Turlock Lake State Recreation Area

It's closed...... website says it's open. It's always closed. Drove long distance. It's overrun with weeds and abandoned buildings and restrooms that are disgusting. Idk why they aren't locked. Stay away

DECENT CAMPGROUNDGrowing up I love camping - it's the most American thing to do in the summer. I love nature-sleeping when you sleep on the ground and wake up the next day due to the sun. The last time I went camping was in the summer of 2014 at Lake Oroville. Unfortunately that was the time of the drought. The water at Lake Oroville was so receded you can see where the original shoreline of the lake. I had a good, relaxing time at that campsite. However the water on the surrounding lakes were less than 50% capacity in my estimation. I wasn't thinking about camping again unless the lakes would be full to capacity. During this past winter and spring California experienced record rainfalls that the lakes were starting to get full again. This was the opportune time to go camping again. There were no more spaces at Lake Oroville but my cousin once went camping at this campground. Through my cousin we were able to book 4 campsites where we stayed 2 nights last weekend. The campground is situated between 2 bodies of the water - Tuolumne River and Turlock Lake. The river is located on the campground while the lake is about a mile away from the campground. If you already paid for the campsite you do not need to pay for the admission to the lake as long as you show your car pass from the campground. There are positives and negatives about this campground. The first negative is the grill. There is only half a rack to place your food. In addition the distance between the rack and bottom of the pit is substantial. Unless you have wood the fire from the charcoal won't reach the rack. The grill at this campground is great for smoking meat. I smoked pork ribs on that grill for 2 1/2 hours. I do recommend bringing your own grill if you want to dictate hot fire when you cook. The second negative is the bathroom. Granted most bathrooms at campgrounds aren't clean however the bathrooms at this campground didn't have any paper toilet seats. There are positive things regarding this campground. The shower stalls are cleaner than I expected at a campground. You can get both hot and cold water. I recommend bringing lots of quarters when you take a shower. (Please note you can purchase quarters through the campground manager.) The second positive thing is the river, which cleaner than the lake. In addition since the river is in the confines of the campground you do not need to pay admission for the river. I recommend bringing a specific type of water shoes when you go to the river as there are slippery rocks on the ground. Here are some other observations. The campground isn't very spacious as the campsites are close to each other. The summer weather at this campsite gets hot but surprisingly in the morning this campground is cold. I didn't bring a light summer jacket as I presumed this place would be really hot throughout my time here. This campground isn't perfect but it is a decent place to go camping with the family.

This place is always closed , even though the website says it's open!...We tried from every single direction no lock!

Very nice campground, lots of shade, clean restrooms and the river nearby is awesome. You don't have to go to the lake at all! I will come back any time.

