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Freeman Creek Campground (08/03/06)02/15/07

Here are a number of pictures of our trip to the Freeman Creek Campground part of Dworshak State Park and back.

frck 001.jpg Heading down the grade towards Kendrick from Troy. (08/03/06)

frck 002.jpg After Kendrick, we are heading towards the turn towards Cameron, Southwick, Cavendish, and Dworshak State Park.

frck 003.jpg Just after the turn, we approach the steep grade leading up the hill towards the Cameron, Southwick, Cavendish, and Dworshak State Park. Last summer, we were pulling our 29ft Alpenlite 5th wheel trailer, loaded almost waist high with food, beer, buckets of water with flowers, etc, etc, on our way to Three Meadows for our daughter’s wedding. I figure the pickup with three people was at about 6750lb, and the 5th wheel of 8500-9500lb plus a load of about 1000 lbs. We were over 16000 lbs and possibly something approaching 17000 lbs. The 74 Chevy crew cab has a 454, the TH-400 automatic, and a 4.56:1 rear end. I think the 1st gear in the TH-400 is 2.5:1. I got on it after we turned the corner, but I couldn’t gain all that much speed when I hit the hill. I thought the automatic transmission was going to stall; I just couldn’t accelerate. It was all on the torque converter and I’ll bet the transmission oil temperature was quit high. Anyway, it kept moving and finally gained speed, but I was worried for awhile. The moral to the story is that, if you have a heavy load and an automatic transmission, you might consider using low range if you have 4WD. I don’t have 4WD or I would have used the low range.

frck 004.jpg This was shot shortly after we reached the top of the grade.

frck 005.jpg Another shot on top. This is probably around the Cameron area.

frck 006.jpg This is probably just after Southwick.

frck 007.jpg This shot is of the hill before Cavendish.

frck 008.jpg We are at the top of the hill, heading south towards Cavendish.

frck 009.jpg Approaching Cavendish. Notice the grain elevator.

frck 010.jpg We are even closer to Cavendish and the turn towards Dworshak State Park. The picture is blurry, but the sign points towards the park which includes Freeman Creek and Three Meadows.

frck 011.jpg Now we are at Cavendish and are preparing to turn left, or east, towards the park. The sign says Freeman Creek 10 Miles and Three Meadows 14 Miles.

frck 012.jpg This is after the turn, heading east on Freeman Creek Road. Notice the steep grade warning sign. There are a few short 10% grades along the road before reaching the top of the hill before heading down towards Freeman Creek.

frck 013.jpg Here is the grade the sign was warning about. As you can see, they are the short, up and down the hill grades we encounter as we travel along Freeman Creek Road.

frck 014.jpg Another picture of the scenery along Freeman Creek Road.

frck 015.jpg A quick shot of one of the grade warning signs.

frck 016.jpg Further along on Freeman Creek Road.

frck 017.jpg It looks like we are starting down the grade into Freeman Creek.

frck 018.jpg Now we are starting down the long steep grade into Freeman Creek. The grade is steep and the turns are sharp, but we had no trouble getting our 5th wheel trailer down this road last summer.

frck 019.jpg Another view of the grade going down into Freeman Creek.

frck 020.jpg A blurry view of some of the scenery as we head down the grade.

frck 021.jpg Another view of the scenery as we head down the grade.

frck 022.jpg As we head down the grade there are a few of these signs that say: “CAUTION, single lane curves for trucks and RV’s.” The road is narrow and the curves are tight, so it is necessary to go slow. We have never had any problems, but we are always careful.

frck 023.jpg Another sharp turn.

frck 024.jpg Another cautionary sign.

frck 025.jpg Another sharp turn and caution sign.

rck 026.jpg Here is a sign that says “Dworshak State Park.” We are almost to the entrance to Freeman Creek campground.

frck 027.jpg We are approaching gate house at the entrance to the park. The red sign at the base of the gate house says “No campfires between 10AM and 6PM.” This is where you pay your fees, get your camp ground spot, info, etc. Ice and fire wood is also available. We will show that in a picture we took on our way out.

frck 028.jpg Just after the gate house there is a turn to the right that heads to the boat launching area. The Freeman Creek camp ground entrance is only about 50 yards ahead. The Three Meadows Group Campground is about 4 miles ahead.

frck 029.jpg This is me standing by the pickup just after reaching our camp site. I always open the hood to let the BTU’s out. 454’s run hot. You can barely hold your hand on the fender under normal conditions. anyway, now we are going to try to put up the tent while each of us uses only one hand. This will be the last picture for the day.

frck 030.jpg We are camping in Space # 9 in the non hook up area. Here is a shot of the restroom facility just west of our campsite. I am going to pan to the left, or counter clockwise.

frck 031.jpg Here is the next shot as I pan to the left. Notice the road on the west side of the non hookup area.

