Tuttletown Recreation

Came here last minute because I could not find any place on the coast to camp over memorial day weekend and also to avoid 60° on the coast. I really like this campsite.. close to Sonora, and on the lake. The sites are hilly so you may want to check out which one to get. I got 37 which I really liked because it was down a little bit of a climb, but very secluded quiet with shade. I would not come here in the Midsummer unless you're prepared for the heat. It was pleasant end of May and I suspect it will be after September. There are some bugs in the campsite, so be prepared to fend off ants and mosquitoes - I was not bothered too much. The restrooms are clean, the flush toilets and hot showers. Campsites are well-maintained. Enjoy some time on the lake in a kayak On The Lake kayak will bring it to the Gloryhole Recreation Area across the water (20min drive) the owners are really friendly, great service!Indigeny Reserve has amazing Apple Cider including a couple of hard ones than 5 g of sugar. Standard Pour sports bar has really good beer and amazing burgers. They have two locations I really like the one in the cute hamlet of Standard. If you want a one in a lifetime experience, pay a visit to the llamas at circle home. I had an amazing experience for an hour feeding, tending to the llamas and hugging them!Yosemite is one and a half hours away if you want to make this a stop on your way there.

Watch out for what's in the water....This place is very pretty. Bathrooms and fountains were always cleaned in our area. The ranger was kind and let me switch camp grounds when I realized there was no way I was getting my mother on an oxygen tank up a very steep hill. The map is very deceiving. I picked site 139 because it's pictured very close to the water. It was a good 10 minuet hike through two camp sites before you got to it. I switched to 128. It was better and closer to the bathrooms but still a steep 10 minuets (with small kids) hike down. We drove down to the day use area. The other yelper was right. Something is in the water. I don't know if they're leaches but they were tiny, dark grey, and all over our feet. I had to use my nails to claw them off. I only had them on me in the day use area. Playing in the water the first day near camp I didn't notice anything.

Nice campsite, I went on Easter weekend. It was quite busy, the campsite next to me had no respect. Their kids and dogs always came to my campsite.I couldn't even take an afternoon nap because of the disruptions at my campsite. I wish there was more distance between sites.I would definitely come back in the winter so the seasonal campers won't be around.

It is my first time going there, it's peaceful campground and people are friendly. I will diffidently go back there to enjoy the nature with my family.

The scenery and water are beautiful. But the camp site is dry and we were there when it was 98 degrees. Very few sites have shades. You almost have to reserve the premium spots. This place is more for people with boats or other water equipments. Otherwise, there's nothing to do but sit and stare at the water.Due to some hammock mishaps recently, the park no longer allowed hammocks at the campsites. The rangers drive around regularly to make sure you don't have hammocks and will sternly chastise and give tickets if you do. Supposefly, some campers tied their hammock to a less than 3-in circumference tree and the trees snapped. Because of this, the rest of us is paying for that. We were so thoroughly disappointed that we cut short our trip.

Best place to go camping, and have fun swimming love it. Really near from Sunnyvale. The water is really warm.

