Hensley Lake — Attraction in Madera

DO NOT PULL YOUR TRAILER INTO THE "PARK HEADQUARTERS" LOT (Ouch, VERY tight parking area!!!) Go directly to the campground and the Rangers will contact you when they do their rounds. The signs say that reservations are required, but there is a phone number posted to make same-day reservations. There are lots of long, pull-through sites, I saw a couple of rigs that looked to be in the 40' range. Overall a really pleasant campground. I stayed midweek, so it was pretty quiet... it started to fill up Friday evening (I left early Saturday morning). The Rangers were super nice and helpful. The camping area was patrolled regularly by the Rangers and I saw a Sheriff's car come through at one point. Only downside was that the lake is at about 45% full... still, there is plenty of water to enjoy. Fishing (from shore) was so-so... rainbow trout and some bass. There are several boat ramps and the one by the campground looked to be quite serviceable even with the low water level. Verizon's service was very adequate. Definitely will...

I'm from WV and stumbled upon this lake after a KOA had cancelled my reservation. As you can imagine I was distressed being I was 36 hours from home, well a quick google search led me to this little gem. The stay was very pleasant, there were bathrooms and showers available and they were tidy. Lots of people had their water toys so if you have them bring 'em, overall it was a very nice experience for someone who was desperate and didn't know...

We went on a Tuesday afternoon and it wasn't very crowded. The lake water was warm and the kids enjoyed swimming and playing on the Kayak. On the down side, there was no shade near the water and lots of trash everywhere (paper plates, broken shoes, bottles, cans, etc.) If we are looking for a quick getaway out of town we may go back. There is a $5 per vehicle...