Hells Crossing Campground

As a campground it's not terrible. We had sites 17 & 18. They were spacious, at the end, and off the river with a place to go down to it. There were a TON of mosquitoes and ants. Bring the bug spray. Bathrooms were clean and plenty of TP. We had a bear come onto our site despite methods to get it to move along, it came right back and took a swipe at a friend trying to get to the food. No host ever came checking on us after the bear encounter which kind of put us off. We liked the sites well enough but likely won't be back. Also, another note is that the sites are split up and there is no map telling you where they are which was really frustrating. One spot has sites 1-10 and the next driveway has 11-18.

Spots 8 & 9 have good shade, are very large and have a quick walk to the perfect river spot! Shallow enough to put chairs in and there is a little man-made dam that created a refreshing shallow pool. (End of July) The side of the campground with spots 1-10 has vault toilets but NO WATER SPIGOTS. You can go to the other side of the river and use the hand pump for water (it was brownish but drinkable) Spots 4 & 5 are shady and have a sort of private driveway and are right next to each other. Riverfront with a slight downhill to the water. 20 minute drive to a little tavern/store/gas in case you forget anything. Also, I see ants mentioned in other reviews. There were ants, but not anything out of the ordinary. Mosquitoes weren't an issue either.

This was a great campground. Some friends and I had one of the campsites near the river for the 4th of July. The near by campers were quiet, respectful, and friendly. The sites were well maintained and the bathrooms were clean and stocked with TP. It's across the road from Pleasant Valley and Goats Peak trails. All in all a great location and nice campground. There are large ants and ant hills in this area, but nothing that stopped us from having a nice time.

Very busy campground. Fairly hard to find an open spot. Be careful of thieves, left my backpack full of water and lunch for a few minutes to go fishing. As I was walking back, I saw a car drive away from where I left it, and it was nowhere to be found. On top of that, the fish are pretty small. Not worth it as a fishing destination, a lot of campers are keeping them for dinner.

Great campground on American River. Quiet, small number of sites. Not RV friendly.