D.L. Bliss State Park, South Lake Tahoe

Well, we have been going now to S. Lake Tahoe for over 23 years, we use to go to this other campground and I have to say that D.L. BLISS is the best campground we have ever gone to! I love everything about it anyone that does not like the kids making noise while they are young and having a wonderful time should go to an Old folks home. All of my kids are all adults now and they behaved very well I understand people not liking the noise, but kids have to enjoy thereselves and this may be their only chance, Also their parents may have told them to be loud to scare away the bears. I myself have run into bears there and I was not scared at all. I was sitting in my chair after hanging up our towles it was late afternoon and I did not hear any noise at all and all of a sudden a midaged bear came right up to the towles and sniffed them then looked right at me in my eyes then it went up to my car sniffed my car trunk and went off away from our campsite. Now this bear was just a few feet from me when this happened. This was three years ageo. This summer we did not have very muchs close encounters with bears but four years ageo we had 9 encounters. And the people that have wrote in their bear encounters are right the bears have never hurt anyone, knock on wood, I hope they never do! I love D L Bliss it is the best, also S Lake Tahoe is the best, you have the lake the forest hiking relaxing the Rivers, biking, boationg, swimming, Horse back riding, and if you want you can go to the Night clubs, dancing you name it you can do it. I pray we can go there again in our future. My love for Tahoe forever.

Like: D.L. Bliss campground in South Lake Tahoe CA is an awesome location. No road noise, close to the lake, majestic hiking trails within minutes of the campground (and in the campground / state park). The campgrounds are so beautiful with huge pine trees, perfect camp sites, excellent bathroom / shower facilities, large bear proof lockers, great fire rings and picnic tables. The beach is awesome with nice granular sand, big boulders, very quiet (great place to pray and read the bible early in the morning). The ranger taking care of the facilities was a great tour guide. Campsites are not too close to each other but close enough to be friendly if you choose. The price / value is soooooo much better than a hotel. I brought my 5 year old son and he had a blast! We didn't see or hear of any bears. The Tahoe locals said they are not aggressive and haven't heard of any incidents where they have hurt people. Dislikes: Absolutely nothing! It got chilly at night so prepare for warm and cold weather.

The Rubicon Trail is excellent but I would say the hike is more moderate than easy. However, it holds some beautiful views of the lake via Rubicon Point. If you choose to take the hike between Rubicon Point and the Castle be very aware of how you would like to get back. I would recommend maybe parking some bikes at one point and riding back to your car.

I love DL Bliss--very scenic, great beach and campsites are more than adequate generally. Here are a few things I think one should consider if you're going to maximize your enjoyment there: 1. The bears are no-joke...be prepared to see some. They scare pretty easy if you clap or bang things together to frighten them away, but that may take some time as they're used to humans. On my second week-long trip, I had not been away from my 4Runner more than 2 minutes during unpacking, when to my surprise I look back and see a bear out of nowhere start to wrestle with my cooler. After getting loud to scare it off, it decided to jump right into the back of my SUV and climbed into the front seat to shelter itself from loud-me...Luckily no damage to the leather! Later that night, I was alone by the campfire--pitch black, and quiet. I looked to my left and to my sheer shock there was an adult bear less than 4 feet from my head checking me out!!! Well, that was enough to freak me out for a few hours, but as I flashed the light back towards the seat I vacated in supersonic speed, there was actually two bears--an adult and a baby bear--not the best combination if you at all make them feel threatened. 2. Make absolutely certain that all your food, coolers, and anything fragrant (including perfumes, deodarant, etc...) goes into your bear-box ANYTIME you're not using them. 3. Please, Please, Please, for the sake of everyone around you, remember that camping is a chance to get away into the peace and quiet of the woods. If you are taking children, please be respectful of the other campers in your area that like the relative tranquility of visiting the woods. You are living in very close proximity to other campers--not cramped at all, but still close--and because of that, everyone will hear everything you say. In my last week, my wife and I unfortunately had to spend two nights next to a family of 2 adults and 4 kids from say 3 years old to 8. The kids would yell songs and converse very loudly at 7 am. One son felt everything out of his mouth had to be at deafening decible levels, and made all peace and quiet unattainable. Unfortunately on the last two nights of my 2 week vacation, a seemingly nice family moved into the site next to ours. What ended up happening was, they had actually taken 4 sites next to each other and when all was done, there were 8 adults and over 15 kids, yet again from say age 2 up to 7-8 years old. These parents were the type that just let their kids run wild all day and night while they congregated with their adult friends and drank bottles and bottles of wine while ignoring their kids. The fisrt night we had to ask three times for them to try to keep the kids quiet after 10PM. The screaming and yelling didn't end until 11:15 PM. I kid you not, they would have 10 kids in a tent next to us yelling at each other for hours. They have group campgrounds for groups of this size where people can be around others that generally are going to be louder than a typical 3-5 person camping experience, but these people decided to make everyone else in the loop deal with their unruly and obnoxious kids...totally disrespectful. Our other neighbors cut their trip short by 2 days because of the noise, and we contemplated doing the same. I could not believe that the parents were so disrespectful, and their lack of parenting skills almost ruined our trip, so just think about others if you are planning to take several kids camping. They will want to have fun--and I'm all for that--just please understand that screaming and yelling like it's recess hour after hour can be extremely annoying to everyone around you. 4. If you are going to the beach, get there early (say by 10:30 M-Th, and by 10 am F-Su). There is not much parking at all, so if you can't find a spot, you'll be walking a long way downhill just to get to the beach. I only had to walk once, but it's far. I reached my limit--have fun.

