CANCELLED: Willow Beach Marina, March 25-29, S of Lake Mead

[JudyJB]

I have decided to modify my travels for March and cut this stop out. I am still going down to Borrego Springs, but am then headed north to Napa and Oregon for some work on my slide and kitchen cabinets at the Fleetwood Customer Service place, plus a doctor's appt in Eugene.

Since no one seems to be able to make these dates, I will add some more dates in March. I have reservations in March as well and am hoping to even rent a boat or take the float trip from Hoover Dam. So, I hope some of you can make it then. Note that they just increased their rates for these full-hookup sites. Cost is now $50 for non-seniors, but only $25.00 with a senior pass.

Since Lyn mentioned this, I will post something about it as well. This is easily one of my top 20 favorite campgrounds, maybe top 10. I have reservations for this time period already. This campground is unusual because it is really isolated--located 12 miles south of Hoover Dam on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. This area of the river is called the Black Canyon of the Colorado and is gorgeous. The marina rents a wide variety of boats you can use to go up or down the canyon. They are equipped with radios in case you get lost, and if you do not return on time, they will send a search party and charge you for it!! Depending on how much water they are dumping out of the dam, you can also probably kayak here.

The campground is up a slope and maybe 1,000' from the river, but the view is great, especially from the lower sites. All are full-hookup with cement pads and asphalt drives. Can handle all sizes of rigs. This is a federal site run by a concessionaire, but for some reason they charge your card the full $50 per night when you make reservations, but when you arrive you get a 50% refund on your credit card when you show your senior pass. That makes it $25 per night. There is a shower room and laundry, plus free internet. Problem is ABSOLUTELY NO CELL SERVICE, but you do have the free internet, which has recently been updated. Also, nearest grocery store is at least 40 miles away, so you have to bring everything. But the bighorn sheep wandering around makes up for a lot! There is also a raft trip that runs out of the dam that this group runs. It is a BIG raft, not the whitewater kind. Cost for raft trip is a steep $97, however. You get on the raft at the bottom of Hoover Dam and then float down to the campground and take a bus back to the dam to pick up cars.

The drive down is a little worrisome because of the warning sign that the road might be washed out, but it is fine and I would take any size rig down there. Here is my blog showing the drive: http://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2016/01/ ... a-and.html

There are some pictures of the campground and the marina and fish hatchery here: http://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2015/11/ ... below.html

Here is the website for this campground. I will be in D1. http://www.willowbeachharbor.com/

[Bethers]

Judy, the website is quoting $50/night for an rv site... I'm considering this based on the rates you posted. Just thrown off by the website rates?

[JudyJB]

They just increased their rates. This is for a full hookup site with free internet. However, with the senior pass, the rate is only $25. I will fix the original posting.

This is really a beautiful place. The campground is on a slope, so you get good views from some of the sites, especially the ones in D loop. Sites are large, level, and well-spread out, but are a serious uphill hike from the river. Check out the location on Google maps to see what I mean. There are a couple of hiking trails also.

PLUS, you can kayak in the river here, assuming they are not dumping a ton of water from the lake, making the current too strong. However, considering the level of Lake Mead, they don't have a ton of water to dump. It's level has not risen like the lakes in California have risen because they did not get the same amount of rain here in late 2016 and 2017.