Collins Lake Recreation Area

We went camping a week ago at Collins Lake. .. Yes this Diva went camping! I use to camp as a kid with family, ever summer but have decided as an adult I like Cabining not Camping!
With that being said I did have fun and here is why:
The lake was beautiful,
Lots of tress for shade,
Each Camp site had a picnic table and fire pit which we used as a fire at night and BBQ during the day,
Local Store on site which has items you may have forgot,
Local Store carried the BEST ice cream ever (for those who are lactose intolerant, Sherbet was #dabomb),
Options to rent a number of water items; boats, floaters, etc,
Very close to Sacramento, took 1 ½ hours from Elk Grove.
My complaints were:
The Camp sites and Beach was very rocky (hello bruised knees),
No dogs allowed on the beach (so we left ours at home),
Zero phone service (but a small hot spot at the store).
All in All will I do it again? Yes well maybe if I have a blow up bed and water shoes for the lake!

I’ve been coming here for years and years, and Collins Lake never failed to please. It’s crowded on weekends, but that’s to be expected. I recently went, and whoever a few months ago said the ice cream changed… they’re wrong. The ice-​cream is still as good as ever, and as plentiful. Good service. Only reason I’m taking a star off is because parking is overpriced, IMO, but parking outside the campgrounds for free remedies that. Just have to check on your car once a day to make sure it’s not tampered with. Overall, Collins Lake is pretty darn nice.

My partner and I stayed here for one night as it was on the way to our destination. The Lake is absolutely beautiful and there is a great vibe around the campgrounds. It’s quite busy but it wasn’t noisy when we stayed, the camp sites are quite big and spacious. We paid $ 30 to be on the Lake and it was well worth it. Showers are about $ 1 for 4 minutes, they and the toilets are kept very clean. I would recommend anyone to stay here.

Nice lake to fish however there are many people out on the weekends. I haven’t been on a weekday though so I can’t speak to that. The store at the entrance is pretty nice with a little coffee shop. The camp sites looked pretty full as well. Looks like a busy spot. I was kayak fishing and could hear all the people on the beach swimming and screaming etc.

Used to go just for icecream until they changed brands & it sucks the owner didnt seem to care i wont be back and neither will anyone else once they try the new ice cream

We just went there today to check out the water and oh my goodness the lake is full of water and beautiful! I have been going there since 2010 and never seen it soo full of water! Soo full it is going over the spill way :) It’s amazing what a few months of rain can do to a lake and believe me we will be coming back again as soon the weather gets warm again! We also want to try camping there. Thank you mother nature for bringing back one of my favorite lakes to life again!

Super nice campground! Camped here in February for the weekend. We were looking for a close by camp ground and found this one. Was nervous since there was rain in the forcast. Turned out to rain all day Friday which was no big deal at this camp ground. Roads are mainly paved and sites have gravel. Loved the trees, clean sites and large lake. Very very nice bathrooms with flushing toliets and clean showers. The store was great! They have an expresso bar AND an ice cream shop. The ice cream scoops were HUGE!!! Five stars for sure! Made me super happy. We walked the entire campground to scope out all the sites. Lots of great looking places to stay including several group sites, cabins, tents sites and trailer sites with full hook ups. Fishing from the beach was good. Beach area had nice sand, play ground and lots of picnic tables. They also have free clean out stations– 5 of them. So easy! Very happy with this camp ground, we will be back for sure!

For us this place rates 4.5 stars because we winter camped during the break between Christmas and New Years, and thus, avoided the crowds that apparently descend on the place in summer. We basically had our pick of waterfront campsites until New Years Eve when we had to move from the site we were in because someone had reserved it a year in advance. No problem, we found another great waterfront site for our last night.
For RVs, the hookup sites have water and electric hookups only. For sewer you need to go ¼ mile down the road from the main entrance to the free dump area (for paying campers).
Aside from the natural beauty of the Collins Lake area, the staff are among the most helpful and friendly campground hosts we have encountered. One of the hosts actually lent us her own phone charging cable so we wouldn’t have to drive into Marysville to buy one.
Whether you’re looking for a place to RV camp, tent camp or group camp, this is a great place to go and relax for a few days.