Turlock Lake SRA and Campground FacilitiesFirst, Turlock Lake Campground is a very old outdated campground; it seriously needs renovating, upgrading ALL existing the facilities and amenities: There are no ADA toilets facilities with grip-assisting bars mounted on the walls for a wheel chair camper directly accessing the toilet safely without falling at either at the lake or at the campgrounds, there are only two showers available for the entire campground (the showers are not ADA accessible either!) and there are no showers at the lake, the septic system clogs easily and the sewage backs up into the toilets and the two cracked, porcelain sinks, the privacy fence for the women's bathrooms via the river are broken and falling apart, there are no sinks for washing dishes, there's no sink for washing clothes, the faucets around several campsites are inoperative and lack proper grey H2O draining, the bathroom stalls are rotted/rusty, and there are only about a dozen dumpsters for campers to throw their trash for the entire campground--that's the reason for the insurmountable amount of trash dumped at every campsite and river access entrances!Secondly, the campsites range in sizes: 1-7 are walk-in campsites, campsites 8-31 are for tents SMALLER than five feet by six feet in length and width. However, campsites 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, and 43 are the largest, most pastoral campsites but, lacks river access (you may access the river via campsite 22/shower-bathroom facilities) and seriously, ALL campsites MUST BE THOROUGHLY CLEANED because I cleaned half of campsite 42 and completely cleaned 43 discovering finding broken glass, several tent stakes with the sharp points standing upright, a bungie cord tent fastener, tent pole tubing, fifteen cents, a high-quality drill bit, a black ponytail barrett, two paper metal clamps, a plethora of plastic straws, forks, spoons, knives, cups, bottle caps, metal beer bottle caps, beer bottles, trash, one used condom (yuk!), old candy still inside the wrapper, disposable SUN drink (I don't know what the drink's name really is) with liquid juice still inside the container--just imagine what will be stabbing or squishing underneath your tent (EWW!); therefore, I strongly ADVISE you bring a heavy duty rake cleaning up the campsite BEFORE setting up your tent and all your camping equipment for your safety and protecting yourself from bio-hazard material (i.e., used condom--like I found at campsite 43~EWWW)! Furthermore, campsites 37 to 58 are the most filthiest, dusty, dirty campsites due to campers' laziness walking to the dumpsters in order dumping their trash so, thoroughly clean the campsite BEFORE setting your camping equipment: Stressing, reiterating--PLEASE clean the campsite before laying ANY of your belongings at ANY of Turlock Lake SRA Campground's campsites! Moreover, campsites 55 to the upper 60's location is in a cul-de-sac: This bathroom facility is the one with sewage backup problems which leaves a savory, odiferous smell (EWWW)--9/7/2016, Roto Rooter had to repair this bathroom facility!Finally, the cellphones might have one bar or less so, bring a satellite phone for emergencies or drive one mile to Turlock Lake in order using your cellphone; the best tranquil days camping are Tuesdays through Thursdays while Fridays through Mondays-forgeddabout sleeping because the campers who camp here on the weekends have no respect or abide by the quiet hours rule of 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM: Sadly, I had to call the Sheriff late Saturday/early Sunday morning in order making the campsite campers 39 stop making incessantly loud screaming, yelling, hollering noises at 1:30 AM (The Sheriff made them go to sleep and Sunday morning, these campers were kicked out for "Disturbing The Peace" and failing abiding by the quiet hours rule; before campsite 39 campers were kicked out Sunday morning, beginning around 2:30 PM Friday afternoon, one dude kept hollering until 4:30 AM Saturday morning--"Ay-yah-yayeeeiii!"--Jannie, the Campground Host berated this camper warning if he screams past 10:00 PM, he'll be kicked out immediately! So unbearably, obnoxious campers camp here on the weekends so, Yelpers, AVOID camping at this campground during the weekends so, camp at Turlock Lake Campground during the weekday for a peaceful camping experience, bring your heavy-duty rake cleaning your campsite before laying ANY of your camping equipment at your campsite, and bring your own toilet paper--you'll be relieved you took my advice, seriously!BTW: The only Campground Host working at the Turlock LAKE SRA Campground is Liz so, if you want to reserve a particular campsite like campsite 43 (because I thoroughly cleaned it of all debris, trash, and bio-hazard material but, I can't guarantee how the next campers will leave it clean or filthy!), please contact Liz; Campground Host, Jannie, left on 9/7/2016 and the Area Manager, Brenda will be retiring 9/10/2016.

We have been going to the "day area" part for about 10 years now! This has to be our absolute favorite lake in the area. It is always very clean and not over crowded. For the most part the boaters respect each other and i have yet to see anyone drunk or reckless in the water. It is our favorite spot to go to on hot summer week days, or spend a entire weekend day there. We love it and defiantly always take out out of town family for a lake day!

Giving this park a piss-poor rating for obnoxious camper-neighbors is nonsense. That's like being mad because the dentist says you've got bad teeth...My late grandfather was a huge fan of this CAMPGROUND which is tucked in the canyon down the road a bit from the lake. The lake is hot without shade. The campground is delightfully shaded with sites bordering the toulomne river. My grandpa was in love with blackberries and this state park had an abundant natural growth blackberry hedges, walls, shrubs and such. He would take a 5-gallon bucket and would pick until it was full. We'd make blackberry cobbler for dessert one night some of my fondest memories have occurred in this campground. There's a sweet ranger station that's open during daytime, camp manager is on site so any urgent needs can be addressed. I've never had any issues with asshole neighbors but I can only imagine. Hiking trails are well established and a nice artesian well is along the back of the canyon wall. The river is usually super mild but it has flooded and been a death trap. You can drive up to La Grange at the bridge and get into the river and float back down to the Turlock campground //its a long ass float (6 hours) with some shallow spots. It's an amazing float along with toulomne river which winds through grassland/farmland with blackberries growing along the banks. Bring lots of water and water shoes. It's been a long four years since I've been to visit and it feels like old home when touching the river water once I arrived today. The boat launch area has been improved since I was here last. There's a boatload of ticks around these areas so animals are easy feeding for nasty ticks. My lab left Stanislaus county the proud owner of 13 stowaway ticks--nasty.

It's okay . They should have activities like kayaking or electric boats for rent. It was boring and muddy to be honest . I'm from a beach town so maybe that's why I'm a little judgmental.

I loved this place. Used to go there with family. Unfortunately it's been "temporarily closed " since 2020.

This is a beautiful place... I often come here to enjoy some quality time alongside the nature. The best thing is that they don't charge the entrance fee (but they've )... I honestly want to be able to see all the way to the hill side, but the route is closed ...Everything else is my favorite about this place, however if you're driving from Hawkins rd, please be careful about your speed limit as the road is uneven and could damage your car.