Location / Name: Cottonwood Campground, Willard Bay State Park, Perry, UT
Date: 08/30-31//2016 (2 nights)
The Cottonwood Campground, Willard Bay State Park, Perry, UT is a bit under 300 miles from Moab, so it was our next stop on our August 2016 trip to Boise. It was in the right location and had power for our air conditioning, so that became my target. I didn’t make reservations. When I checked on our last night in Moab I discovered that I couldn’t make next-day reservations, but checking the following day, 31 of 35 sites were available, so I figured a walk-up would be a safe bet. En route we decided to stay 2 nights instead of one so we’d have a chance to check out the neighborhood (40 miles north of Salt Lake City.) A check-in with our daughter, who was expecting us on Wednesday, cleared us to stay that extra day.
Sunset over Willard Bay at Willard Bay State Park
General description of park/area:
Cottonwood Campground is one of two campgrounds in Willard Bay State Park. The other one (Willow Creek Campground) is right next door, but has no hookups. The park is on Willard Bay of the Great Salt Lake. Part of Willard Bay is a man-made reservoir of fresh water, separated from Great Salt Lake by a dike. The park is just east of the magnificent Willard Peak, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, and conveniently located just off the freeway. The fantastic Bear River Migratory Bird Preserve is nearby, as are the towns of Perry, Willard, and Brigham. The views of the mountain range are great, and that bird preserve is worth the long auto tour through it. We weren’t “in season”, but there were still thousands of birds at the Bear River MBP.
American White Pelicans and friends at the Bear River Migratory Bird Preserve
General description of campground:
Cottonwood Campground is clearly an older campground. I wouldn’t describe it as “well manicured”, but it has a nice setting under Willard Peak among the cottonwood trees. There is a nature walk, and the sunset is visible from a nearby beach area. There are two bathhouses, lots of pull-thru sites, and the service pedestals seem to all be well-placed. There are intentionally unmowed areas that have nice stands of wildflowers (mostly sunflowers in late August when we were there.) However, even the grassy areas where it should have been mowed hadn’t been in a while – perhaps due to the drought. There were things that need some maintenance – leaking water hydrant at our site, one of the hand dryers not operational in the men’s bathroom, missing shower curtains. There is a lot of noise from the freeway – I wouldn’t want to be tent-camping here. But the sites are roomy, and the picnic tables are covered to provide shade; all in all the campground is acceptable if not the nicest around, and certainly better than some of the commercial parking lots.
Sunflowers greeting the sunrise over Willard Peak at Willard Bay State Park
Access: Just off I-15, there are no access problems, either getting into the park, or throughout the campground on the paved roads.
Site: We stayed in Site #48, a pull-thru site on the west side of the campground. While we still had a lot of road noise from the interstate highway, it was lower on this side. This site also had good afternoon shade, important in hot August. The site driveways are long enough even for a big rigs with toads. Picnic tables are nice, large, aluminum ones on a concrete pad in the site pavilion. I ran a 25’ extension cord to the table to power my laptop. The power/water pedestals are site; the ones I checked were well-located. The driveways are pretty much level side to side.One of the things needing maintenance was our water faucet – it leaked a large stream. In fact, we never turned it on; it leaked enough to provide the water we needed. A number of the sites are designated as handicap-accessible, but I didn’t see a problem with most sites, since the paved driveways are connected to the concrete picnic table pavilion in all the sites I noted.
T@b at site from under the picnic table cover, Willard Peak in the background.
Electric: 30/20 amp at all sites; I don’t think 50 amp is available at any site. I used a basic analyzer/surge protector, and the 30-amp circuit passed the tests. It did not test for high/low voltage.
Water: Water connections are available at the RV campsites. I used a pressure reducer; pressure seemed “good”. .
Bathhouse: The bathhouses are OK, but not a strong point. There were three separate shower rooms on the back of the bathhouse, clearly aging. The one I used only had one double hook by the door, not by the shower, on which to hang towels and clothes. There was a seat. Water drained OK, but if you let it hit the back of the shower stall, it ran into the dressing area floor. There was an attachment for a soap dish, but the soap dish wasn’t there, so no place to set your soap while showering except on the seat outside the shower proper. Water was warm; no directional adjustment. Only one of the three shower rooms had a curtain separating the shower from the dressing area, and my wife reported that the room she used wouldn’t lock, and I noticed water running out from under the door, so I assume drainage is a problem in that shower room. In the main room, the toilet area had a urinal, toilet, and two sinks; all of them were stainless. I hated the splashy urinal. A high point – this was the first campground on our trip which provided hand soap in the bathhouse. There was a blow dryer – but I didn’t recognize it at first. It was a knob attached to the wall. The bathhouse was clean if aging.
Yet another Willard Peak sunrise photo. Notice bathhouse to right. At Willard Bay State Park
Sewer:Sewer hookup at sites; did not see a dump station.
Cell Phone Service: Good Verizon cell service; good 4G hotspot service.
Trash disposal: Dumpsters are located at the exit to the campground. No provision for recycling.
Cost: $30 per night for full hookups (no tax.) I forgot to ask about a senior discount. Not a great deal, but not a bank-breaker either.
Supplies/Food: There are several towns within easy driving distance. We bought some basic groceries at a Dollar General. The Rusty Spoon restaurant was excellent; it is about 4 or 5 miles away as you enter Perry. The pork chop dinner was $9.99; 2 pork chops, vegetable, potato, salad, and quite good. It is peach season; I had their peach milkshake as a dessert – yummy.
T@b Note:
I continue to be surprised at how quiet it is in the T@b with the windows and door closed. Having the air conditioning on helped, but we didn’t hear the road noise from the interstate. Unfortunately, we also couldn’t hear the lovely song of the frogs unless we were outside.
14.6 mpg for the 290 mile drive from Moab(?).
White-faced Ibis – Plegadis chihi are among the birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Preserve