George J. Hatfield State Recreation Area

Living nearby, and driving/riding by Hatfield park practically every day, I finally stopped by to take a look see. And quite frankly, i was very underwhelmed. The park is very small. I thought the grounds paralleled the Merced River a little further, but what you see from the road is all you get.In the spring, with everything green, it's a fairly pretty place, and with decent flow in the river, maybe a good place to fish or kayak, but in dry, low water conditions, the park, unfortunately, has very little appeal...

It's a beautiful and quiet park, the river is cool during the summer, my kids love swimming in the river. It would be nice if park staff kept it clean or people picked up behind themselves because it has a beautiful beach. It is a nice place to do photography. We would definitely be coming back here and maybe camp.

I spent a night camping here. The coyotes put on a good howling that night (apparently scaring off a couple other campers, much to my amusement). I can't say much about the bathrooms (aside from having toilet paper, they were not kept well), and the dumpster was overflowing. I'd assume the park staff would at least get that emptied now and then, instead I had to put up with the odor. At least if was farily quiet aside from the wildlife and a few passing vehciles.

Went for a whole weekend with some friends. There are bits of trash everywhere, half-broken, dirty bathrooms, no showers, reckless partiers (huge bon fires and broken liquor bottles), and frequent car break-ins (based on glass on the ground). So many better places to go in the Bay Area.

It's a fun place to spend time with family. Camping their is the best!It's also a cheap place to spent the day and to camp.