East Creek Campground - Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

This place was a nice surprise. After driving Hwy. 50 across Nevada (beautiful!), we stopped in Ely for gas and decided to check out East Creek. This little campground stretches along the creek (still running strong in July), and is a lovely patch of green among the sagebrush in the mountains NE of Ely. The kids spent most of their time playing in the creek, and there is a trail leading from the campground, although we did not hike it this time.

Hampshire Rocks Campground- Tahoe National Forest

We stopped here on our drive out to Yellowstone with a thunderstorm looming on the horizon, not to mention two hungry kids and a fussy toddler in the backseat (in other words, we did not have a lot of time to look for a better spot!). While Hampshire Rocks is in a lovely area, right along the river, with some great climbing boulders for the kids, the intense traffic noise from I-80 and a nearby train track pretty much cancels out the positives. One bonus: We weathered an early morning thunderstorm, packed everything up post haste, and headed into Truckee for a delicious breakfast at the Squeeze In.