We stayed at The Riverside Ranch in Hatch, Utah. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-04-24
• Check out: 2022-05-08
• 14 nights

Weather:

• Mostly sunny, a little drizzle
• High temps ranging between 51 and 72°F, lows around 20-40°F
• Sub-freezing overnight several nights
• Windy most afternoons

Noise:

• Minimal road noise, no train noise
• Quiet neighbors

Site:

• #5, pull-through, gravel
• Needed to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
• Somewhat large site: 55 feet long by about 45 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power conveniently located
• High water pressure, 100 PSI (need a regulator), conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, conveniently located
• Didn’t connect water or sewer other than to fill and dump, since it got below freezing
• Picnic table

Internet:

• Campground Wi-Fi: 27-32 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 15 ms ping; not used
• T-Mobile: 93 Mbps down, 10-35 Mbps up, 70-80 ms ping
• AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
• Verizon: 75-85 Mbps down, 30 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
• Starlink: 12-23 Mbps down, 2-14 Mbps up, 34-54 ms ping

Amenities:

• Package delivery right to each site
• Garbage dumpster
• No pool

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Great home base for exploring southern Utah

We stayed here for two weeks, and it was a great base camp to see Bryce, Zion, several state parks (that were just as good as the national parks), national monuments, and scenic drives. Very quiet and scenic spot, right off the highway. We would have liked to stay in one of the riverside spots, but they don’t have sewer hookups and we can’t go that long without dumping the tanks, alas. Still, the pull-through sites in the upper part of the park had a lovely view over the valley and the pink cliffs in the distance. We had several packages delivered and the camp hosts brought them right to our site, which was very convenient. The staff were all very helpful and friendly, beginning with check-in where we were given a lot of tourism info about the area. It does get windy, but that’s been our experience everywhere in the southwest at this time of year, so we didn’t get to spend as much time outside as we would’ve liked, but that’s offset by how much exploring we got to do in the area. We’d definitely stay here again. We camped at The Riverside Ranch in a Motorhome.

The weather forecast for our stay:

And the second week:

The campground map. We stayed in the upper area, as the lower (riverside) area doesn’t have sewer hookups:

Satellite view:

They gave us a bunch of tourist info for the area:

Once we spent a night here, we could add Utah to the map on the side of our coach:

Our site:

100 PSI water pressure; a regulator is definitely required (I have mine set to 60 PSI):

Dinner outside:

Paladin looking out a window:

It was too windy to work outside most days, but I did a few times:

Setting sun:

We were visited by Jenn’s Uncle Todd; our first visitors at a campsite:

An interesting window in a coach next to us for a few days:

Let’s walk around the park, starting with the sign out front:

There’s a Mexican restaurant and country store out front, but unfortunately they were closed; not sure if just for the season, or permanently:

The Riverside Ranch also includes a motel:

Downhill to the RV park:

RVs (with a glimpse of ours):

The river (more of a stream, but still):

RVs by the river:

They have some tent sites, too:

A nice corner for religious services (this is Utah, after all):

The RV office:

Group fire pit:

Bathroom:

BBQ area and RV office:

Finally, the sign lit up at night:

We stayed at Young’s RV Park in Caliente, Nevada. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-04-21
• Check out: 2022-04-24
• 3 nights

Weather:

• Windy, rainy, cloudy
• High temps ranging between 60 and 72°F, lows around 32-44°F
• Very windy the first day (wind is common in Spring)

Noise:

• No road noise, occasional train noise
• Quiet and noisy neighbors on different days

Site:

• #38, pull-through, gravel
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
• Medium site: no marked edges, but about 60 feet long by about 25 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power conveniently located
• Good water pressure, 55 PSI water, conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, conveniently located
• Picnic table

Internet:

• Campground Wi-Fi: 0.5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45-145 ms ping; not used
• T-Mobile: no service
• AT&T: 3-8 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
• Verizon: 3-9 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 80-128 ms ping

Amenities:

• Garbage dumpster
• No pool

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Good basic campground

We stayed for a few nights on our way to Great Basin National Park. Our site was level and easy to get in and out of. Seems like a very popular spot for gatherings as I got the impression everyone else staying there knew each other, but at least everyone obeyed the quiet hours. We camped at Young’s RV Park in a Motorhome.

