Big Bear Lake Camplands — Hotel in Bruceton Mills

Upon arriving at our cabin, my husband went in to investigate for spiders and kill them. He killed an enormous amount of them. He then wound up all of the webs on a stick to dispose of them. There were so many that it looked like big, brown cotton candy! There was also mud, or God knows what, all over the plastic mattresses. The screen was busted out on one side so we couldn't leave the door opened and enjoy fresh air. The cabin only has air conditioning, no heat, so don't plan on going here if they are calling for cool nights.||||Next is the restrooms. After seeing a bear, the distance to the "comfort station" seemed unbearably far to traverse at night. Once in them, they were absolutely filthy! Mold, hair, dead insects, feces, peeled paint, old toothpaste, and heaven only knows that else! So we used one of the "comfort stations" in the actual campground. It wasn't better. Mold, dead critters, feces in the corner as well as all over the toilet, hair (human and animal) everywhere. Absolutely disgusting! ||||So on to the primary issue - the Waterpark. The only reason we chose to stay here is for the water park. I spoke to three different associates prior to arriving in order to guarantee that there wouldn't be issues. They all three were told the days we would be staying. The pool associate even happily told me that we would be given a buy one get one free pass during our stay. And the office associate gave us a free 1:00 pm check in so that we could use the pool. The first day was due to weather, or so we thought, the second day, though, it was still closed! Come to find out that it would be closed during our entire stay and no one had the decency to tell me despite having talked to the store, the pool, the office, and even the guard gate! It's the middle of August, why would the pool be closed?!?!||||The restaurant option, which we planned on using during our stay, is closed during the week as well. So don't plan on enjoying that either.||||Luckily, I did tell every single guest of mine, as well as every associate, that I was going there. So now I have the privilege of telling them all to stay as far away from this location as humanly possible!||||Avoid this place. Go to Yogi...

Nice drive to camp address, no weird hills or places to worry about pulling TT. This is a private community/complex (you buy your lot), that has built a temporary campground for us weekenders. You are required to stop at the gate guard to check in. The campground is a big oval with full/pull through in the middle and backup on one side/tent (platform) camping on other. The bathhouse (comfort station) is right as you enter. It has fresh water/dump/black water hose at bathhouse. WARNING- no TP or soap provided in bathhouses ANYWHERE! The sites are fairly large (not on top of each other). Playground within walking at campground. Within the complex (resort city), they have a country store (think gas station store), ice cream, small food shack. Across from store is a golf cart rental. The complex is golf cart driven and everyone is running around on them. The locals (own property) are very active on holidays and visiting each other (driving around to see who has the best parties), BUT rarely do they visit the temp campgrounds. The locals properties are very diverse, you will see everything from big money to hovels. The activities on complex with water- two lakes you can go swimming/floating/kayaking/fishing/etc., small water park with slides and lazy river. Non water- putt-putt, basketball courts, volleyball courts. We found that there is a lot of traffic running the "parade" to looky loo (we did our share) by golf carts with very loud music being driven by teens. Honestly, the campground wasn't cramped nor was it overly loud considering. Very wooded with lots of shade. It is designed to draw families and that in itself is on the louder side. If you want to only hear crickets, move along if it's a holiday, but worth it if you visit on a weekday. WiFi is lacking, but i was told you could get free wifi at the putt-putt and water park. Cell reception of any type was weak/spotty, we lost T-mobile/sprint 90% of the time. Overall,...

The best part about this campground is the access to trails for hiking and biking. We really enjoyed exploring the area and didn’t see a single other person on the trail system. The mini mart in this massive park was really convenient and open late - a definite positive, especially when we needed to buy earplugs.

What we didn’t realize is that this would be a far cry from a relaxing weekend in every other way. We rented a tent site, and enjoyed having a camping platform. However, drunken revelers partied loudly until 5am, driving through the camping areas on golf carts, blasting music and screaming as loudly as possible. Many of the campers who reserved sites for their fifth-wheel style campers (with the sites nearly on top of one another) blasted music until late in the evening, so there were times we were forced to listen to 3 different genres of music simultaneously instead of the stream and birds.

Somewhat perplexingly, many people on golf carts entered our section of the park, which was a loop, circled it, and exited back onto the main road. They did so while often blasting music and yelling. We had to wonder if these were the park residents, intentionally trying to harass the campers. There didn’t seem to be any purpose to enter our loop, since there was no access to other parts of the park. It’s worth mentioning that the golf carts were gas-powered and were very noisy, especially late at night.

Despite the fact that this wasn’t a holiday weekend, people were setting off fireworks wherever and whenever they wanted, again, late at night.

I grew up camping all over the U.S. and never once had an experience like this.

If you’re looking for party paradise, this is the place for you. If you’re looking for a quiet getaway in nature,...