

Pipes and vines

I-5 freeway heading into the hills:

Freeway heading into the hills

There were occasional water signs, for water dispensers for car radiators; hadn’t seen that elsewhere:

Water

Another rest area:

Rest area

Lake Hughes; a rare full lake in California:

Lake Hughes

5% grade:

5% grade

Six Flags:

Six Flags

Overpass from I-5 to CA-14:

Overpass from I-5 to CA-14

Tunnel on Soledad Canyon Road:

Tunnel on Soledad Canyon Road

Tunnel on Soledad Canyon Road

Our destination:

Our destination

Check in area:

Check in area

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on the dash

Thousand Trails is first-come-first-seved, so we drove around a bit to find a site, and lucked into an excellent one:

Our site

Sequoia National Park: southern side

We visited Sequoia National Park in California, including the Foothills Visitor Center, the Tunnel Rock, the Giant Forest Museum, Moro Rock, and Tunnel Log.

An interactive map of our route:

Sequoia National Park historic sign:

Sequoia National Park historic sign

Kaweah River:

Kaweah River

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Tunnel Rock:

Tunnel Rock

A very twisty route:

Twisty route

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rock

Interesting rocks

Big trees:

Big trees

Giant Forest Museum:

Giant Forest Museum

Giant Forest Museum

Auto Log:

Auto Log

Auto Log

Moro Rock:

Moro Rock

Moro Rock

Trees and hills:

Trees and hills

Trees and hills

Trees and hills

Driving through Tunnel Log:

Tunnel Log

Our truck under Tunnel Log:

Tunnel Log

Tall trees:

Tall trees

Tall trees

Sequoia National Park: northern side

We visited Sequoia National Park in California, including the Lodgepole Visitor Center and Grill, and the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume. And saw a couple of bears in a tree.

An interactive map of our route:

Relief map in the visitor center:

Relief map

Visitor center

General Sherman Tree trail, a half mile (each way) path from the parking lot to the tree, through the Giant Forest sequoia grove:

Sherman Tree trail

Footprint of Sherman Tree:

Footprint of Sherman Tree

Path and steps:

Path and steps

General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world by volume:

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

Other big trees:

Another tree

Another tree

Another tree

Tree cross section:

Tree cross section

On the way back up the path, we saw a couple of black bears in a tree (not very close, fortunately):

Bears in tree

Bears in tree

Bears in tree

Kings Canyon National Park

We visited Kings Canyon National Park in California, including the Kings Canyon Visitor Center, General Grant Tree, and a scenic drive through the canyon.

An interactive map of our route:

Relief map of the canyon:

Relief map of canyon

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Gift store:

Gift store

Sequoias:

Sequoias

Sequoias

Sequoias

Sequoias

The General Grant tree, the third largest tree in the world by volume:

General Grant tree

General Grant tree

General Grant tree

General Grant tree

General Grant tree

General Grant tree

Gamlin Cabin:

Gamlin Cabin

Kings Canyon National Park is split in two parts, separated by Sequoia National Forest, which has some rather nice scenery:

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

Back into Kings Canyon National Park:

Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park

And on the return trip, back into Sequoia National Forest:

Kings Canyon National Park

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

A small waterfall (at this time of year):

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia RV Park

We stayed at Sequoia RV Park in Dunlap, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

The closest RV park to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, with nice large spaces.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-09-22
  • Check out: 2024-09-29
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temps 88-95°F, lows 65-70°F
  • Negligible wind, gusts to 14 MPH

Noise:

  • Some road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • A little neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

  • #68, back-in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
  • Fairly level site; high on driver side and front; used hydraulic leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 50 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • About 40 feet to neighbor on driver side
  • About 90 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Some tall trees
  • Unclean site; small bits of trash
  • Invasive ants

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located (at rear of site)
  • 35 PSI water, inconveniently located (at rear of site)
  • Loose sewer connection, inconveniently located (at rear of site; 3 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 45-140 Mbps down, 12-15 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 5 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • AT&T: 14-16 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 60-1,000 ms ping
  • Verizon: 1-5 Mbps down, 0.02-1 Mbps up, 400-600 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Near national parks
  • Package delivery to manager’s site (didn’t use)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Closest RV park to Kings Canyon NP

The nightly rate is a bit much for what it is, but you’re really paying for the location. If you have a big rig, there isn’t anything closer to the entrance of Kings Canyon NP. You could get closer to the Sequoia NP entrance, but not by much. It was easy to identify the overnight sites and find one that worked for us. We’d printed the email confirmation, so all we had to do was attach it to the post, and we were good to go. The biggest drawback was that we had our second ant infestation ever while staying here. Little bitey red ants found their way inside by way of the Starlink cable and the water hose, so that was fun. We camped at Sequoia RV Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

We used our Starlink dish:

Our site

Our site

The utilities were at the back on the passenger side, so three sewer pipes were needed:

Utilities

Utilities

There were biting ants that invaded our coach via the water hose (and later other routes):

Ants

Ants

In three years of this RV lifestyle, this is only the second time we’ve had ants invade, both in the last month.

The site number sign with a receipt clipped to it; when we arrived we just picked a site and attached the receipt (that we had previously printed out); no human interaction required:

Site number sign with receipt

Sunrise:

Sunrise

Hills and road conditions sign outside the entrance:

Hills and road conditions sign outside the entrance

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Mailboxes and outgoing mail by the entrance:

Mailboxes and outgoing mail by entrance

Office:

Office

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Other sites; a mix of overnight sites and seasonal/annual sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

“No fishing, swimming, boating”… yeah, not going to be a problem:

No fishing, swimming, boating... yeah, not going to be a problem