The weather forecast for our stay:

This park was unusual in that there was no paper map or other information provided, just a credit card receipt (that had the Wi-Fi password on it). Here’s the map from their website:

The satellite view:

Our site:

A tumbleweed blowing in the wind:

Conveniently located utilities:

55 PSI water pressure:

It was very windy on our first day; here’s a GIF of the slide topper flapping in the wind:

Our site and neighbors:

Other RVs:

The office:

Bathroom and laundry:

More tumbleweeds:

It rained on our second day; the first time we’ve had real rain in about a month:

A side-by-side on the back of a pickup; an interesting arrangement:

We stayed at the Lake Mead RV Village in Boulder City, Nevada. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We considered staying at the Thousand Trails in Las Vegas, but the reviews weren’t very favorable. So we opted for a nicer park with a view of Lake Mead instead.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-04-10
• Check out: 2022-04-21
• 11 nights

Weather:

• Sunny, some clouds
• High temps ranging between 66 and 91°F, lows around 35-57°F
• Some days of gale-force winds (gusts up to 64 MPH!); did not enjoy those

Noise:

• No road or train noise
• Initially noisy neighbors, until they left

Site:

• #LV21, pull-in, cement pad surrounded by gravel
• Unusual in that pull coach in front-first — so get a lake view out the windscreen
• Initially had a fiver next to us, backed in, so their door was facing us; didn’t like that — but the site remained empty after they left
• Needed to disconnect toad; parked on gravel beside coach
• Medium site: about 55 feet long by 30 feet wide, with 40 by 15 cement pad for RV
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power conveniently located
• Good water pressure, 60+ PSI water, conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, conveniently located
• All utilities on both sides, to accommodate front-in motorhomes and back-in trailers
• Picnic table
• Fire pit

Internet:

• Campground Wi-Fi: 26 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping; not used
• T-Mobile: 25-30 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
• AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 38 ms ping
• Verizon: 32-37 Mbps down, 15-17 Mbps up, 55 ms ping

Amenities:

• Garbage and recycling dumpsters, not particularly close
• No pool
• Nice camp store; we bought groceries there
• The usual other stuff we didn’t use

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Gorgeous lake and mountain views

We had a pull-in Lake View site and it was sooooo worth it. Best view ever, even if the lake isn’t as high as it used to be. The only drawback is that while we were front-in with our motorhome, our neighbor was backed in with a 5er, which means it was basically a buddy site, so privacy was lacking. If they could keep motorhomes and trailers/5ers separate that would be even better. Utilities are available on either side of the site because of the front or back-in arrangement.

Our site was so level, our automatic levelers pretty much just went down and called it good without any fiddling. That never happens. Very convenient to Hoover Dam and Las Vegas for some sightseeing and touristy fun, but it was so nice to come back to this quiet spot when the day was done. Some basic necessities in the camp store. Groceries in Boulder City or Henderson weren’t too far away, but you might want to put a cooler in the car just in case. We camped at Lake Mead RV Village in a Motorhome.

The weather forecast for our stay:

It was quite windy, with gusts up to 64 miles per hour, though I think we were a little sheltered from the worst of that:

Here’s the campground map, which only shows the RV sites; most of the park is mobile homes:

The satellite view shows all the mobile homes; our approximate location is circled:

Zooming out, you can see the lake edge. Though these satellite images are out-of-date; the water is actually a bit further now, as the lake continues to drain due to the ongoing drought:

This last image shows the Nevada/Arizona border line, and Hoover Dam:

Our lake view site; notice that we fronted in, to have a nice view out our windscreen, while trailers back in:

The downside of this arrangement is that a trailer next to us has their door facing us, so a “buddy” situation. Not great for privacy:

Fortunately the sites are fairly wide, so we weren’t on top of each other. And they left after a few days, which was a relief, since they had their TV blaring with the door open most of the time.

