Lower Falls Campground

My boyfriend and I visited here last year for the first time as a day trip and knew we would need to plan a camping trip here the following summer. We spent two nights here in late July in the lower loop portion of the campground. The area is beautiful and definitely worth a trip. If you make a reservation (we made one online) you can just pull into your campsite no check in necessary. The campsites themselves are pretty standard. There's space for your tent, a picnic table, and a fire pit. It's just a short walk to the river and the lower falls. None of the campsites have direct access to the river so I wouldn't say any are particularly better than others. The bathrooms are smelly, have no light, no sink, and are often filled with flies. It's camping though so I can look past that. The water source they have is not drinkable. I thought it was, and maybe it technically is, but the water tastes so strongly metallic that there is no way I could drink it and I'm not typically finicky about water. Luckily there is a small store about a half hour away that we were able to purchase water from. The river was flowing pretty strong and was way to cold when we went in late July to do any swimming in. If you want to spend time in the water I would recommend going mid to late August into September when the water level goes down and warms up a bit. There's also a hiking trail that will take you up to the middle and upper falls that is definitely worth it. If you don't think you can handle the full hike you can cheat a little and drive up the road a bit where there is a parking lot that the trail cuts through.
7 years ago (27-08-2017)

This campground is unfortunately very popular and utilizes the reservation system, which makes it hard to spontaneously show up. Also, the road getting to the campground and the falls is terrible, so be careful! Be weary, too, that the water pump is really in terrible condition and requires a lot of manual strength to get water to come out of it.
7 years ago (15-08-2017)

I love this place it is beautiful
7 years ago (18-12-2017)

The campgrounds and falls were great, but the roads to get there were terrible.
7 years ago (19-10-2017)

Love love LOVE this campground!! Short walk to the falls, great swimming spots for younger kids, and deeper swimming pool at base of falls for older kids and adults. Even saw a guy jump off the falls while we were there into the deep pool underneath. It looked like a lot of fun!! The spaces at the campground are large and roomy, especially the double sites, and the compost toilet was always clean and never stinky! Yay!! Ape Cave is a short drive up the road for something fun to do, but the campground has so many beautiful spots to visit along the river and falls that you never have to leave if you don't want too, which makes this one of my new favorite places to visit!!
8 years ago (12-08-2016)