Millerton Lake SRA - 136

Well...We learned on this trip that we need to invest in some electric blankets or a space heater! The weather during the day was perfect, but it dropped down to freezing temperatures at night and I did not plan for that at all…Whoops!

Anyways, we headed out to Millerton Lake after work on Friday night. It only took about 1h 30min to get up there, it is just north of Fresno. We beat the sunset which was nice so it wasn't completely dark when we were setting up. The drive in is beautiful, especially with the sun going down. We made reservations for this campground online but apparently they are first come first serve only so we did't get the spot that we paid for. That isn't noted on the reservation website. The spot that I wanted was facing the lake but away from the "RV Row" which is basically a parking lot. Well that spot was obviously taken when we arrived so the camp host put us in spot 136…the parking lot…Oh well. At least it was close to the bathrooms.

We have learned from past experiences, its easier to not have to think about dinner the night you arrive. I made pasta salad before the trip and we pulled that out with some other charcuterie for dinner. Such a good idea since all we wanted to do once the trailer was set up was relax.

Our spot, crammed in next to RV after RV. We did have a view of the lake and were on the sunset side which was nice. The site itself is just asphalt but we did have full hookups, including sewer which we never get. So we used that instead of pulling out the blue tub which is nice.

Our first day, we had a relaxing morning after our first chilly night. I made us pancakes and eggs, Kyle cooked up some bacon and Toby sunbathed.

The weather was perfect today so we went for a drive around the lake. We found a pull off and went off roading down to the water. We took Toby and climbed around on the rocks and sand for a bit, no swimming though. Too cold for that!

Doing a little off roading in the 4Runner!

Relaxing in the PUP

Saturday night Kyle cooked our Valentine's Day Dinner! Since Valentine's was during the week this year we saved dinner for the weekend. He made filet mignon, scallops and asparagus. We ate our meal with a glass of nice wine out in the field and watched the sun go down. It was just perfect!

On Sunday Kyle went golfing while I stayed back with Toby and worked on my crosstitch. It was a nice and relaxing day. The wind definitely picked up and it was much colder tonight than previous nights. We didn't even sit out and cook s'mores it was too cold. Instead we stayed inside and played boargames, wearing all the clothes we brought with us. Toby slept with us under the covers because it was too cold at night to not have his little warm body in there. We were still pretty cold and will be buying some warmer additions for our next camping trip!

This is the good life!

Trip Details

Campground: Millerton Lake SRA, 47597 Road 145, Friant, CA 93626
Site: 136 [Back in, 20, 30 & 50 amp electric, Full Hookups]
Dates: February 16th - February 19th, 2018
Overview: There are a few different campgrounds inside Millerton Lake SRA, we stayed in the Meadows Campground because they had hookups over there. First thing to note about this campground is that it is first come first serve. We made reservations online but they didn't honor the spot that we picked. We still got a spot, just not the one we originally wanted. There are a few sites that are water and electric only, a handful of full hookups and then primitive camping available. Our site had water, sewer and both 20, 30 & 50 amp electric. Our water spigot leaked like crazy and we ended up turning it off when we didn't need it so it wouldn't waste water and saturate the campsite. The hook up row is basically a parking lot. You are crammed in right next to your neighbor. I would have much rather preferred one of the non-hook up sites which were more spread out. Since it is a parking lot, leveling wasn't really an issue. The campsite is asphalt next to wilderness. Your rig will sit on the asphalt and the picnic table and fire pit are on dirt. There was plenty of shade at our site but some of the primitive sites only had shade from a permanent shade structure built on the site, no trees really. Also some of the sites had length restrictions. No matter where you were in the campground you had a beautiful view. Our site had a concrete picnic table and concrete fire ring. They allow fires with local firewood only, no out of state wood. I think the camp host had firewood for sale but we didn't need any so I'm not too sure. They didn't have a camp store so make sure you bring what you need because town is a good drive away. The bathrooms were clean(ish) and didn't have hand soap so bring your own. Also make sure to bring your own light to the bathroom at night since the lights were on motion sensors and some didn't stay on the whole time you were in there. The showers weren't the best, a little pricey too. There are lots of areas in the park for picnicking and hiking. The campground had quite the infestation of squirrels, and they had burrow holes all over the place making it hard to walk on non-paved areas. They allow dogs on a leash and also have horse trails through the park. Very good area for fishing and water sports. Overall the campground was reasonably quiet considering we were visiting on a holiday weekend. In the winter months they offer Bald Eagle Tours on the lake. Call ahead for reservations. Check in is 2:00 PM and check out is 12:00 PM.

Maps and Brochures: