Coyote Lake - Harvey Bear Ranch County Park
Camp Review
We camped at site 27, which was really nice. I think any campsite along the water was nice, except for site 24, which had no trees and had too much sun during the middle of the day. I heard from the Saitos that sites 43-47 are especially nice.
Each site came with a fire ring, table, and a food vault for protection from birds and wild boar. I especially appreciated the level parking for the cars, which is sadly uncommon at most campgrounds.
The campground had some rowdy folk, but they weren’t that bad and I was able to sleep just fine. I woke early both mornings due to birds cawing and chirping.
Each campsite site was huge and far apart from one another, compared to somewhere like Henry Cowell, where each site is super close to another. There was enough to set up a dozen tents at each site (no exaggeration) and both our friends had no issue setting up their giant tents.
I didn’t have this problem, but both the Saitos and the Prives had campers cutting across their campsite to get to the bathroom. Rude, but I’m not even sure if these people know about proper camping etiquette.
The bathrooms were decently clean, though the men’s bathroom ran out of soap around Saturday afternoon and the women’s bathroom ran out of toilet paper around the same time.
The water faucets were plenty, but they were far away from site 27. The Prives, however, basically had a private one inside of their campsite.
What I Learned
Anna decided to take the rain fly off the tent on Saturday afternoon, which sounded like a fine idea at the time. On Sunday morning, with the dew point being in the mid-50s (and the temperature falling right below that), she woke up with most things in her tent being damp. With this lesson learned, she plans on keeping the rain fly on in the future.
Everyone in our family had allergies, with Anna and Cassie having it the worst. They sneezed, had runny noses, and had teary eyes as we hung out in the middle of the dry grass that they’re probably allergic to.
Friends
We came here with the Saito and Prives families. We had a great time eating and playing well with them. We always seem to have a lovely time camping with them, and this time was no exception.
What Happened?
As Florence, Seri, Cassie, and I were planning out this camping trip, we decided to stay close and not have to worry about traffic. As we were looking around, Seri suggested Coyote Lake, as it was close and they thought it was a great place to camp. Florence, Cassie, and I had not camped at this campground before, but we trusted Seri, so we booked three sites next to each other.
When we arrived, the Saitos and Prives had already set up their tents and were ready to relax. However, the Prives had told us a story where some random people had settled in site 27 to eat their dinner. At first, they didn’t think much of it as they knew we wouldn’t arrive until after dinner and they assumed that these people would leave by then. But after dinner, they started to settle into the site by unpacking and getting comfortable. Dave confronted these people and told them that this site was reserved by us and that we were on our way. They responded with an annoyed, “I suppose you want us to pack up and leave then?” We then arrived about 30 minutes after they left not knowing what had transpired.
We found the campsite to be in better than perfect condition. Not only was the campsite beautiful lit by the setting sun, but it came with an overflowing box of firewood that was super dry and super perfect.
The girls chirped like the birds above by congregating and talking in excited, high-pitched voices as they unpacked. The adults unpacked all the big and communal things in mostly quiet fashion. We all got happily talkative when we sat around the campfire and enjoyed s’mores, dried fruit, and nuts.
The next day, we hung around the campsite and cooked meals for each other. Cassie and I made breakfast omelets for everyone, the Saitos served chicken shawarma, and the Prives handed out huge burgers out to everyone. And the girls had a fun time painting watercolors with Cassie, trying to catch frogs next to the lake, doing some blind portrait drawing exercise, and just generally had a lot of laughs throughout the day. We again had another big campfire, and this time we ate corn on the cob, mini sausages, and campfire popcorn.
On the last day, we ate leftovers sitting around a morning campfire, got our last bits of lounging in, then packed up in a jiffy and headed home. It was a wonderful and fun time with our friends, and we can’t wait to do it again when we camp with them later this year.
