McConnell State Recreation Area

This was our first time here. We were invitd by friends and met them here because they arrived really early to get a spot. As we drove in we notice the parking lot was really crouded and full. We circled around a second time and lucky for us we found a parking spot not to far. Traveling with kiddos the first stop was the restrooms. We found an open one and it was ok considering we were at a park and a lot of people use them. Luckaly I have my complementary Yelp bag which I filled with bathroom items I might need, like, toilet paper, Clorox wipes, gloves, taper towels, baby wipes, and hand sanitizer. Yes, I come prepared, lol.They did a good job getting a great spot at a table next to a grill and another spot near the water. They had a canopy and chairs set up right on the water which was great idea. We lounged in the chairs while the kiddos played in the water. It was a nice spot where the water was very shallow and the current was very calm. A perfect place for younger kids to play in the water safely. Spent most of the day at this spot conversating with other parents and watching the kids enjoy the water, rocks, and play. It was a great day well spent with family and friends. I read some of th other review, however, I felt safe spending the day here with my family. I noticed the camping parking spaces with families that seamed to be having a good time.

Nice family park an camping spot or fishing , grilling $12 for day parking staff are nice

A safe place for kids, great family atmosphere. Love it had so much fun with my little ones.

Look, I've had Yelp for a long time. This is the first time I've rated anything one star. I don't even know where to begin. I just had such a horrid experience I turned to my dad and told him I'm never ever coming back here. Something about it is so eerie first of all. I felt like I was in a game of Slenderman and I was about to find my first note in the showers. We had to circle arouns the place to find our camp because the camp markings are so tiny with no lights on them. The people there were something else- super loud with no regulation or rules. One guy came up to us and told us not to leave anything in the bathrooms cuz someone stole his phone that was charging. Then later we found our car door open with things out of place- luckily we didn't find anything missing but still creepy.Then. The worst thing. The bathrooms. Oh my god. I've been to a LOOOOT of campgrounds and most are actually super nice. This was dirty, uncomfortable, smelled like weed, no toilet paper, and there was a giant poop in the toilet. I just wanted to get the hell out of this place asap. DON'T GO.

Great place to go with family and kids.  Big camping sites, heavily covered in trees, and located walking distance to the river.  They have 2 beaches.  The less developed one sometimes allows dogs.Camp hosts are friendly and so are the rangers!  Spent almost an hour talking to them both!Make sure you make it to the river.  It even had an improvised rope swing.Tip!  -- The ranger station has life vests at the main entrance for kids to borrow.Tip - October starts the salmon run on The Merced river.Tip - bring a fishing pole.  They have black bass, blue gill, trout, and catfish.  We saw tons of fish.

One of the best places to go to for Merced/Atwater area in my opinion. This place is great to go to for summer time, and my kids love it. So we mainly go for the river. It's great to go floating, especially at the end of summer since the current isn't as strong and the water level isn't high. We usually have an area where we setup next to the river, and we would grill and hangout. It's a must to have a canopy and water shoes (if you plan on going in). There's really not much shade around, so you definitely want one to not get sunburned. We usually arrive early to get a good spot. I noticed a lot of people arrive around the mid afternoon, and it's impossible to get a good parking spot close to the river. So if you plan on going here, make it a whole day trip. Though the only complaint I really have is that there are inconsiderate people that leave trash. (So always bring trash bags as well). There's a spot that's around the parking area that's designated for trash disposal. But you know.. for some reason the cleanup is such a drag that some people just leave it by the river. Either way, I've seen people go fishing, bring their dogs, grill etc. If you are in the Merced area, and you want to go hiking, camping, swimming, and such, this is the closest state parks around to do that.

I booked a client from Los Banos we can't drive, so I have to drive out there to do her photoshoot. I found this place on yelp and thought I'd give it a try. Keep in mind, I'm from Tracy and never been out this way. BUT I FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS PARK! We only stayed around the parking lot area but I can't even imagine how beautiful the rest of the park is. I want to go back and explore it. But sadly is about 2.5 hours from me. Anyway, I was able to get some amazing photos of my client and she loved them! I wish this park was closer!

I've been here a total of 4 times in the past 2 years as a stop between home and our final destination and I can't really complain.This place is definitely more of a day-trip kind of stop on a trip; weekends are when it is truly busy and when all of the families come together and barbecue it up next to the river and such. Sundays are great and really quiet (we stayed on a Sunday once).The river is always relaxing and at the perfect temperature for such high heats of the valley, at least during the summer when I have gone. There is plenty of beach room and swimming area and there is a tree swing on the other side of the river. Also, the current is so slow I always mistakenly call the river a lake. I haven't discovered an area in the main watering hole that is more than maybe 7-8 feet deep and there is a great amount of shallow area to wade in the waterBoth periods I went, there was one somewhat okay day (the weekend) and then a great day. Day-trippers are required to leave at sunset and there is a park patrol who enforces that but once the day-trip people leave or move to their campground, that is when the "party" happens. There is a strict 10pm-6am noise curfew that NO ONE follows during the weekend or when there is a significant amount of campers. But, I have been irritated enough at 11pm to go across our campsite and ask them to turn it down and did it within seconds. I honestly believe that the groups don't realize how loud their music is so you just need to give them a polite wakeup call. It would be nice to have patrol come around at curfew (10pm) to turn down/off the music.So yeah, I would suggest this as a pitstop between home and your final destination or for a family picnic if you're extremely local.FYI, I would suggest reserving your spot because most times we have gone, the Park had a sign saying "lot full."

Needed a halfway stop on the way to the bay area and rain...82 when we got here at 2pm : -)! Here on a Monday in February, so no worry about crowds. The rangers were nice, the park was clean and we could let the dog run off leash cause there's no one else here!It worked for us.

If you're looking for quiet nature camping, this isn't for you. I read reviews talking about groups playing loud music into the night and thought, "Maybe it's just the rare group that does that." Nope. We had 3 different groups in the immediate area doing that. It was as if each was competing to see who could play their music the loudest.The bathrooms are nasty. It's almost as if someone put up a sign saying, "You know what? Just piss anywhere. Maybe some will hit the toilet."Parking sucked. There are two types of parking passes: day and overnight. If you get there after hours, you can't get an overnight pass so you have to wait until the morning and hope you don't get a ticket in the meantime. Day pass users will park in the overnight parking spots so that sucks too.The river was fun. Definitely kid friendly. It gets a little crowded but still fun on a hot day.