Wright Park

Wright Park was founded in 1886 when Charles B. Wright, an oil and railroad tycoon, donated 20 acres to the city of Tacoma with the stipulation that at least 300 ornamental shade trees be planted within four years.  Currently, there are over 600 trees in the park. Statues and a duck pond were added in the 1890s, the Seymour Conservatory opened in 1908, and a regulation size lawn bowling green was created in 1934. Over the years as tastes and needs changed the park changed along with them but happily these early additions remain. 

The park has many interconnecting trails. The outside loop is about a mile. All of the trails combined are about three miles. The website has a map with a designated accessible route that is about a mile long. The other trails are hilly but can be managed with assistance. 

The Seymour Conservatory was closed when we visited.

Parking is on the street and it's hard to find an open space. There's an accessible space in the driveway that loops by the entrance of the Conservatory. There's also a space at the opposite end of the loop where a short RV will fit. Park  47.26014, -122.4479

PowellsWood Garden

The three acres of this tiny garden are brimming with flowers, trees, and decorative plants, all very meticulously tended. The adjacent PowellsWood’s Nature Preserve adds an additional 175 acres that can be explored by following a trail through a lush, forested ravine.

A few areas of the garden are moderately accessible. Most of it is hilly or has steps. The Nature Preserve is not accessible. If you don't have a pass, it's not worth the trip and the admission fee even though it is a beautiful garden. 

Parking for large vehicles is a grassy lot at the entrance to the garden. The driveway to the gardens is steeply downhill with overhanging tree branches.  Cars can be driven down the driveway and parked near the admission box which makes it a little easier to see the gardens. Garden  47.33191, -122.32842

Dash Point State Park Campground

This reviews on this campground are very mixed. Some reviewers warn of unsafe conditions, unkempt campsites with long term campers, and noise; other reviewers loved the park. After camping for almost two weeks at the park with a break in the middle to spend time with our daughter and son-in-law. I can report that it's clean, safe, and we didn't notice an unusual noise level. The bad reviewers are mostly from five or six years ago and there have been changes since then, including raising the campsite fees, cutting the maximum length of stay to no more than 10 nights in one park within a thirty-day period. This applies to the summer season only so winter may be different. 

The campground has two loops with 111 standard campsites and 27 full hookup sites. The reservation form does not accept RVs in the standard sites but camping with an RV is permitted in those sites. You just have to apply for a tent site. However, I do not recommend reserving a site unless you need hookups. The standard sites vary greatly. Some are very sloped and many are really small. The campground is fully reserved on summer weekends but during the week there are enough empty sites that it's possible to find a suitable site. People with large RVs and trailers may find the bends in the roads too tight and the sites too narrow. We stayed in site 13 and were out every day exploring. Due to their reservation system we couldn't return until 2:30 to get a first come, first serve site. Doing this allowed us to avoid paying the high reservation fee - $23.00 for non-Washington residents. Site 13 is a little hard to get into, so it was always empty when we returned in the afternoon. 

Campground amenities include picnic tables, fire rings, restrooms, showers (pay), and a dump station (pay). 

There are two accessible sites, one in each loop. They're wide, have hookups, and the paving extends under the table and fire ring.

The beach is a big draw but it didn't look very appealing to us. A Discovery Pass is needed to park in the beach even for campers. There are trails from the campground to the beach. All are steep and have steps.

We walked/rolled a very short distance on the Thames Creek Beach Trail before we had to turn around due to steps. There are 15-20 miles of trails in the park but the terrain is hilly so we didn't attempt more of them. Park   47.31633, -122.40916

Upper Little Truckee Campground

Upper Little Truckee Campground and Lower Little Truckee Campground are only a half mile apart. Both have sites lined up along a short road with loops at the ends. Lower Truckee is a bit smaller with fifteen sites; Upper Truckee has twenty-two. We camped in Site 1 in Upper Truckee which has a wide paved parking pad unlike the rest that are dirt. It's not accessible but it is usable although the table and fire ring are down a slight slope. 

This was a quick overnight stop and we missed seeing the Kyburz Flat Interpretive Site that's just a few miles north on Route 89 and features Native American petroglyphs, a boardwalk along a stage route, and a reconstructed brick oven from the Weeler Sheep Camp. Next time!    Campground       39.49097, -120.24461

US 98 Boondocking Snowman's Summit

We were planning to head into the forest to camp but came to this sign and decided to camp in a large pullout along Route 89. It appears to be a section of the old road and is large enough for any vehicle. 

I looked up Sierra Pacific Lands to make this post and they do allow hiking, bicycling, fishing, and hunting but not camping, campfires, off-road vehicle use, target shooting, and gathering forest products. No activities are permitted when the fire danger is high. Sierra and the national forest have checkerboard land ownership in this area. It is possible to camp in the national forest. Just check to make sure you're on public land before setting up camp. 

Directly across Route 89 there's a parking lot and a couple of interpretive signs about a ski jump built in the 1930s by a group of who called themselves Snowmen. Eventually a lift was installed but by the 1970s skiers had moved onto larger runs and the hill is now a sledding area. Boondocking  41.26923, -122.21537

Curly Jack Campground

Twelve sites in this small campground are regular sites and four are group tent sites. Amenities include picnic tables, fire rings, and vault toilets. There's a put-in and take-out spot for whitewater rafting. 

Our GPS missed the turnoff to the campground and directed us to a private campground. Watch for the right turn onto Curly Jack Road off of Elk Creek Road. 

None of the sites are designated as accessible but most are usable. Campground  41.78535, -123.39

US 395 Boondocking

 Traffic along US 395 makes this a very noisy spot but it's good for one night. We camped close to the highway but if you camp farther in near the Walker River the sound of the water may drown out most of the traffic noise.

The large river rocks and crushed rock are very difficult to push through. 

The site is large enough for any vehicle. It's a little hard to spot as you driving on US 395 because it's camouflaged by a row of trees. Boondocking  38.45279, -119.45855

Owens River Road Boondocking

The tourist town of Mammoth Lakes is surrounded by Inyo National Forest which has widely spaced trees and low ground cover. Boondocking spots are easy to find.  We camped off of Owens River Road with a group of nomads at a Homes On Wheels Alliance gathering and had a great time playing games, taking hikes along the dirt roads, and sharing potluck food. 

The forest roads off of Owens River Road are in good condition but get rutted as you travel farther in.

The ground is hard packed but uneven so rolling is bit difficult. The dirt is ash from old forest fires, volcanic ash, and pumice sand. It's very fine and gets everywhere! Forest  37.74239, -118.95487

Glass Creek Campground

The roads in Glass Creek Campground ramble around and the sites are scattered without much of a discernable pattern. It's popular with ATVers that can stir up the dust. We found site 46 tucked in a back corner, a little secluded, away from all of the main roads, and steps away from little Glass Creek. The campground has all of the normal amenities of a primitive campground - tables, fire rings, vault toilets (no water) - and for some reason it's free. A pleasant surprise after all of the other campgrounds in California which are higher than normal even with our discount passes. 

The ground is hard packed for easy rolling. Most tables have extended tops and the fire rings have high sides.  Campground   37.7505, -118.98951