Tuttletown Recreation Area has three campgrounds located next to New Melones Lake on the Stanislaus River in the Sierra Nevada foothills at an elevation of 1,101 feet. Campsites can accommodate tents, trailers and RVs. Group camping is also available at Oak Knoll and Fiddleneck group camps. Other amenities at Tuttletown Recreation Area include a marina, boat ramp, fishing cleaning station, day-use/picnic areas and a dump station.
Acorn campground has 69 campsites (1-69) and is furthest from the water and up on a hill. A few of the sites have views of the lake. Acorn campground has drinking water, flush toilets and hot showers ($). Each site also has a table, fire ring and grate.
Manzanita Campground has 55 campsites (70-125). There are 15 walk-in sites, and the other 40 are standard single-family campsites for tents, trailers and RVs. Quite a few have views of the lake. The campground has drinking water, flush toilets and showers ($). Each site also has a table, fire ring and grate.
Chamise campground has 35 campsites (126-161) and 29 are walk-in (tent-only) and 6 are single-family campsites for tents, trailers or RVs. Several have great views of New Melones Lake. The campground has drinking water, flush toilets and showers ($).
Glory Hole Recreation Area is also on New Melones Lake and has a nice campground with 144 campsites.
Outdoor recreation activities include boating, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, swimming and a variety of water sports on New Melones Lake.. On the land visitors can enjoy picnicking, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and wildlife viewing. There are also many historic sites and historic towns in the area related to the California Gold Rush of 1849.
You may also be interested in the campgrounds at Don Pedro Recreation Area. These include Moccasin Point, Fleming Meadows and Blue Oaks. Turlock Lake State Recreation Area is also 46 miles away.
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Create Campsite Availability AlertAcorn: 17, 27, 29, 30, 32, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 65, 66, 67, 68, Acorn 69, Manzanita: 87, 89, 90, 91, 96, 98, 105, 107, 108, 112, 113, 114, 117, 118, 120, 121, Chamise: 128, 139, 132, 133, 142, 143, 144, 154, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160
Year Round
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I see you mention different campgrounds in the area but have overlooked another great site on the same Lake. Glory Hole campground on New Melones Lake has 132 campsites… and many are much better than the Tuttletown region.
HI Alan,
So true! Unfortunately our photographer ran out of daylight and it was his last day up there shooting the campgrounds. We’re going to photograph Glory Hole campground this fall and will add it to the the website!
Think you could photograph Glory Hole campground before the end of October? I will be coming to the area then and would love to have as many choices as possible!
Hi Marybeth,
Yes – we will be photographing Glory Hole this September!
Awesome!
I camped with my boat and tent in the Manzanita section. I believe it is the most popular part of the campground because it is on/near/you can see the lake, good and bad. I was lucky to have a campsite in the shade on a hill, #98. Others like 108-119 are out in direct sun. The camp was sparse on Wednesday night and quiet. Thursday it filled up and most came in at dusk. The roads are in good shape and have speed bumps that are not marked well because the paint is washed away. Backing into your site is a two man job because of the hills, except for the sites next to the lake. At dusk, I saw deer near the lake, and quail were seen while driving. After dark on Thursday, I noticed that you can hear all the conversations in park, must be the acoustics in the campground, the point is it was a little noisy, but festive noise. It honestly didn’t get quiet until midnight and teens were walking the roads doing what teens do. So, if your into peace and quiet think another part of the park, or if you party this may be your place. Putting my boat in the water and fishing were no problem. Be sure to fill out your mussel tag, they check. Fishing from shore is awesome, caught a couple two pounders with a ned rig. Saw a couple of Rangers, but didn’t have any interaction with anyone, safe distancing I’m guessing. Bathrooms were a walk from my campsite down a hill, then up a hill, if your 60 like me, you know. If you need cardio, you know. The stalls were adequate, the shower was I’ll wait until I get home. The stay was nice, saw sunsets and sunrises, had fires in the fire ring, fetched water down the way, and heard about that floozy aunt that’s up to her old tricks again, yea, I heard. Packed up and came home down hwy 49, stopped and fished along the way, caught 2 more, woohoo.