Shirttail Creek Campground

Wow… everyone on here is right
WARNING DO NOT GO TO THIS CAMP GROUND
unless you like being yelled at all night by the ponytail host get a life and let people have fun you jerk. My kids shouldn’t be asking if we are going to jail after the host stands just outside of the site and yells he’s calling the sheriff’s. We had no warning just a angry ponytail tale man with no life. Who sells you wood then tries to kick you out when you sit around the campfire I have been camping my whole life and have never seen anything this ridicules. The sheriff’s needs to pick up the pony tail host for a ⁵¹⁄₅₀ check.
Because he made everyone be quite or go to jail the camp site was attacked by a huge bear shortly after ponytail host harassed us. The lake sucks super low nothing but mud very swap like and just nasty.
There are so many better nicer cleaner campgrounds around go there.

We have been a camping family for over 10 years. Here are a few of our opinions:
Pros: Beautiful, approximately a 1 ½ drive from Sacramento, water was clear and warm (we visited in July), sites 1 – 7 were closest to the water, we felt safe with the area.
Cons: We had a family site that was normally the size of any single site I have ever seen. If you don’t like being side by side with your neighbor sites 1 – 7 are not for you. The camp hosts seem to disagree with any question you ask them and we witnessed them having an argument. Made for some entertainment for our group. Also, the side of site 7 is the path to get to the water. The family that was there was not happy with this.
All in all we enjoyed our time there but would not return due to to the size of the sites and camp hosts.

As an avid camper, this is a pretty great spot.
Mostly I have stayed at Giant Gap, which has more shade, but Shirttail is more spread out between sites and has a few more secluded sites (#11 is the fav).
Never had a problem at this lake. Camp hosts are nice and informative. My crew of adult beverage appreciators has never heard a peep of complaint. We do turn it down a notch at 10 pm to be courteous to others. Wish I could say the same about the inconsiderate parents that let their brats run around at dawn screaming and carrying on waking people up entirely too early. Hangovers should never begin before 8am. Ever.

Had the same experience as Keith V. Camp «host» was rude to my group and would harass us multiple times to be quiet. It didn’t matter that it was before 10pm, and after 10pm we quieted way down and started going to bed. She still called the sheriff on us with no real explanation, other then «we were drunk» in her words. When I politely attempted to discuss with her further she said she «wasn’t going to argue with me». When I said I was going to pursue a refund she said «you can try». Some host. I felt like I was camping in a Nazi prison camp. Avoid at all costs if you are under 65 years of age and enjoy having a couple drinks and god forbid talking around your campfire.

We came with a group of 15, had the group site and another site, acceptable to 18 guests. We arrived later on a Friday evening and were harassed by the camp hosts the entire time we were there. They enforced quiet hours before 10pm and made multiple threats to our group and would not give any justified reason for the harassment. You would think the group site would be OK to have more than two vehicles given there is enough space for at least 4 cars but they charged us for an extra. Pretty funny since we simply moved vehicles around and had three cars in one drive and one car in the other. To keep peace we paid the extra rate, but they decided to call the cops on us because we questioned the rate they charged. If you like to talk among yourselves, have a camp fire or expect a facility that cleans their vaults at least once per month this is not the place for you. Groups be warned, there is a good chance you will be kicked out if you are younger than 50 even if you bring children with you. This place is privately owned by people who obviously have a problem with young adults. Stick to somewhere publicly owned and operated.

Great camping! The sites are nice sized and shady, and the water is great. There is a little ‘island’ you can wade out to. One thing to keep in mind is that it gets busy in the summer on the weekend, so if you plan to park in the parking lot designated for day use, get there early or it will be full — and they do ticket if you park illegally!

We stayed here in late June and had a wonderful camping experience. The campground was very clean. When we arrived our campsite had been raked and the fire pit cleaned out by the campground hosts. We did not experience any problems with noisy campers, loud radios, etc. The campground hosts cleaned the restrooms at least twice a day and were very friendly. The lake is walking distance from the campground and there is a very good paved path that leads down to the waterline making it easy to get your gear down to the water. The surface temperature of the lake was in the 70s and very comfortable to swim in. Of the two campgrounds on the lake (Shirttail and Giant Gamp), this was the quieter of the two. We camped here in a 38′ motorhome and found the paved sites, roads and ample water connections adequate. If camping here in a large RV like ours, I recommend sites 3, 4, 5, 6, 22, 25, 29, 30 all of which are relatively level.

Came here for 4^th of July weekend with 10 friends and stayed in one of the bigger campsites. Everything about this place is awesome — beautiful scenery, perfect summer temperature (it was 80, maybe 85 during the day), clean campsites, and the reservoir is 100 feet away with cool (not cold) water. The bathrooms are not too dirty and all the other campers (mostly families) are really nice.
We spent all of Sunday on the reservoir, drinking beers and laying on inflatable pool mats (which you can buy at the Raley’s in Auburn). Then made a nice camp fire and BBQ’d a bit.
Quiet time was 10 PM as the other review mentions, but most people were quiet by before that even. A few random yells and shouts here and there, but not as loud as other campsites I’ve been to. This was not a bother at all.
Overall, it was a great weekend and I would absolutely come back to this place.

I expected the basic amenities, the stinky vault toilet, but I did not expect the drunks, the fights, the screaming, the obscenities. It was terrible, and I guess, with budget cuts, there are no rangers to kick out people who can’t behave themselves. 10 pm is quiet time, but nobody respected it and we listened to music, arguments, and screaming all night. It’s in a beautiful setting and you can easily walk to the reservoir to fish or swim. The little things, like baby bats in the bathroom, were no big deal. But the rude people all around us, they made it hard to sleep. Plus all the people in their 5^th wheels or motor homes ran generators or their engines for long periods.
There is piped water, fire pits, picnic tables, and flat pads for the tents. The sites are pretty close together, with sparse vegetation separating them. There is a site manager but he wasn’t around much, although he did tell one group to quiet down once.
Plus, the directions on the reservation confirmation sucked and we were lost for about an hour. If you go, make a left on 10/​Forest, then when you get to the signs for Sugar Pine reservoir, veer right, then turn left on 10 by the log fence, and then right at the sign for the campgrounds, it will dead end where the campgrounds are, Shirttail is on the left.
The site itself isn’t bad, it’s the lack of management and controlling disruptive behavior that makes it terrible, especially if you have kids. They shouldn’t have to hear the swearing and fighting, neither should I. Good luck there, we wont be back.