June 24, 2026 Big Lagoon County Park CA to Cooper Gulch FS Campground CA

Big Lagoon was not so great but functional. We first made a swing through Trinidad, which was a sweet coastal town with great views of the harbor and ocean. We then had breakfast nearby at Joe’s Green Barn in McKinleyville. Classic place with the old guys sitting in the corner solving the town problems, friendly waitresses, nice big booths.

Next stop was a little town called Ferndale which was established in the late 1800’s as a prosperous dairy community. Still milking cows but the town itself had those classic Victorian houses nicely painted. Hard to pin down the demographic here.

We stopped in Eureka to get some groceries at a Walmart (kind of crappy old one with no fresh vegetables) so we found a nearby Safeway.

Next was the rollercoaster Rt 36 to another Rt 3 rollercoaster (turn turn turn) and then to Rt 299. These roads go kind of west to east so they have to wiggle through the mountains hence the twisties.

At the junction of Rt 3 and Rt 299 we headed to Lewiston, and found Cooper Gulch Forest Service Campground with 5 sites total, and one not reserved. Actually the one next to us had a reserved tag but nobody ever showed up. This is a beautiful campground with sites right on Lewiston Lake. We took a quick swim in the brisk lake. Deb found a little trail and did a short hike along the lake and I read and worked on the noisy brakes. We drove a section of road today that was oil and stone and one of those little stones got between the disc and tin shield so we sounded like a grade school teacher dragging her fingernails across a blackboard coming into the campground.

Dinner in the van and off to bed with the MaxAir fans running on low because of the slightly high temps.