Sly Park Resort

Hike around the lake, take a dip in the water, then head up to the Knott Hole for a refreshing frosty cold beer and a burger! Great Day in the mountains. We always stop at the Knott Hole for an afternoon snack and drink. Of course a friendly game of horseshoes in the back is a must! If you get a chance to check out live music in the back with an awesome campfire, you will be in mountain heaven. Enjoy!

The convenience store is ok and is well stocked with a large selection of items. Closest place to the Rec Area if you forgot anything for your day or camping trip. We had bought ice almost every day during our stay.
The problem I experienced is with the store one early evening shorted me a $ 1. I know it’s up to the customer to count the change, but it still sux. The next day, I bought 2 20lb bags and told the guy he shorted me that buck and he didn’t care.
If ya stop to shop, just count your change!

What a wonderful surprise. My dog and I had just hiked around Jenkinson Lake and our way to find a burger joint. I saw the «Bar and Grill» sign at the Sly Park Resort but wasn’t too impressed with the outside appearance and kept driving. Then I looked at the clock on my dash and saw how late it was getting and applied that to how hungry I was and turned around less than a mile up the road. I parked, left the dog in the car, opened the front door to the Knot Hole and was greeted with a bar and stools, like in my face, close. But, I made a quick right to avoid walking into the bar and asked the bartender for a menu. I picked a double cheese burger (angus) and fries to go. In about 10 mins the meal was ready. I went outside, broke a patty up for the furry kid and seasoned mine with ketchup and mayo and bit in. Ooooooohh, mmmmmmmmm, it was like biting into a piece of burger heaven. And the fries, oh my goodness, no condiments necessary. Just the right amount of crispy on the outside and tender inside, and the flavor. The whole meal was perfect and I will go back just for the burger and fries.

The Sly Park Resort AKA the Knot Hole is the rare find — it exceeds expectations. The owners have high standards and that comes across when you walk thru the door.
For the last 5 Saturday nights I will belly up to my favorite seat at the bar and order the same burger. The Knott Burger and «Make it Knotty». For those out of the loop, its a standard burger with choice of produce, then «Knotty» it with bacon, spicy jack, and grilled Ortega chili’s. It is served classic style in a plastic tray lined with wax paper with a heaping side of hot crispy fries. I love me a good burger — call me boring but one thing for sure is I know a good burger.
My friend is more adventurous and experiments all over the menu. He’s done the chili nachos (family sized huge), the buffalo burger (lean), French dip (light and delicious), and fish tacos (almost placed a 2^nd order). I’ve benefitted from his experimentation by grabbing a forkful and enjoyed everything he’s ordered.
The beer is always cold. The whiskey is standard issue, nothing exotic here. The owners and staff are wonderful people and great hosts. The clientele is a split of locals (most with ties to the Bay Area) and seasonal tourist/​campers from the Sly Park campground across the street.
Also at the Resort is a gas station, a country store (geared towards the campground across the street), a hotel, RV park, propane, ice, and seasonal kayak rentals. Gas is not cheap but I assume its because they cater to the boat owners and use marine gas which is more expensive.

My husband and I stayed at the RV resort, and loved it. We just got a 19 foot trailer, and instead of booking a spot at the campground, I wanted to try using the electric/​water hookups for the first time. The lake was directly across the street, about a 10 minute mini — hike down to the sandy beach. Much harder to hike back up the hill, but overall I was impressed how close the RV resort was to the lake. I spoke with Denise when we checked in, and she helped my husband back the trailer into the space, which I found to be very helpful! We had a nice little, shady spot with full hookups. My husband didn’t like that he could hear the traffic from the road, but since I Google mapped this place first, I was expecting it, and it didn’t bother me, in fact I think a really simple remedy to people who are sensitive to ANY type of campsite noises to bring ear plugs with them! I told my husband I would take noise from the street, over loud, yelling, screaming children any day. And in that regards the RV resort was quiet and relaxing because it is small and intimate, there couldn’t be more than 12 spaces all together. We paid $ 45 for the night, it seemed a bit pricey at first until I learned a couple things about Sly Park. It cost my husband and I $ 16 to drive into the lake for day use, including $ 5 for our dog! Talk about pricey to use the lake for ONE day. Then it was $ 10 to use the the dump-​station at Sly Park Recreation area. By staying at the RV resort we avoided paying the $ 16 entrance fee both days, and of course with full hookups we didn’t need to use the dump station. That is almost $ 40 in fees that we saved right there! We also discovered another HUGE perk to staying at the resort… they have a really good restaurant and bar on-​site. We walked over for dinner at about 8pm and had the BEST tri-​tip tacos EVER. I think it was around $ 8– $ 9 for 4 giant tacos filled with tri-​tip… YUM! They were really delicious! My husband and I enjoyed talking with the bartender, I did a couple shots of Fireball and my husband had a couple beers and our entire dinner check was around $ 40. We walked back to our RV relaxed and happy as could be! The next morning, instead of checking-​out at 12pm, I asked Denise if we could leave the RV parked there until 5pm, so we could spend the day at the lake. She said that since no one else was coming in… that it was no problem! I would love to come back and stay here again, unfortunately the lake doesn’t allows dogs in the water. This was huge problem for us, as we have an active dog who is extremely social and loves to play in the water. We had to tie her up at the shore and listen to her bark and whine while we swam in the lake. When we come back to visit we will probably have to leave the dog at home. :(

Best burger in Pollock Pines! I know… it looks like a dump from the outside, but it’s clean, and food and service are excellent.

I stayed at Sly Park Resort as the first trip in my recently acquired RV. I liked how close it was to Jenkinson lake. The RV area was more like a parking lot. Not like the KOA’s I have experienced where you’re kind of in the woods. It was relatively quiet, there were motorcycles coming to and from the bar, but only until about 11:30 pm. I own a Harley, so motorcycle noise doesn’t bother me much, but if I was some grandpa taking my grandkids up there for an RV trip it would have been a bummer. I paid $ 45 for a night, and we arrived on a tuesday. I was mostly interested in the electrical and sewer hookups, to test what worked and what didn’t on my RV. When we arrived I found that there were no campfires allowed, and no picnic tables in each RV site. I think for 45 $ a night, there should have been a picnic table. The campfire thing I can understand but the no table was a bummer. In spite of one or two negatives I am happy overall with the experience there. If it was $ 30 dollars a night on slow days, not only would I have given it more stars but I would probably have gone back there a few more times this summer. But as I said, overall it was OK.

Taco Tuesday at The Knott Hole (AKA Sly Park Resort). The proprietors Sly Park Resort fix up a great taco for a dollar on Taco Tuesday. One type, beef, but tasty and flavorful. Can get Lettuce, Cheese, and Onion on them. Choose either crispy or soft shell. Fills up fast in the bar, but in good weather head out the back door and let the kids roam inside the fence and enjoy the weather. Get a beer or cocktail at the bar when you order and grab a bottle of hot sauce, there are about 77 types to choose from along the bar. I recommend Chunky Garlic by The Pepper Plant. Green and yellow label.
Sly Park Resort (Across the road from Sly Park/​Jenkinson Lake)
4782 Sly Park Rd
Pollock Pines, CA 95 726
(530) 644‑1113