frck 032.jpg This is the next shot as I pan to the left. The campsites on the other side of the road and one of the sites on our side, the middle of the loop, are surrounded with trees for extra privacy. We like the sites out in the open, but the more private sites are quite popular.

frck 033.jpg As I pan to the left, you can see a couple of the little cabins you can rent. I am facing south. Also, the tree to the right surrounds one of the more private campsites.

frck 034.jpg Here is our campsite in space # 9. I am facing east. You can see some of the lake from this spot. Many of the campsites on the other side of the loop road are pull-through sites.

frck 035.jpg Another shot, as I pan to the left, of our campsite and a view of some of the others.

frck 036.jpg Farther to the left.

frck 037.jpg Even farther to the left. This is our little tent. You can see other camp sites on each side of the loop. This is a Friday morning, so there are not very many happy campers yet. Freeman Creek can get quite full on the weekend or holiday, but we have always been able to get in. A number of times we have showed up an hour before dark on a Saturday night and found a spot. You can get reservations with Reserve America by going to the Idaho State Parks web site.

frck 038.jpg I completed my pan and am back to the restroom facility for the non hookup camp site. We will have more on the rest room facilities later.

frck 039.jpg This shot was made just west of our campsite. In the foreground, you can see part of the pull-through site on the other side of the loop road. In the background, you can see the lake and some pickups parked in a parking lot on the other side of the four little cabins and next to a nice flush toilet restroom facility and the boat launching area to the right. We will have more pictures of this area.

frck 040.jpg As I pan to the left, you can see more of the pull-through campsite, the lake, and the roof of the pavilion area in the back ground. Just to the left of the roof and by the picnic table, you can see the road that leads to the pavilion from the parking lot.

frck 041.jpg Here is a shot of the sink inside the women’s rest room within the non-hookup camp site.

frck 042.jpg Here is a shot of the pit toilet on the other side of the partition. These facilities are kept clean and are quite handy.

frck 043.jpg This is a picture of the sinks inside the restroom facility in between the parking lot and the boat launching area. This facility is not far from the non-hookup camp area and just across the parking lot from the four little cabins.

frck 044.jpg Just beyond the sinks are the stalls with flush toilets and urinals in the men’s room.

frck 045.jpg Same thing with the flash.

frck 046.jpg The sinks using the flash.

frck 047.jpg The hand dryer in the women’s rest room.

frck 048.jpg The sinks in the women’s side.

frck 049.jpg The flush toilet stalls in the women’s side.

frck 050.jpg Another shot of the hand dryers in the women’s side.

frck 051.jpg Here is the outside of the facility between the parking lot to the north and the boat launching area to the south.

frck 052.jpg We walked from the non-hookup area to the hookup area where most of the RV’s camp. There are two main ways to get from one area to the other. One is to walk down the road; the other is to use the little path through the low area that follows the little creek through a bunch of shrubs and trees. This is what we saw when we emerged from the path. In the foreground is one of the pull-through campsites. We are standing on the east end of the hookup area.

frck 053.jpg Panning to the left, you can see a small rest room facility. This would be pit toilets and sinks for hand washing. In the foreground, you can see the electric and water hookup for the RV’s.

frck 054.jpg Panning to the left, notice that there is an inner loop in the hookup area.

frck 055.jpg This is a shot slightly farther to the left.

frck 056.jpg Panning even farther to the left is a view of the restroom and shower facility in the hookup area.

frck 057.jpg Panning even farther to the left.

frck 058.jpg After panning all the way to the left, this picture shows the south end of the hook up area.

frck 059.jpg Another shot of the restroom and shower facility in the hookup area.

frck 060.jpg Here is a shot of the shower stalls in the women’s restroom.

frck 061.jpg This is a shot of the sinks in the women’s restroom in the hookup area.

frck 062.jpg A picture of a couple hand dryers in the women’s restroom.

frck 063.jpg This is a shot of the flush toilet stalls with the shower stalls in the background.

frck 064.jpg Another shot of the same thing.

frck 065.jpg Another shot of the sinks.

frck 066.jpg A picture of the shower stall for handicapped folks.

frck 067.jpg The door to the handicapped shower stall.

frck 068.jpg We are leaving the hookup area the same way we walked in. We are facing east and walking down the path towards the little creek and the bridge.

frck 069.jpg Proceeding further down the path leading back towards the non-hookup area.

frck 070.jpg Proceeding even further, we can see some stairs towards the end of the path. We have turned roughly south.

frck 071.jpg As we emerge back up into the clear area, we see where they cleared some of the grass for a path. We are still heading roughly south and will wind up between the pavilion and the non-hookup area.

frck 072.jpg Now, we turned around and head back down the steps and head back towards the hookup area. We are facing roughly north and are still on the east side of all the campsites.

frck 073.jpg We are even closer to the little bridge.

