Hagelstein Park

We pulled in to have lunch and were pleasantly surprised to find camping is allowed for 14 days! We were looking for a place to spend the night so we decided to stay. We had no problems with any of the people here and there were very few of them. There is a wide parking lot for turning an RV around. Most of the parking/camping spots are really level but there are a few potholes here and there. There are pit toilets but they are the cleanest and least smelly pit toilets I've ever encountered. Yes, you can hear the freeway noise and the trains BUT the trains aren't blowing their whistles and that means there's less noise than most RV parks we've stayed in. The morning sounds of the wetlands were terrific and it was exciting to see snowy egrets flying around the parking lot. There are picnic tables and grass. It's not the best place I've ever stayed but the price is right and it is very convenient.

My experience of this park was camping a couple of nights in my bus. Not sure if the park consist of any more than a lot full of campers, and a couple of pit toilets. A large sign makes it clear that camping is limited to 14 days. From my interactions with some of the other campers, it seems like the campers there may vary from short to longer-termers, but I didn’t come right out and ask anyone if they had been there more than 14 days (not my business, not my problem), but I did get asked if I knew “Ryan,” as though I was maybe supposed to know my neighbors at a campsite by name. The context of this conversation was I someone trying to find something that had been stolen from another camper, so points given for looking out for one another, and taken for there being theft apparently. The proximity of the highway and the freight rail line make this not the most serene location to sleep, but then again it was a free parking lot to crash in, so I’m not complaining.