Kershaw-Ryan Campground
Nevada Division of State Parks - Kershaw-Ryan State Park
Longitude -114.52123, Latitude 37.58927

Kershaw-Ryan Campground is located in a steep walled scenic canyon in Karshaw-Ryan State Park near Caliente. The campground is newly opened in March 2009. Prior to this there had been no operating campground at Kersahw-Ryan State Park since 1984. The old camp was washed away in a flash flood that decimated it. The new camp is located in a safer location ensuring patrons safety should a repeat flash flood occur.

Access is completely paved from Caliente, Nevada via State Highway 317. The drive from town courses through the verdantly green Meadow Valley Wash and the interesting walls of Rainbow Canyon. This is a very pretty area. The road into the park from the highway is a well graded gravel surface.

This campground is laid out on one simple gravel loop that is set below dramatic cliff walls. Sites along the road have mature trees and spaced well apart. The sites in the center are close together and have very little privacy. There are many newly planted trees and shrubs throughout the campground.

Each site has a shade ramada, picnic table, BBQ grills, fire ring with another flip over BBQ grill. There are water spigots throughout the campground, as well as safety fire hydrants in case of fire.

There is only one bathroom building near the center of the campground. Since this a pretty compact campground, the walk is not terribly far even from the furthest sites. The bathrooms are heated and contain drinking fountains, flush toilets and coin operated showers. Missing from this campground is a firewood kiosk, which all the other State Parks camps in this area have. We drove to Cathedral Gorge park and bought some there to bring back with us.

Site #4 is handicap accessible and has a concrete pad and sidewalk to the bathroom. There are six pull through sites, as the sites along the road are parallel parking allowing RV's to pull up beside them and pull right out.

Up the canyon further is the Ranger's Residence and the Day Use Area. The canyon is even more scenic and narrow up there. There are bathroom facilities and picnic area up there. Also there are trailheads to a few hikes. Also a Group Site is available here by reservation.

Services and limited medical facilities are available in Caliente about 3 miles away. RV Dump Station is located at the campground entrance.

Visited October 2009.