Brannan Island State Recreation Area

Over the past four months, I have been camping all over Northern California. I recently stayed one night at Brannan Island, and it was one of the most chaotic campgrounds I've encountered so far. It was the epitome of Sacramento energy. The entitlement that campers felt to be rude to each other was unreal. At some point prior to my arrival, I had tried to reserve a site on the Reserve CA online portal. The site locked up because I wasn't logged in. I called Reserve CA, and they said it would be locked til the next day. So I drove out to Brannan Island, explained the situation, and asked to rent that site. The camp host said yes, of course she would sell me that site. But, no matter how hard she tried, she could not figure out how to charge me the correct price. I have a pass which entitles me to a fifty percent discount on camping fees at all California State Parks. The camp host suggested that maybe I didn't have the right pass, even though I do. She checked her book, and confirmed that I did have the right pass. Still, no matter how hard she tried, she could not get the discount to come up in the computer. I begged her to let me self register. She said that would be fine. I left $20 in the iron ranger. My fee should have been $18, but I didn't have the change. I had already gone out to get the $20 cash, not understanding that I was on an actual island, and would encounter horrific traffic on the way back. Finally, I was able to set up at my campsite. It was the dirtiest campsite I've ever camped at. It looked like no attempt had ever been made to pick up the garbage. It actually looked as if ravens were the planned and approved garbage disposal system. There were tiny crumbs of paper everywhere, and the entire campground was infested with silverfish.When I got to Yosemite the next day, I found a bunch of dead silverfish in my things. It was nasty. Noise was a huge issue, with most campers playing loud speakers at loud levels. It was like camping in the center of a circus of terrible music. There was a gate to lock campers in after a certain hour, which was not put to use. At first, I thought the gate was ridiculous, but I soon understood the purpose. Around 3am, the camp was infiltrated with loud, drunk, obnoxious day use campers who had just come in off of their boats. They spent a good thirty minutes hooting and hollering, literally screaming and blowing air horns before the cops were called. They ran away, and seemed to make it off just before the cops pulled in. A few weeks later, in Yosemite, I found a note on my tent saying that I owed $16. At first, I thought it was a prank from someone whom I'd written a ticket. I eventually realized that the note was from the staff at Brannan Island. They had put the note in such a hard to see spot that it took me weeks to notice it. I don't owe them $16. I paid more than my appropriate fee of $18. And that was to be woken up by air horns and clean up dead silverfish.Even though the area is beautiful, the management of the campground, failure to train staff regarding passes, lack of sanitation, and lack of security makes it an unpleasant place to stay.

We decided to stay the weekend. Friday and Saturday was pretty busy but Sunday I think there was only 2 other campers. Important to bring warm clothes for night because the t does get windy. We didn't see any mosquitoes or flys so that was a plus. The bathroom were okay - I could take a little cleaner but overall it was comfortable minus the showers didn't work on our side. There were alot of cats on the property but they didn't come to the campsites. Staff was friendly. Overall we enjoyed it.

Went to Brennan Island today for the first time. There was a $10 day use fee. The park offers overnight camping, a boat launch, swimming beach, and additional leisure area toward the back of the park. There were also a number of shaded spots. A little over an hour away it is a great alternative to the ocean and braving the Bay Area traffic (it's not the ocean, but worth the visit).

The beach has improved since last time that I was here. I love to come back with the family. Whoever is responsible for the overall improvements of the whole park did a good job. This is now my go to for a quick outdoor recreation. We had fun swimming and kayaking. Water is clear and calm. Fishes swim with us, saw a heron , turtles.. true nature.

One year later, some things have improved and some are the same. The good, they mowed the very tall grass so it was easier to walk around and set up our tent. There was a dumpster near the restrooms instead of only at the entrance so it was easy to dispose of trash and people weren't leaving trash everywhere. When we arrived Saturday the restrooms were clean. As the weekend went on the toilet paper was not replaced and ran out Sunday afternoon. This was a holiday weekend, so we still didn't have paper in the restrooms on Monday. Also, one of the toilets was locked the entire time so there were fewer restrooms. The door locks were all broken in some way. The water at the campsite was brown and had an off taste to it. So, if you're planning to camp here BYO toilet paper and water.

We stayed two nights over Memorial Day weekend. Toilet paper ran out the first night and was never replaced. Nor were the bathrooms cleaned. It was gross. Really gross. And many bathrooms were out of order. The spigots hadn't been run for months so the water was the color of iced tea. I didn't taste it. It took over 30 minutes to check in at the front gate. There were 15-20 cars in front of us. It should not have taken that long. This was the first weekend of opening season. It doesn't bode well for the rest of the summer.

We only live across the river from Brannan Island State Park. We went there last weekend with our 5th wheel and our kids trailer for the weekend. I was so impressed at how clean and nice it was. It has changed ownership, and all of the staff were so friendly and helpful. They have a wonderful bike trail that goes through the whole park. The park has so many different areas for camping and day use down at the water. I was so impressed. This was a great time of year as the grass is still green and the spots are so wide. Loved camping there.

Went camping April 27th - April 30th 2024. Campgrounds were pretty clean when we got there and camp hosts were very friendly. Campground itself is pretty uneven due to squirrel holes so watch your ankles. Beware if you have pollen allergies because my friends and I were going through it despite allergy meds and even wearing masks. Bathrooms were clean but showers are coin operated. For some reason showers would shut off and not work at times, and a few of the showers ate our groups quarters. When we bought firewood the hosts were very nice and gave us extras for free which we appreciated. However, the wood provided weren't as dry as we liked and so were harder to catch a flame for our fire. It is also EXTREMELY windy especially at night. Put a stake through everything to hold everything down. They do have signs for ticks which thankfully we did not encounter. HOWEVER, watch out for earwigs. If you have anything on the ground they will crawl everywhere on them. Make sure when you are leaving to really check your coolers and other stuff that you left on the ground as those earwigs really try to get in them.

Giving these place a one star for the poor cleaning of restroom and shower. It was not clean at all. Dead bugs were everywhere inside and plenty of spider webs as well. Another annoying part was there was NO FIREWOOD or CHARCOAL allow at all! It wasn't specifically mention on the booking site or on their website at all. We got there and the front gate lady just straight up said no firewood. We ask why, and she was annoyed and said some dumbass caught fire on the site twice in a day.....so end up no fire for everyone smh. Wtf is that. We didnt bring enough gas for our grill. So we had to use it sparingly till next day going out town to buy more. Very unfortunate camping weekend. Don't go here if you want to have a campfire!

Whooa. This place doesn't get enough credit. We've camped here a total of 3 times. Twice before the pandemic and once just this weekend. Each time we choose a walk-in site. They seem to be more spacious but most importantly we needed a site with access to the water so my husband could fish the whole time. Site 117 is great for fishing but lacks shade. If you have kids, like I do, than I recommend site 126. There's river access and a huge tree for shade. If you're unfamiliar with the delta you should know it's windy most of the time. Bathrooms are cleaned between 12-2pm so they're clean early on but can get pretty gross later in the day. Luckily there's a few to choose from. Also, if the staff was ever an issue before for you, you should go again. There're two new ladies in the office. Both were very friendly and helpful and I didn't see any sign of that guy on the cart. All and all we love coming here and we'll be back. I should have taken more pics but I'll post what I have. These are from site 126. Happy camping!