Been going here for years and will continue to. My aunt and uncle would take us here when we were a lot younger. The staff is friendly and very helpful.
If you’ve ever been here, then you already know about their ice cream situation. If not, their ice cream is on point and a huge scoop for minimal cost! Trust me when I say you can get away with the Jr. Kids scoop and feel satisfied.
Camp lots are always clean and ample trees for shade. They keep their bathroom facilities clean and a 4 quarters will get you a 4 minute shower. 5 for 5mins and so on.
*Take note, no cell service. You will need to head to the store in order to connect to their free wi-​fi!
The fishing here is fun! I’m not sure if they still tag some of their fish for prizes, but that made for one of my best memories here with my aunt!

Collins lake was an ok campsite, because of the terrain the sites are some what small and the trees don’t provide that much shade. Staff was great and nice. Since the water level is 41 feet lower than the norm it was pretty hard to roll the coolers to the beach

Disappointed in enforcement of rules. It’s been 7 or 8 years since my family has camped here, but we wanted to take our nephews (6 and 9 years old) here for their first time camping because amenities for kids are good (playground, beach, ice cream). BUT we went camping Friday to Sunday, and it was SO noisy waaaay past 10pm (10pm to 8am are the quiet hours). People were loud, dogs barking, music playing, generators running and kids were screaming after 10pm and before 8am. There were more than the maximum number of people (8) and cars (2) per campsite. We saw at least 4 sites that were over crowded. I think this had something to do with the noise. We were in the section (460’s to 490’s) closest to the main road, which we could also hear at night (this is not s complaint of the camp ground. Only something to be aware of when choosing a site.) We probably won’t come back, unless it’s only during the week and not in this section.

Took our family camping here after my coworker suggested it. She and her family have been camping at Collins Lake for over 15 years. I’m glad we took her advice. We will definitely be coming back next year.
We camped Monday — Thursday to avoid the crowds and loud parties I’ve heard the Lake is known for on the weekends. We chose a site (#202) away from the main campsites. The next closest campers were 4 sites away so we pretty much had the area to ourselves. Our site had water and electric hookups and was shaded most of the day. The porta — potties were close by and were kept very clean. The staff came by 2 – 3 times a day to clean them. We also noticed staff drove through every hour and waved at us. I guess they were just making sure everyone was ok.
ADVICE: We liked our site for the most part but it was covered in gravel (for RVs) whereas the main campsites are mostly dirt. Bring a portable shovel to move things around or mats for your tent floor. Believe me, it’ll save your feet and knees! Lol
There’s a General Store on site and pretty much has anything you may have forgotten to bring. The staff was friendly and very helpful. Getting a scoop or two or three of ice cream is a must when you come here. I thought it was a joke but the serving sizes really are HUGE! There’s also a market about a mile away.
Cell phone service is spotty throughout the park and WiFi is available at the General Store, but hey you’re camping so it should be about family, friends & enjoying the lake and being out in nature. You don’t need your phones.
ADVICE: Our family had a great time swimming, paddle boating, fishing and kayaking BUT California is in a major drought so the Lake level is really low. Be careful walking down to the lake and swimming area. If you can, wear sneakers to walk down. There are a lot of loose, big rocks along the way that are supposed to be under water. Walking in flip flops is really hard and walking barefoot can be painful.

So I am no outdoorsman so I opted for the cabin for some comfort, they are ‘quaint’ at best. My biggest problem was the fact the web site makes it sound like the fish are jumping out of the water at you and fishing is a breeze. Quite the contrary! I just spent 4 days/​nights there fishing… off the dock, off the shore, rented a boat for 3 days and all over the lake. NOTHING! Everyone we talked to said the same. Water levels too low, i.e. lake too warm and fish are staying deep. My kids and Dad and I spent probably 15 hrs of fishing time and one bite. If you are looking for a fishing lake this is not it, not at this time of year at least. On the bright side, that ice cream you read so much about was VERY good. ;-)

Love this place! Swimming, fishing, kayak/​boat rentals, and a cute store with ice, groceries etc. Ice cream by the scoop and coffee too! The kids, teenagers and adults all really enjoy themselves. This is by far the greatest camping location we have been to, great family fun and great memories!

