River Island State Park

We stayed here for a Thursday night in May 2015. Our initial experience was good. We arrived later in the evening. Our tent spot was easy to find, and the bathroom facilities were clean. It was very windy on our lakeside tent site, which died down later at night.
Unfortunately the 10pm quiet time is not enforced, and there was a huge group of middle age RVers who were partying until 3am, complete with driving their ATVs in the parking lot and running chainsaws. The next morning, we were greeted with an apologetic ranger who said he would do what he can to make things right, and said to call the reservation line to get my money back for the night. After arriving home, I called the park and was denied all compensation!

We stayed here for three days during March 2015 and thought the campground was wonderful! All the sites have water, electric, a picnic table, and grill. The tent camping spaces are right near the water with easy access to the beach. The rangers are friendly. The bathrooms have hot water and were cleaned regularly.
Our three kids had a blast. The campsite is very dog-​friendly, and it has a dog run.
In March, the weather was lovely, with highs in the 80’s and low’s in the 60’s. The wind picks up in the evening, so make sure your tent is secure.
We also did some hiking at nearby Buckskin Mountain State Park — it was a great week and we’ll be back!

This was our first time here. Camped for Labor Day Weekend and it was not to busy at all. There is a little cove area for lots of water play that is just off the river, so it’s good it you have small children.
The ranger was super nice and the fellow campers were not loud and belligerent like you would expect on a holiday weekend.
We took our travel trailer and had full electric and water hook ups but decided to use their showers one of the days because they were nice. Free to use the showers and they were pretty clean.
Our camp site was just about a 30 second walk to the water and there is a boat launch area next to beach. Also room for tent campers on a grassy lawn. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because the hill to get down to the beach area is quit steep and with small kids is hard to get down without slipping. (We had a 5yr old, 2yr old and 6 month old.
All in all we had a great time and would definitely return
There is no store on the camp grounds but a little spot just across the street for gas beer and food.

Just got back from spending a couple of nights here. When I made the reservation I was the only tent camper, and there were 3 – 4 RV spots reserved. The first night was quiet with one family next to us. Saturday a HUGE group of 20 – 30 people took over almost the entire tent camping area with their giant stereo, lit up EVERYTHING with what looked like night-​time highway construction lighting, and lined the beach with staked fishing rods.
The campground was nice, and clean, including the bathrooms, –that is until the large group showed up; after that I found toilet paper all over the bathroom and smeared handprints in what looked like feces on several walls. The cove area and beach were very nice. I did a bit of hiking around from the campground, which was also nice. Overall we liked the campground and the spot. In spite of this I don’t know that I’ll visit the campground again. Perhaps the presence of water and electricity at each camp spot is a strong draw to those super-​obnoxious campers that ruin trips for everyone around them. I will definitely be looking for dry or primitive camping first the next time I want to visit the area, no matter the time of year.

We’ve stayed at River Island State Park in our travel trailer twice now.
While the campground is advertised by the state to be great for tents, I think it is really nice for RV’s, too. Flat, paved sites have water and electric. No sewer hookup, but a dump station is available. The RV campground is set in-​between rock cliffs. The tent sites are near the river under large established shade trees on grass.
The Colorado River flows right by the campground. The water is very cool as it is just south of the Parker Dam. The beach is set in a cove that keeps it away from the main current of the river. However, there is still a fairly strong current that bends back through the cove. It is advisable to keep children close to shore.
The «beach» isn’t much of a beach at all when the water is up. The dam releases more flow in the afternoon, so the beach ends up under water. There is a steep dirt hill leading down to the river that can’t be used for sitting or setting up a canopy. Canopies are actually set up in the water. It is a popular day use area as well with the large boat ramp. Plenty of room to beach a boat or jet ski if the beach isn’t crowded (on a 110 degree summer week day you may be the only one in the park!).
The showers and bathrooms are clean, particularly the building that is towards the front of the park away from the beach. The supplied water can be very warm right out of the tap in the summer. I didn’t even have to light the LP water heater.
One more note: it is ALWAYS windy here, and really all up and down the Colorado River corridor. The dust devils in the afternoon can get pretty crazy. I really would’ve loved to have the awning out to keep the sun off the camper, but not with the gusts that blow through. Both times we’ve visited we’ve seen a canopy at the beach go flying away.

Awesome place to camp.