I don't write many reviews because I'm relatively phlegmatic and laid back but this camp ground pissed me off so bad I had to let other people know, so their much anticipated trip isn't ruined by this group of inept shleps they call a staff.I thought to myself, boy for a holiday weekend this place sure is empty...? Now I know why. It was like being in a cheap horror film where you are lost in the mountains near some podunk town and the only people around are the inbred locals and they are really suspect, and unfriendly to the out-of-towners... That's the staff at Tuttletown. Our group consisted of 5 families all in our mid thirties and all with kids ranging from 9 months to 13 years old. No excessive drinking, no partying, no loud music, no drugs, not doing anything wrong, not bothering anyone and not breaking any rules. All by ourselves in our "group" campsite. But that didn't stop the police academy drop-out park rangers from harassing us to the point of never wanting to come back to this place. Mind you I spent 14 years in law enforcement, am very pro-law enforcement, and one of my closest friends in our group is a cop. The group site was a total joke and looked like it was designed by a blind man. Knowing we had the entire area to ourselves we setup our rigs in away we could actually be in a group. We were originally told that the way we had our rigs set up was perfectly fine and there were no issues. Then later on, one "ranger" puffed his chest up real big and strolled into our group site, Peacocking and said that we werent allowed to park our RVs in the manner that we had. We said well, the first guy said it was fine? So captain America proceeded to say that we were told wrong and they needed to be moved. (Text book - I was picked on growing up and now I have a badge and a minimum amount of authority so I'm going to be a total dick). So we said OK. At this time it was well over 100+ degrees outside and out infants were in the trailer sleeping. So we thought we'd take care of it later. Then 4 hours later Captain America shows back up with another one of his avenger buddies... you know, his much needed back up, and then talks to us in the most condescending, disrespectful tone. Threatens to call the sheriff on us if we don't move them right that second. What did we pay $600 for again? Group campground? I haven't even explained yet how much of a joke this "group" site was. It was depressing. The most ridiculous, incoherent layout you could come up with. It wasn't accommodating in any sense of the word so we tried to make it work for us. Anyway, After we moved the rigs The sheriff actually did come by later and he was super cool. He explained the policy about keeping the road clear and was very professional and not out showcasing his insecurities like the pretentious ranger. The biggest gathering place in this "group" campsite was two handicap parking stalls. So we set up our circle of chairs and easy-ups there so we can hangout together and what not. Since we already had all the ridiculous drama about the RVs we asked the sheriff if our common area setup would be a problem. He said no and that it was fine. Well later on guess who...here comes more of the Tuttletown avengers. This guy comes by, literally drives his electric cart down into our site (which is only supposed to be only our group) and drives through our stuff and tells us that we can't have our chairs and easy-ups there and that the sheriff is going to come tell us to move it all. I said are you kidding me? Do you guys have nothing better to do then harrass tenants of your campground? I told him I just talked to the sheriff and he said it was fine. And if he didn't believe me to call him right now and have him come back to get on the same page. (He never did). Before writing this, I read some other reviews and thought it was funny that other people have been harassed by these shmucks too.Basically if it wasn't for my friends and us making the best of our time, it would have been the most misreable camping trip of my life and I have camped hundreds of times in many different places, literally all over the world. So basically, the campsites suck, nothing is convenient, everything is either broke, out-of-order, or in total disarray, and the staff is the most unprofessional group of clowns I've ever interacted with. I could say Tuttletown rec area has a real Mickey mouse-ran organization but that would just be an insult to Mickey mouse.I will NEVER camp at New Melones ever again. I'd rather go to the ghetto cesspools of Comanche or Modesto before I return to this circus. But if you get off on bossing people around, making a big deal out of nothing, or are just an all around prick and have zero people skills, nor any self confidence then submit your resume and I'm sure they'd be happy to employ you.

This has probably been the worst place I have ever camped in my life! I stayed at a camp ground that was meant for a large group of people but it was so poorly designed that we really could not be together. I asked one of the workers where we were supposed to park our campers and he didn't have a clue so we ended up winging it. Later that day, the Paul Blart of park rangers came down and said he we had to move the trailers or he was going to call the Sheriff on us. It didn't matter that we had infants taking a nap in the trailers when it was 100 plus degrees outside, he was dead set on making us move. The outdoor kitchen was a frickan joke. It basically looked like an alter for making sacrificial killings. The grates look like they been there since the 70s and no overhang as they described online. The advertised dump station was out of order so I had to load up and travel to the other side of the lake to empty out tanks. The bathrooms were nasty AF and showers were not close by at all. Once we found the showers, I had the privilege too look at chunks of puke from the A-Holes the night before. The beach was so frickan funny. It was basically the old boat launch ramp that they converted into a beach. It felt so good walking on sharp as gravel trying to get in the water. We ended up moving to another part of the lake but once my family and I were in the water, we were greeted by blood sucking leeches. No joke. LEECHES EVERYWHERE!!!The only saving grace is that I was with great friends and we made the best of it. All weekend it felt like Lake New Melones was one disaster after another but when it came down to it, I made some good memories with my favorite people on earth. Bottom line is that I will never give these guys my money again and would rather camp next to homeless in San Francisco.

This place is so clean and beautiful we stayed in campsite 121 we had a blast the water is clean and very private we will definitely be going back

Camp ground was very clean. The Staff members were nice and very helpful. The view are amazing! While we were camping they had a cool event where you could see mars and learn about the plants, they provided the telescopes. The Best part about my stay was they have SHOWERS!! Bring your quarters, it's .50 cents for 5 minuets. The only negative thing was how crowded the camp spots are. I had the cover off the top of my tent because it was so hot. While changing I happen to look up and wave at my neighbors who were directly above me on a hill. I had to laugh and wave. If being super close to strangers doesn't bother you this may be the place for you. BUT that was the ONLY downside. But my neighbors seemed like really nice people. I think I will return and maybe try out different camp sites to see if I didn't pick a good one