Ghost Mountain RV Campground — Hotel in Placerville

Ghost Mountain Ranch visit finally became a reality. We’ve been to a few of our list of CRA (Colorado River Adventures) membership campgrounds over the years.||We got the grandkids together and the decision was unanimous. 2 adults, 2 teens and 2 younger preteens. ||When I made our reservations a month in advance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they told us it was open w/ some restrictions. The swimming pool was closed as was the clubhouse. Yet when the time came to leave we found out that all of it was open and in full swing. A long and somewhat challenging drive presented itself and it was something the kids had not experienced quite yet. 12 to 14 hrs. Including necessary stops and sightseeing photo ops presented themselves. ||When we arrived about an hour after check in @4pm, they checked us in promptly.||The cabin was immaculate and accommodating w/o compromise. That in itself was so priceless. Believe me it’s so much more rewarding in ways than a resort or hotel, and from a different perspective. I’m not knocking the hospitality industry by any means, due to having traveled extensively in the past. ||There is so much opportunity and joy in this local stuff we need to do more of. Support the local economies in difficult/challenging times. We as a peoples have a stake in self preservation on a local level too. This entire Lake Tahoe area (and it’s rather large and diverse too) with so many opportunities to enjoy life in so many ways.||Especially with current restrictions lifted for the duration of our 10 day trip.||Now, aside from spending time at the ‘campground’ (the site/location/setting/ for the 60s TV series ‘The Virginian‘) we also explored LT and did a day trip to San Francisco.||I’d like to make an important note. Everywhere we went on this whole trip, most people adhered to and respected the mask and distancing recommendations, as did we. We’ve been doing it at home all along as well. ||The other two highlights of our mini vacation were a visit to an old personal friend of ours from 50 plus years ago. Aaah the joy of meeting up with her and introducing our family to her. She lives in a mansion in Homewood and virtually on the edge of that side of Lake Tahoe. An upscale residential community. Each home has its own 70 to 80 ft pier leading to the deeper levels. She offered the use of her kayaks and paddle boards. Having never experienced either one the kids took to it immediately w/o a hiccup. Thoroughly enjoyed our time. Anyway San Francisco was the other one.||Ghost Mountain Ranch remains a must do again spot. A Job well done and thank you all....

This is a private  "camping membership" camping park. They were offering up to 4 nights and all you had to do was listen to their membership sales presentation. We did not sign up for a membership as it seemed expensive and and we determined that we wouldn't use it often enough to warrant the cost. We visited on a late October weekend. It is a "ranch" with pool & hot tub, old western town, activities, cafeteria, lots of trails, etc. This park is geared towards active families with children. The membership also includes access to the companies other resorts/parks along the lower Colorado near Havasue. Our rating on this particular campground is: It has potential but needs improvement to infrastructure, such as buildings, roads, rv pads, fences, signage, etc. This resort is not ADA friendly due to gravel, potholes, steep slopes, etc. Good location, beautiful well managed forest which buts up to  Eldorado National Forest. It is not too far off main road so it's close to supplies. The camping near the front end near the pool is pretty crowded and rv spots tight. Thus a little noisy with the social buzz of activities. The back end rv spots are a little more spaced and near tent camping hill, and trails into the forest. Since it is farther away from the hub, it is less crowded and quieter. There is a RV dump station but no sewer hookup at any sites. We enjoyed the 'saloon' (no alcohol sold) where one could  watch sports, listen to karaoke, or a DJ, or band. They serve food there till 7 or 8 pm.  The saloon area is the wifi spot as well. Miss Kitty has a ice cream shop next door for a good sugar fix. The trails into the forest was a nice walk but you are headed down slope so the walk back is uphill. The forest trails can be accessed by foot, any OHV, horse or bike. In the busy summer camping season   there would be much going on. There are no wood fires allowed ever. Cell service was fair, wifi not so much.  There are a number of resident employees in the RV park; some with too much personal stuff stored outside. Took away from aesthetics of the facility. Overall one could have a enjoyable time here if you weren't looking for piece and quiet. Families would probably have a blast with all the activities to do. It is in a beautiful area so day trips offer more...

This place was interesting and has some potential but also some issues we found.

To begin with what we liked, the trails. We really liked the trails that are attached to the park. Even with the labor day weekend and everyone using their ATVs the trails were pretty quiet and I did not see any other person for the 3 days we were on the trails. Also there was some cool things to see on the trail like the gold mine. We ended up biking the trails which if you continue on into the wilderness area will take you to the El Dorado National Forest. There trails also eventually lead out to a fire road which if you continue on it will become paved and lead you back to the trail.

On to the park: Though the park was kept pretty clean our camp site was not super kept up. There are little bits of plastic trash, also the BBQ that was there at the back of the camp had trash in it before we got there. This to me says that the employees are not going to the site after each check out and making sure that it is prepared for the next guest. That was also noted as the site next to us had people leave and they had left a rug. That rug stayed there for the following two days while we were there until we left.

the site we were in (67) was super small and did not have any sewer hook ups. Granted we expected that the site was not going to have sewer hook ups so that was not a surprise. What was a surprise was that the power went out 2 times while we were there. The power was restored within about 30 minutes overall the first time. The other it came back on within about 5 minutes give or take. It did not go off again after that.

All in all it was a nice place to come to especially since it is no cost for us as we are under our family's account. Though if we had paid for the membership then we would have been much more frustrated. If you come here don't expect the resort experience though if you come with the proper expectations you could have...