Hallsted Campground

Nice campsite, horrible host. Deena, the host constantly targeted our group of campers. We have been camping for over 10 years and never once have we been targeted as much as our stay at Hallsted. We had rowdy neighbours who weren’t as targeted as we were. One of our campers stepped off the path to the bathroom and Dina told her to not do that again. To make matters worst, she contacted us almost a week after our stay, telling us all the things we did wrong, made back handed comments telling us to google camping etiquette, made a racist comment about our Indian neighbours. As a Hispanic group of campers, we felt extremely uncomfortable, and isn’t it a little odd she only targeted the minorities? We respected all camping rules. DONT go one minute past silent hours or she will come to your site and tell you to be quiet. If you like being harassed, this is the place for you!

If it was just about the campground it'd be 5 stars for being shady, walkable to the river, and close to the store. Only complaint would be on full days there's a line for the showers. However the camp host made it hard to enjoy. The first night we had gone around 15 to 20 minutes past the quiet hours which was our fault but we promptly went to sleep right away. But from the very beginning it felt like we were being singled out by the host. Although she was thoughtful with activities on what to do nearby, it felt like we were being targeted for rules we saw others not following just because we had a large group. She would do drive by on her bike in which we kept being reminded we needed to only have one car parked on the pavement per site multiple times. We move it, and we go walking around the campground only to see around 3 sites who not only had 2 cars per site on the pavement, but a uhaul on the dirt? Where were their reminders? It seemed like they had arrived the same day or one day before as they never showed up driving past our camp by the enterance. But by our second day all of the cars were still parked like that. Then by the second night we were just talking amongst ourselves when again she came and told us we needed to keep quiet. All we were doing was talking, but we had new neighbors across from us too so they amped up the noise. We went to bed a bit past 10 but you could still hear the people across from us talking late into the night. Again the third night she reminded us, and we had to ask if she had been talking to the group across to us too because they also kept making noise. Her excuse was that they were "indian" and in their culture men don't listen to the women. I'm not sure why that was being brought up? We've had previous camp hosts say they can call the authorities to remind them to be more quiet, but that time they were extremely loud. I don't understand why that meant she had to come and shush us when our neighbors were loud. When you would go a bit past the bathroom you could hear the site with the uhaul playing music, but I didn't see any warnings for them or an attempt to lower it. So if you've got kids who love to play or talk or a larger group this place isn't it🫠

Deena the camp host was amazing! The moment we pulled up in our RV she popped out to ask us if we needed anything and gave us the rundown of the campground. The restrooms were incredibly well cared for and clean. The showers had bugs that made their way in but the camp host was in there every day cleaning them out. The place smelled amazing, like camping should and the way the driveway was set up was perfect for letting the kids ride scooters or bicycles. My sister joined us for the last night there and the tent site they got across from us was perfect! Even had a level platform for the tent. The river was deep when we went, far from the shallow little stream that most of the picture portrayed. Instead of swimming in the river we did a little prospecting and fishing. For swimming we took the kids up the road to lake Almanore which was worth the extra 20min drive. Overall I would recommend Hallsted to anyone looking for that classic campground atmosphere.

For the light sleepers, the train could be a problem. I personally loved hearing the train pass by at night. The river is amazing! My dog finally got over his fear of swimming. I suggest water shoes, as the rocks can be quite slippery. The camp sites were nice. We had 3 deer pass by on the wooded side of our site, so keep your eyes open. Food locker was large enough to fit our 3 coolers, storage bin, and our grill. Firepit really needed to be emptied but no big deal. Be sure the take the trail to the store. It's a nice walk and there is a little western "town" at the end. Showers are $2 for 4 minutes and up from there. Bring plenty of quarters since mine didn't turn on until $2.50. Only real down side was battling the mosquitos and the meat bees. But that is to be expected when camping!

Like everyone says, there is a train that passes by the camp, on the mountainside, and we're in the valley. Plenty of things to do, if you are creative: You can stalk wildlife, identify plants, go to the river (which is not shallow at the time of this writing), and go to the nearby town which is ¼ of a mile (0.402336 kilometers) to the west, north-west. There were several boy scouts, so I do believe that the campsites were left better then found. All around good place to take the kids, especially if you like no cell reception.