I was real concerened about the bear stories. And upon arrival, we saw 2 bears. But didn't see or hear another one for the 3 nights we were there. The weather was increadible our whole stay. The campgrounds are simple and very clean. Restrooms and showers were the cleanest I've seen at a campground. We stayed in # 31 & 32. Spacious campsites. Lester beach is beautiful. And was not crowded. The only downside was that we had to keep every bit of food in the bear lockers hich was an inconveniance. But will definately be back. FH

We stayed at 110 which is very big camp site.They installed new bear boxes and those where very big too.We had a bear come to our site many times but just knocked over our grill.The bear are more intrested in the big trash cans and they make alot of noise,which is fine thats how I got to see the bear at nite and from a distance.The lake is about a mile hike to the lake so we drove their and park.I can't complain I enjoyed every thing about this place. the water temp is about 51 deg. cooooooled. PLEASE PUT ALL FOOD IN THE BEAR BOXES AND NOT IN YOUR CAR THEY WILL GET IN LEAVE NOTHING OUT!!!!

Once tried Emerald Bay State Park but nothing can compare with D.L Bliss State Park. I'm impressed with the park's simple but well-maintained coin-operated bathroom with shower; it's even cleaner than most of restrooms in Target stores. Hilarious views with variety of scenic hiking/biking trails. It's where privacy meets convenience.

Glorious scenery and trails. The beaches nearby are heavenly -- cold but ultimately perfect for swimming, sunbathing, & kayaking. Know that you are likely to be visited by bears throughout the night. Their presence each night affected our stay; I was scared. Make sure not to leave a morsel of food in your tent or car. Also, check on the campground's overflow parking rules regarding more than 1 car per site.

Make sure you arrive early to set up camp.. Bear activity starts as early as 7:00pm. DO NOT LEAVE ANY FOOD OUTSIDE OF BEAR LOCKERS!! Do not leave food in truck! (not even in a camper shell), They WILL find it... Also be Cortious to other campers. Quiet time is at 10pm. No generators after 8pm. So if you need to set camp up, arrive before dark...(Unlike the people that come in from OAKLAND....) The beaches are the best on the LAKE...

Our family does a camp trip each year for the past 10 years. This is our second trip back to D.L. Bliss due to location and it is Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, our trip was a bit unnerving due to the fact that there was a mother bear and 2 cubs. All night you heard air horns going off. Very little sleep. Now we have camped in bear country before, where there is no bear locker as does D.L. Bliss, so this usually does not matter. But, momma and cubs were out constantly visiting campsites, day and night. She was not aggressive, but one does not know what happens when you get between her and her cubs. We never saw the camp host once. No one ever came around to the campsites, as in other camping locations there were either camp host that visit or the rangers themselves. I am disappointed with D.L Bliss as they have (you need to sign a waiver) that if coolers are left unattended and not being physically used that they will confiscate them and you will get a $1000. fine. I did not see or hear of one person getting their cooler taken away nor a fine. I know of 5 guests who mentioned in the bathroom that they left their coolers and garbage out all night and received a visit from the bears. I saw unoccupied campsites with coolers out. The state of California could have made a bundle this past weekend, and am sure most weekends. But, what disturbs me most is that these bears will most likely be destroyed as the state of California does not have a relocation procedure for "naughty" bears as does our neighboring state, Nevada. In this instance I blame the guest who do not follow the rules, but mostly the employees of D.L. Bliss. IF YOU MAKE RULES FOLLOW THEM AND FOLLOW UP. YOU WHO DECIDE TO WORK IN THIS FIELD SHOULD BE HELPING TO PROTECT THESE BEARS.