CRS - Dinkey Creek

This is a bit late, but here goes...

Accessibility: 4
Dinkey Creek is about a 3 - 3 1/2 hour drive from our place. The roads, while somewhat twisty, were well-paved. Both Joseph and I did get car sick, but overall, it really wasn't that bad of a drive.

Campground: 3
The campground as a whole is pretty large and developed. The loop we were in had plenty of shade and was very clean. The size of the site was fairly small. It was tight with two tents. We were also close to our neighboring campers - thankfully, they were quite friendly. The site we were in was covered in pine needles and gravel. When we drove around, we did see a few sites that had grass and were a bit larger - as well as a little removed from neighbors - but they didn't offer as much shade. We were in a primarily RV loop, which made for noisy evenings when all the generators were going.

With the traffic going by during the night, it was reminiscent of El Capitan. While nice, it just wasn't as removed as we like to be. Again, though, we found a few sites that looked much more secluded. We'd like to give them a try. Granted, part of the problem was being there on Memorial Day weekend. I'm curious if it's as full at other times during the late summer.

Amenities: 4
The bathrooms were great. They were cleaned on a regular basis and, while dim in the late afternoon, were well lit at night. There were paid showers by the General Store (a car ride away), but they closed - without exception as Chad found out - at 6:00. That was a bit early for us. When we have accessibility to showers, it's nice to be able to clean Joseph up just before bed.

There was a great General Store that had almost anything you could ever need while camping. We went down and picked up little things that had been forgotten and even enjoyed an ice cream on Sunday.

Activities: 5
There were so many activities - most of which we didn't take advantage of due to The Belly. Fishing, giant sequoias a short drive away, hiking trails, ranger classes and bike paths. In the summer there are swimming holes and natural rock slides. We'd like to bring our bikes and make the trip later in the year to take advantage of the crystal clear water.

Child Friendliness: 4
With the sites being so close together, Joseph was able to find a little friend to play with. No poison oak, minimum mosquitoes and trees between us and the main road made it pretty safe. There were lots of ants, but that was just more fun for Joseph and his bug house.

Our only concern was a personal one. It seems that Joseph might be allergic to evergreens. Considering our campsite was surrounded by towering trees and we were camping and playing on pine needles, it made for a pretty miserable allergic reaction.

Overall Rating: 4

I'd like to go back later in the year - perhaps after the summer crowds have left and the water is still low.