Echo Canyon Campground
Nevada Division of State Parks - Echo Canyon State Park
Longitude -114.26980, Latitude 37.91220

Echo Canyon Campground is located in a flat cirque gully across from Echo Canyon Reservoir in Echo Canyon State Park.

Access is completely paved from Pioche, Nevada via State Highway 322 and Echo Dam Road (State Road 86). The drive crosses rolling sage lands and verdant farm fields with expansive views across Meadow Wash Valley.

This campground is laid out on one elongated loop that heads up the gully. The camp road is a well graded gravel surface, suitable to all cars. Most sites are spaced well for good privacy. The rear sites are up higher and have good views down the wash toward the lake. There are not much for native trees, but the State Park has planted lots of ornamental trees for shade and aesthetics. The ponderosa pines have matured a lot in the past 10 years since my last visit and now are offering good shade.

Each site has a shade ramada, picnic table, BBQ grills, fire ring with another flip over BBQ grill and water spigot. That's right, every site has it's own piped water. Never have seen that before in a public campground. That's convenient! However, the water is only on from May through September.

There is only one bathroom building in the lower third of the campground. The rear sites are a far walk. The bathrooms contain flush toilets, but oddly, no showers. Most of the State Park camps in this area have showers. At the bathrooms there is a book share kiosk and a firewood kiosk. Firewood is $4 per arm full.

Sites #10 and #23 are handicap accessible and have concrete pads and sidewalks to each other, but oddly not to the bathroom. There are only two pull through sites. Oddly, there is no Site #13. A group site is available across the dam on the other side of the reservoir. It can accommodate large groups. It is perched high on a bluff and has wonderful views. It has it's own flush toilets, horseshoe pits and a volleyball court.

In the back of the campground there is an amphitheater to host your own group discussions or occasional ranger lead activities. Also, there is the Ash Canyon trailhead which heads up and over the cliffs to the other side of the park. I hiked up here for a dramatic sunset photo.

Directly across from the campground entrance is the Boat Ramp and Day Use Area for Echo Canyon Reservoir. The lake is stocked by Nevada Division of Wildlife in the Spring and Fall with rainbow trout. The lake also sports a small warm water fishery during the summer with smallmouth bass and crappie. There is also a fish cleaning station and bathrooms in the Day Use Area. However, water levels can be quite low in the late summer and in to the fall.

Up into the canyon just east of the campground is Echo Canyon. There is a cool bridge crossing the creek here. You can try out your best echoes here, as the namesake canyon does indeed echo.

Services and facilities are available in Pioche about 7 miles away. RV Dump Station is located just west of the camp entrance on Echo Dam Road.

Visited March 2000 and October 2009.