frck 074.jpg This is a shot of some of the foliage and the little creek. ??

frck 075.jpg Here is another little bridge that heads east from the creek. If you take this path, you will need to walk south towards the pavilion and over to the swimming area. The swimming area is east of the non-hookup camping area. We are continuing north past this bridge and past the little bridge that leads to the hookup area. We will go by a little tent camping area and towards a boat dock by the edge of the lake.

frck 076.jpg As we head northeast towards the boat dock, we go through some tent camping areas. You can’t drive to these camp sites and it is a bit of a walk to the restrooms in the hookup area, but these campsites are nice and secluded. This is a shot of the fire pit and the table.

frck 077.jpg This is a shot of the tent area adjacent to the table and fire pit. Notice the lake beyond the tent site.

frck 078.jpg Here is the path down to the boat dock and swimming area east of the hookup and secluded tent campsites. There is no boat launching facilities in this location. You have to launch your boat in the regular boat launching area and sail to this location. This swimming area is in addition to the main swimming area located east of the non-hookup area.

frck 079.jpg We are heading west, from the dock, into another parking area by the hookup camping area.

frck 080.jpg Another view of the parking lot on the NE end of the hookup camping area. We are looking roughly south.

frck 081.jpg For this shot, we turned around and looked north. There is more parking.

frck 082.jpg Now, we are heading south and slightly west into another area on the north end of the hookup campsites.

frck 083.jpg This is what we see as we enter the north end of the hookup area. These campsites are surrounded by trees and a little more secluded. They comprise an additional loop on the north end of the hookup area.

frck 084.jpg We turned right and are heading west.

frck 085.jpg This is on the NW end of the hookup area.

frck 086.jpg This is on the West end of the hookup area, looking SE towards the restroom and shower facility.

frck 087.jpg This shot is taken from the west end of the hookup area, looking roughly NE. You can see a little bit of the camping area that is among the trees in the extra north side loop.

frck 088.jpg This shot is looking NE from Freeman Creek Road, looking back into the hookup camping area. You can see the restroom/shower facility.

frck 089.jpg Here is a volley ball net on the west side of Freeman Creek road, across from the area between the hookup and non-hookup campgrounds.

frck 090.jpg This is looking back into the south end of the hookup area on the east side of Freeman Creek Road. ??

frck 091.jpg We are back inside the non-hookup area, looking roughly NE towards the small restroom facility. Our campsite is towards the right side of the picture, but to the left of the big group of trees.

frck 092.jpg Now we are in roughly the same spot, looking SE within the non-hookup area. You can see the area on the south end where there are a few campsites more secluded and shaded by the trees.

frck 093.jpg We are moving around a little bit. This is back at the entrance to the non-hookup area, looking east, but just north of the restroom facility. You are looking at the north end of the loop.

frck 094.jpg Now we are looking east, but slightly south of the restroom facility, towards our campsite in space # 9.

frck 095.jpg We are living Freeman Creek Campground and Dworshak State Park and are heading south towards the gate house. The area to the right includes the ice and firewood storage and an RV dump area. Much further to the right is the park employee’s housing and other facilities.

frck 096.jpg This is a shot, looking west from the gate house, showing the firewood, ice, a payphone, and a bulletin board.

frck 097.jpg This is looking roughly NNE from the gatehouse towards the south end of the non-hookup area. the trees are the ones that seclude some of the campsites in the south end of the non-hookup area. To the right of the trees, you can see a car parked in front of the small cabin area.

frck 098.jpg This is another shot of the gatehouse, looking south. Our pickup is parked by the gatehouse.

frck 099.jpg Another picture of us at the gatehouse. To the right, west, is the RV dump area and the firewood, ice, etc.

frck 100.jpg Another shot look south at the gatehouse.

frck 101.jpg Another shot of the firewood, ice, and bulletin board.

frck 102.jpg A shot looking east toward the boat launching area, from the intersection by the gatehouse.

frck 103.jpg Another shot looking south to the gatehouse.

frck 104.jpg Another shot toward the firewood, ice, and bulletin board.

frck 105.jpg Looking north at the gatehouse while we are parked there. Again, the sign says “No fires between 10AM and 6PM.

frck 106.jpg Here is a picture of one of the tight curve signs as we leave the park.

frck 107.jpg A shot as we head up the hill.

frck 108.jpg A little of the scenery as we head up the hill.

frck 109.jpg Another shot as we head up the hill.

frck 110.jpg This is a shot at the country on top of the hill as we head west towards Cavendish.

frck 111.jpg Another shot as we head towards Cavendish.

frck 112.jpg More of the scenery as we proceed towards Cavendish.

frck 113.jpg Another.

frck 114.jpg This picture was taken at Cavendish, looking north, with the grain elevator behind us. The sign says Freeman Creek 10 miles, Three Meadows 14 miles.