Utica Reservoir Sandy Flat Campground Pinecrest, CA 95364

"One of the prettiest Alpine lakes in Northern California. Fantastic kayaking and canoeing. Clean fresh family oriented campsites. You can take your kayak or canoe out onto the lake and find your own private campsite. Extremely enjoyable."

"A really great place for kids. There are rocks to jump off of for the older kids. There are many shallow areas for the younger kids. Also, the water temperature is really great. Not super cold. Very clean water and shore."

"One of the best paddling spots in Nor Cal. About 45 min off of Hiway 4. Well-maintained asphalt road most of the way. Last mile is a dusty dirt road with washboard. A truck is nice but not required. Once on the lake, you’ll find no motor boats and only a handful of other paddlers. Great stopping places scattered about. Don’t miss this one."

"Not much info online about RV’s camping here but well worth the slow access road (paved & good condition, just windy) and slower gravel road to get there. Wouldn’t want to take a rig much longer than 25'-28' and newer tires are key on the gravel that has pretty good sized granite rocks scattered throughout. Both lakes (Utica and Union reservoirs) are accessed via the same forest road, then a left for a mile to Utica. Day use traffic is high here, at both campground loops. We arrived at 2pm on an August Sunday and the camping sites were clearing out but the day use traffic was constant (day use access is via the campgrounds). We scored the epic lakefront spot at the first loop (Rocky Point), site #5, and it was plenty long enough for a longer rig than ours (ours is 23’), although the road thru the campground was pretty tight. It seems that not many RVs come here, and the ranger I spoke to said they “don’t recommend Utica for RV’s” but I knew from others’ experiences that we should give it a shot. So glad we did. What a gem. There were only three campsites occupied in the first loop while we were there for 2 nights from Sunday-Tuesday. Midweek seems like a sure thing here, whereas it may not be on the weekends. Also had 3 bars of Verizon 4G, bonus (or not, depending on your perspective)! They have pit toilets, no water, and no garbage service. There's a dumpster at the intersection of forest rte 7N75 & 7N17, so you get to tote your trash for about a mile :) Bring your kayaks, canoes, and river floats. The lake is clear and gorgeous, the surrounding granite is epic, and the silence is profound (so far from any road or town)."

"Awesome place loved how quiet, and remote it is. The weather was perfect even for fall. Kids loved it. The launch is a little rough having to slog through the mud carrying you stuff to the waters edge, the only real issue we had was the wasp's they are all over the place. Overall this place is awesome, can't wait to go back next year and hopefully catch some fish."