From hills to flats. From lake to river. Campsites can be so incredibly different. What’s right for one person isn’t always right for another. Let’s take a look at the Brannon State Recreation area and the campsites within it.
After an amazing weekend at Folsom Lake (see our review), we started our trek home. Under the guidance of the Waze app, we were headed a route we had never taken before. As we got closer to home we realized we were following the Sacramento River. As Marla was driving I looked up Brannan Island camping area to see how close we were.
Turns out is was a 1/2 mile up the road we were driving on. We didn’t want to miss the chance to scout out this location. We drove up to the main entrance and asked the lady if we could take a look around. She welcomed us to take a tour and provided us with all sorts of information about the area.
Brannan Island always showed up on my campground searches as having few spots available. You have to wonder when so many campgrounds are completely booked, why do some have spots? The obvious answer would be because it is not a great campground, but maybe it’s just catering to a certain niche of camper.
As you can see on the map below, Brannan Island is surrounded by the Seven Mile Slough, Three Mile Slough and the Sacramento River. It seems like a boating and fishing paradise. We don’t do either of those things, but let’s see what else it offers.
As we drove in, the first thing that we noticed was how flat the area was. There would be no van leveling issues here. The campsites and parking pads were completely flat. There was a good amount of space between sites. There were a lot of large beautiful oak trees. Some spaces have no shade at all and others have a nice shade canopy provided by the oak trees. We took a look inside the bathrooms and shower areas and were very pleased with how clean they were.
We toured the park on a Sunday afternoon so I imagine most people had already left. As we drove around, we saw 3 people camping in the main campground areas. In the day use area we saw 8 campsites occupied. In the huge day are parking lot, which is right at the swim area, there were only two cars. The huge group campsite was completely vacant.
There are three campgrounds for overnight camping. The Sacramento group Campground at the far north end of the park. It is a very large area and away from the other campgrounds.Willow Campground is closer to the boat launch and swimming area. Cottonwood Campground is at the far southern end of the park. Other than Willow being closer to swimming and boat launch, I felt they were equally inviting. The grass all around the campground was brown from the summer heat, but I imagine the it becomes green and really beautifies the grounds after some rain.
Although most all of the sites were nice, I would stay in the ones on the river side to give yourself more space from neighbors. Unfortunately we could not find any river access points from the campgrounds. The only water access appears to be at the boat launch area or the quite small swim area (see photo below). If you want shade, we would recommend sites 71 and 72 at Cottonwood Campground.
So, what did we think? The camp sites were nicely spaced. There was no trash laying around and the restrooms were very clean. We really liked how level all the campsites were. Definitely no need for leveling blocks. Since it does get very hot there, we would definitely go for a shaded spot. We did not like how far away and small the water access area was. We do not have a boat and do not fish, so that was not a draw for us. If you are a boater and/or enjoy fishing, then I would say this is a nice destination for you.
Open Season
- Open year round.
- Check in 2pm.
Amenities
- Flush toilets.
- Showers.
- Picnic tables.
- Fire rings.
- Swimming.
- Boat launch.
- Dump station.
- Trash receptacles.
Fees
- $36 Camping.
- $34 Senior camping (over age 62).
- $49 Camping with electrical and water.
- $47 Senior camping with electricity and water.
- $10 Extra vehicle (max two vehicles per site).
- $8 Boat launch with camping.
- $121 Group site (30 people with 10 vehicle max).
- $8 Dump fee.
- $10 Day use.
- $9 Senior day use.
- $60 Group covered picnic area.
- $18 Boat launch if not camping.
- $17 Senior boat launch if not camping.
Reservations
- Reserve California Website
- Check-in 2pm.
Additional Camping Nearby
- Rancho Marina.
- Park Delta Bay.
- Snug Harbor RV Park and Marina.
- Sandy Beach County Park.
Local Things To See And Do
- Rio Vista Museum.
- Bike path from campground.
Cell Signal
- AT&T – 4-5 bars.
- T-Mobile – 1-2 bars.
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