Looking down the side of the coach to the utilities:

Pretty convenient location; to accommodate motorhomes and trailers, all of the utilities are available on both sides of the site:

Good water pressure:

Once we spent a night here, we were able to fill in a hole on our states map, adding Nevada:

Utah will be added soon, too.

Here’s the picturesque view out our windscreen; we didn’t put up the Magne Shade, so we could enjoy the view:

A dust storm:

Paladin relaxing:

Let’s take a walk around the campground, and look at other RVs and the mobile homes:

The entrance:

The office:

We enjoyed the blooming cacti out front:

The office also included a decent camp store, where we got some groceries:

Village hall:

I worked outside on several days (when not too hot or breezy), in the shade in front of our coach, enjoying the view:

Jenn had some meetings outside, too:

Paladin looking outside:

Paladin watching taunty quail:

An interesting plane / copter thing:

Dinner with a view:

Surprisingly, there were several empty sites for much of our stay. We had several trailers come and go on our driver side, but I would have expected the park to be more packed. Sure, it’s early Spring, but we were here around Easter weekend:

Sunrise over the lake:

 The moon over our coach:

 Sunset alpenglow:

A good park, with the nicest view we’ve experienced (so far). We’ll definitely stay here again.

We stayed at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park in Williams, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)

The main reason for staying here was to take a train trip to the Grand Canyon. This RV park is part of a complex that includes a full hotel, restaurants, the train station, pet boarding, and more. Stay tuned for a forthcoming post about our train adventure.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-03-30
• Check out: 2022-04-10
• 11 nights

Weather:

• Sunny
• High temps ranging between 55 and 71°F, lows around 31-38°F
• Occasionally windy

Noise:

• Negligible road noise
• Nearby train noise; freight train tracks next to park
• Mostly quiet neighbors, other than a bunch of kids

Site:

• #402, pull-through, asphalt, didn’t need to disconnect toad
• Parked truck behind coach
• Medium site: about 70 feet long by 25 feet wide
• Not entirely level
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power conveniently located
• Low water pressure, 32 PSI water, conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, conveniently located
• Picnic table on gravel

Internet:

• Campground Wi-Fi: available, but not used
• T-Mobile: 6-41 Mbps down, 5-33 Mbps up, 40-60 ms ping
• AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 47 ms ping
• Verizon: 54-85 Mbps down, 25-46 Mbps up, 50-160 ms ping
• Some impressive numbers for T-Mobile and Verizon there!

Amenities:

• Garbage and recycling dumpsters
• Indoor heated pool and hot tub (didn’t use)
• The usual other stuff we didn’t use

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

 

Convenient to Grand Canyon and Route 66

 

We stayed here in order to take the train up to the Grand Canyon and it was very convenient for that. Check-in was fast and easy before we headed over to our site. Sites are narrow, with a strip of volcanic rock and a picnic table between them. Had a difficult time getting the motorhome level front to back and had to manually adjust, as the automatical levelers could not handle it. Our neighbor’s site was so bad that their front wheels were off the ground. Lots of folks complain about the BNSF freight trains that roll through at all hours. I didn’t notice them most of the time, but there were one or two instances in the early morning (5 am-ish) where the drivers would get a little heavy-handed on the horn. If you’re a light sleeper, be sure to bring earplugs and your white noise machine. We camped at Grand Canyon Railway RV Park in a Motorhome. 

