I have to admit that Lake Minden Thousand Trails, just north of Sacramento, CA was a bit of a letdown for me. After months along the beautiful Washington, Oregon, and northern California coast the flat lands of this portion of California doesn’t quite measure up. In fairness, not many places would.

Not wanting to deal with electrical problems in the dry, 90+ degree heat, we headed straight to “D” section and picked a site right in the middle of the campground, adjacent to the restrooms. That happens to also be the spot where the dump station is located. After one night we concluded that not only were we having problems getting our satellite TV signal but that, even worse, we could smell the dump station from our campsite (I know, I know – we could have guessed that). We relocated to one of the perimeter sites and settled in for the remainder of our stay, away from the odor and getting a satellite signal with no problems too.  Also, I’ll mention that I enjoyed a very strong Verizon 4G cell and data signal.

The campground is surrounded by walnut groves and farmland and for years the lake has been a draw to folks wanting to get out of the city. I certainly wouldn’t rank Lake Minden at the top of the Thousand Trails we’ve visited but it served our purposes and, while I wouldn’t consider it to be a destination for us, I’d return for another stay.