Hensley Lake Campground

Loved this lake! It was so beautiful and clean. The restrooms were clean, but they didn't have a sink or running water turned on and no soap. Bring sanitizer and wipes!Only if I had a SUP or kayak, I'd be fishing in the water. I didn't catch anything fishing on land. I did lose a few lures.Parking was $10. Pay the fee or prepare to get fined. There was a person going around checking the day I went...

So I was invited to this lake by a friend. Is this group, there was about 20 people. I had a prime camping that overlooked the hills. I felt like I had a two story camping spot since our table and fire pits were downstairs. The area was pretty cool. Many spots to go swimming and fishing. We saw plenty of wildlife like rabbits and snakes. Yes I said snakes. One issue that we ran into was the fact that if you wanted to go to the water by the campgrounds, there is no where to park if you have a far campsite. Especially when you want to bring water toys, and ice chest to stay hydrated. Especially with kids. Plus no walking access to the water without walking through someone's campsite. Now the fine visitors of this park wouldn't mind you walking by but I feel there should be some type of way to get to the water without walking through someone's site. Now the biggest stars of this campground were the park rangers. Hats off to the fine men and women working this park. They were super duper cool. Always passing by offering assistance. I really enjoyed them. Plus Madera Sheriff's office does drive throughs. Pretty cool to me. I felt safe.

Pretty nice facilities. The sites are clean and many have steel verandas and good sturdy tables, fire pits, and even poles to hang lanterns on. The sites are a bit too close together...we had a nosy old lady watching our every move til I told her to mind her own business.The staff is very accommodating, and will come by and check if you need fire wood, etc. Showers are free, bathrooms are clean and good condition. This is Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds and they are usually better kept then state run campground. Would probably tend to be very hot in summer, but there is some good swimming it looks like on the shores close to camping. I'm sure there's plenty of snakes too! I'd go back in winter or early spring, probably skip it in summer, too many people and too hot

The Hensley Lake Campground is a pretty nice place to camp. There are several full hookup sites, and they just upgraded the facility to include 50 amp. It can get very hot here in the summer, and many of the sites don't have good shade. That is made up somewhat by having several campsites near or right on the water. I usually try to get one of the sites up on the hill with shade trees.I only gave three stars due to a couple of negatives.1. At 10 PM, the park rangers begin walking the campground and strictly enforce quiet time. I usually see this as a positive, but here they make sure you turn off any electronic devices (Radios, TV, ect.). Even if you have them at a low volume, and are not bothering anyone. My family and I were watching a movie quietly at our site and they made us turn it off. I understand they don't want rowdy people bothering everyone else, but that was a little overkill.2. Like I said before, it gets really hot here. Sometimes the lake is low, and that makes the heat unbearable. It also brings out rattle snakes, so be carefull.Other than that, a good campground.Making reservations is easy through Recreation.Gov.http://www.recreation.gov/

This place is nice. Managed to run a few miles and it was totally worth the drive. I'm one of those people that likes a change of scenery, especially when running. I try to find places to do some trail running, this place is not the best for trail running but it's good for a very easy hike. The views are incredible and it was nice to be the only one at the lake this morning. Bringing the three amigos. (My dogs) with me next time.

Great spots to tent camp and some good fishing, and the park rangers were awesome and friendly.

This place is awsome!we had a group site it was huge with lots of tables. A fire pit for bon fires.close to a playground the bathrooms and the showers are free.the water is like a small piece of heaven as it is as warm as a bathtub. =) the only downside is it is a bit far from the water not really in walking distance.and @ 10pm sharp the rangers are @ your site telling you to turn OFF all your electronics.but we had a great time and will defiantly do again.

Came here this past weekend, 4th of July weekend at that. Probably the best choice for camping on busy weekends because it was not anywhere near too packed and the lake was so nice to relax on..we had plenty of room between swimmers as if we were on our own kinda. We had plenty of room for 2 tents. Only 4 stars because store is soooo far away and shade is so minimal when it gets so hot by 6am

Was great went although there was a lot of rocks I was able to see some fishes and swim to the small rock islands!

Having seen many camp grounds around the Bay area, I am very impressed with this campground. We went for the Memorial Day weekend. We tent camped on site 47. The sites are spaced very well with more than 50-70 ft between sites, and the way they are designed gives decent privacy, but one can see people or hear people in other campgrounds. People were very well behaved. The ranger goes around every fifteen minutes making sure everything is under control. The site was very spacious with a fire ring with grate and a BBQ grill provided on either side of the picnic table. The fire rings have grates and the grates were pretty clean. The water fountain was just steps away and very convenient. The site was clearly swept cleaned before our arrival. We could see the marks of the rake/broom on the gravel. The picnic table was covered with a pergola like pavilion, providing part shade. And it was very convenient to tie a tarp around for extra shade. No need to bring a canopy. Even though the site offered two tent pads, both seemed not level with a slight slope. The site has part shade, and a beautiful lake view. The site is elevated, so the view was expansive. The closest shower facilities were always clean and the restrooms seem to be regularly monitored, cleaned and replenished with TP. But no hand soap provision.There also exists a kids playground in one of the loops. And it appeared like lot of families with kids came for camping here.The have a life jacket loaner station in the day use recreation area. Also there were electric sites where we saw a lot of RVs, but they were no disturbance. Everybody turned off their lights by 10:00pm and went into a quiet mode even though it gets dark only at 9:30pm. We did not find the restrooms or showers crowded in the morning, we could use them without any wait even between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning, so I guess the facilities were proportionate enough to serve full capacity days also. At the entrance, the friendly lady ranger told us that they sell firewood for $5 a bundle and all the proceeds go towards boy scouts. In the evening on some days they seem to arrange to have a community campfire in the amphitheater area. We heard the ranger announce that while driving by the campsites in the evening. The temperatures were very high when we went, upto 97 degrees till like 8:00pm, so we were thankful to have chosen a part shade site, otherwise in an open site we would have been roasted. On very hot days, the rattle snakes seem to come out in search of prey, so be on watch out. One snake went past our site, a neighbor guided it to the gorge close by after alerting us that it was coming towards our site. We were very thankful to our friendly neighbors. The reserve america website forced us to book three days for the Memorial day weekend when we needed it only for Saturday and Sunday. So I called up the park and asked them to hold our site despite our not checking in on Friday. But the ranger was so helpful and changed the reservation to Saturday adn Sunday and refunded us the charges for Friday. I was very impressed. All in all, we really liked the campground and its maintenance and do not mind visiting again. Perfectly a family friendly modern camp site.