 

 The weather forecast for our stay:

Here’s the forecast after that; we were super glad that we left on Sunday, before the snow and really cold weather on Tuesday:

The park map, with our site indicated:

Satellite view of the RV park and hotel, and part of downtown Williams:

A closer view of the RV park:

Sign for Grand Canyon Railway:

RV check in; several lanes for RVs:

RV park check in and office:

Our site:

As mentioned, there is a freight train track next to the park; here’s a view out our window of a train going by:

Our site and others:

A similar angle pic from just before we left, it had emptied out quite a bit:

Back to the campground tour:

Amenities:

Laundry:

Grill and tables:

Fire pit:

Playground:

Games:

There was also a full hotel; here’s the lobby:

We picked up our train tickets for the Grand Canyon railway from the on-site station:

A train model outside the station:

Photo op:

Stands for the pre-train cowboy show (see a forthcoming post):

The Williams train station:

A steam train outside the station:

We stayed at Picacho/Tucson NW KOA Journey in Picacho, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-03-12
• Check out: 2022-03-18
• 6 nights

Weather:

• Sunny
• High temps ranging between 78 and 87°F, lows around 43-52°F
• Little wind, other than one afternoon

Noise:

• Quite a lot of freeway and train noise
• Quiet neighbors

Site:

• #50, pull-through, gravel, didn’t need to disconnect toad (though did, since staying several nights)
• Toad parking behind coach
• Large, about 85 feet long by 30 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power conveniently near the coach
• 45 PSI water also conveniently positioned
• Fair sewer connection, a little loose and too high for perfect drainage, also far from the wet bay, so I needed three segments of drain hose (first time I’ve needed my spare)
• Nice wooden deck with rocking chairs, table and chairs, and bench, plus a fire pit
• Screening fences on both sides

Internet:

• Campground Wi-Fi: apparently slow (not used)
• T-Mobile: 11 Mbps down, 10-15 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
• AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
• Verizon: 4-7 Mbps down, 14 Mbps up, 58 ms ping

Amenities:

• Garbage dumpster
• Mail accepted
• Heated pool (not very warm, kinda dirty)
• Rec room (looked closed), laundry, playground, and other stuff we didn’t use
• Various outdoor games

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Trees in the Desert

They had very friendly and efficient check-in and then guided us to our site. We had a deluxe pull-through site with a deck that had rocking chairs, a patio table with an umbrella, a bench, and a fire ring. Pretty much every site had a mature tree to give some shade, which is very rare in the desert. We really enjoyed eating dinner on the deck and listening to the birds in the trees. There was some freeway and train noise, but it was all just white noise to us and didn’t affect our sleep. The pool area was a bit small and they might need to upgrade the filter and pump system as it had quite a few dead bugs floating in it, but it was still very popular with families. We camped at Picacho / Tucson NW KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Here’s the park map:

A screenshot of the weather forecast for our stay:

We were guided to our site:

Putting down the jacks:

The water pressure is about 45 PSI; the pressure regulator is set to 60 PSI, so a little low:

As mentioned above, I needed to break out my spare sewer extension:

Here are the utility hookups; power and water are well placed, but the sewer was rather far, and the pipe is a little too high out of the ground:

Some more pictures of our site:

A nice deck with rocking chairs, table and chairs, umbrella, and bench:

Also a fire pit:

We ate our dinners outside, including hot dogs and beans:

And home-made pizza; the first time I’ve used the Ooni oven since we started this adventure (I just hadn’t been in the mood to make pizza for a few months, but made two during this stay):

Paladin peeking out a window:

I flew my drone briefly; here are some aerial views of our site:

And other sites:

The freeway and a railway beyond it were pretty close, resulting in quite a lot of noise:

Let’s walk around the park, starting with the KOA Journey sign — KOA is Kampgrounds of America, a large chain, and their Journey campgrounds are designed for short-term stays, so mostly pull-through:

The office and arrivals:

The pool was heated, but not very much, and kinda small and dirty. We did swim in it, but not for very long:

Playground:

Heh, a Wi-Fi hot spot:

Dog park:

Tent camping area:

KOAs often have cabins, but this one only has one:

Other RVs:

They’ve been doing some nice upgrades, e.g. this patio site with its own dog run:

A deck site somewhat similar to ours:

A deck site with a large dog run:

Another site with a dog run:

Other RVs:

A rather interesting RV, looks like a modified horse trailer:

A path and garden:

Back to our site:

A nice campground; we’d recommend it and would stay here again.