Went there for a 4^th of July family reunion and camping. Could not have had a better experience. The campsite and picnic area were clean and the bathrooms were well maintained. The staff was courteous and helpful. I would highly recommend this camping and picnic area.

We came here and car camped 3 nights going into 4^th of July weekend. Our site (#465) was decent and it definitely seemed to be just a tad bit more private than most that we saw… We did have a cabin directly behind and slightly above us but it was vacant our entire stay. The sites are very close together.
Sites in the 450’s and up have close access to the lake by walking down a super rocky (but doable) hillside. Otherwise, you can go to the beach area where there are tons of tables and a nice playground for kids. Plus it’s much easier to walk down to the water.
The general store has everything you could need, plenty of ice, giant scoops of ice cream, souvenirs, snacks, free wifi, etc and they’re open until 10pm. One thing to note, if you’ve never been to the campground, most of the «bathrooms» you see on the map are actually port-​a-​pottys. No biggie but just FYI… The real bathrooms are with the coin-​op showers by the store.

Camped here over Thanksgiving with my family and it was awesome. The land is beautiful, the lake, even though low right now, is gorgeous, the restrooms are kept clean, the playground was wonderful for my grand daughters, the store has anything you could want at good prices, the people working there were very nice, dogs on leashes were welcome and people seemed to obey the rules. All in all it was a very good experience and we plan to do this again soon.

Wen’t camping here a few months ago with my family.
It was my first time camping so I didnt know what to expect.
When we got there, it was kinda difficult to find out site, but we found it after about 10 minutes of searching.
It was a random weekend, but there seemed to be alot of people. and everyone is pretty close to eachother. I wouldn’t compain if I was with my friends cause it’d be pretty fun, but in a family trip, kinda want some peace and quiet lol
Plenty of porta pottys and water dispensers here and there.
The lake was really nice, we ended up getting a 2 story platoon with the slide. Very dope, family had a lot of fun.
We tried finishing too, but not much luck =/​
There is absolutely no signal in this area too, but the office area has free wifi is you need to do business.
They have a little gift shop there with a café that has ice cream.
THE ICE CREAM IS GOOD AND SOOO CHEAP.
HUGE SCOOPS for $ 2…its rediculous really… lol
biggest complaint about the place is how dusty it is, but over all I had a good experience =]

The grounds are very nice, however WAY over crowded. Thankfully we were placed far from the main crowd, which meant no electric or water. Sites with electric and water more resemble a movie about the Apocalypse where everyone is elbow to elbow, running around with no direction.
The price was right, but lower prices also lends itself to low class campers. Our neighbors blasted music from dawn to dusk. We very nicely asked that they turned it down and the music got louder. The family also placed a bucket seat out to use as chairs. Tacky. No serenity.
We complained about the loud music, and a staff person came out, however the music cranked back up when he left.
Pros:
* Paddle boat, kayak and other rental was perfect.
* Garbage cans placed conveniently throughout and dumped regularly.
* Nice shower facility, although you need to bring plenty of quarters.
* Nice staff.
Cons:
*Campers packed in like sardines
*Low life campers galore
*Dusty and rocky grounds

Pros: general store with wifi, shower and laundry facilities, great ice cream place, beautiful surroundings, lots of deer and wildlife to see, plenty of picnic areas, lake swimming, and boat rentals.
Overall we had fun and enjoyed our stay here.
Cons: small/​close together campsites, very loud at night (we had some obnoxious neighbors who were crazy loud until 3am both nights we were here), gross portapotties (smelly!!), overall really crowded.
I’m not sure if I will camp here again but I think this is a great place for a day trip. You can get the day pass for $ 10 and there’s a beach area to park at with plenty picnic tables