12/20 Hidden View Campground, Lake Hennessy, CA

This is one of my go-to spots when I want to have a few quiet days in a nice, scenic spot, but not too expensive.  This is a Corps of Engineers facility, plus the lake is very low, so there are never very many campers, especially in December!  The area is east of Madera/Fresno and is close to the foothills of the Sierra Mountains, so when it is not foggy, you can see a few snow-capped mountains in the distance.  No boating or swimming, however, at least part of the year. 

There are a few larger sites, and about half of the sites have water and electric, but the road is winding, and it may be hard to get any really large RVs into spots.  Still, it is a nice place and half-price for seniors like me with a federal pass. Here are some photos:

First, a view of my campsite.  See what I mean about the view?  The higher sites, by the way, have better cell service, as I have learned.

 

Some views from a couple of walks I took:

With some of the campsites, you have to walk down a set of stairs to your picnic table and grill area.  This is because the campground is so hills.  The group in the tent in this photo is one of the only 3-4 other groups of campers in this campground, so it is very private.  (And this day, it was very foggy.)

These next two photos are of tent sites where you have to walk either up or down to them.

 

 

The lake really should be 30' higher and cover most of the area in the foreground.  You can see the water line on the other side of the lake. 

 

 

 

Why did I take a photo of a trash can?  This is a tip for wanna-be or current camp hosts.  If you put a small stone on top of all of the trash cans, you can save a lot of time when you go around to empty them by looking ONLY at the ones where the stones have fallen off--indicating that someone has taken the lid off to put trash in them!!   This one is clearly empty.