Coachland RV Park., Truckee, CA

Coachland RV Park, Truckee, CA has been in existence for a long time; established and run by the same family since 1990. What is unique about this northern California rv park sitting at 6000’ elevation is that it is open year-round. We first visited this campground several years ago as its location is convenient to access the Town of Truckee, Donner Pass (good hiking up to the abandoned railway and tunnel), and beautiful Lake Tahoe. And of course in the winter the ski resorts of Squaw Valley and Northstar Ski Resort. At that time the original owner informed me that it was not unusual for families to park their rv at the campground for the winter so their children had a place to stay when they came up skiing. In 2019 Roberts Resorts (a collection of upscale rv parks and park model communities) purchased the property. According to newspaper articles and the news release from Roberts Resorts they envision turning this campground into a high end resort. To that end Roberts is quoted in their press release that “Everything is going to be high end. Everything is going to be just as nice as you would experience at the Ritz Carlton at Northstar”. Big statement, however the plan is to add high end architecturally contemporary park models with soaring roofs and natural materials (these are really ‘tiny homes’ and not the conventional ‘park models’ that come to mind). Park amenities will include an outdoor spa, game room, club house and exercise room. A bistro operated by a restaurant company will complete the planned improvements. But what, no pool?  The obvious omission in Robert’s vision is the absence of how the rv park and sites themselves will evolve. However this critique is about Coachland today. The campground is conveniently located in Truckee, only a few miles from tourist laden downtown and a short drive to North Shore Lake Tahoe. This older park was always well maintained by the original family owners and the transfer of ownership has done nothing to dim the attention to detail of well landscaped grounds nestled in a forest of ponderosa pines. This of course makes for interesting navigation and parking maneuvers-a shoehorn would be helpful. At 45’ we stretched the limits of our driving skills getting into our site (site#8). The campground site plan is interestingly arranged with pull-thru’s of rv’s piggybacked to each other in opposite directions with the utilities located between them. To say that you are close to your neighbor is an understatement. With this arrangement the shared space between each rv’s passenger side is a large shared gravel area as a patio with picnic table; nicely landscaped with wood chip mulch around the ponderosa pines. The sites are not level.  At the back of the park are dirt/gravel sites with FHU for smaller rv’s. There is a very large dog park with lush green grass since they irrigate this area. The park is in the process, as noted above, of installing and selling architecturally modern park models that in reality are ‘small houses’, but nicer. The FHU provided stable 50 amp service, standard sewer connection, and water (water pressure is low). The main building, recently nicely renovated inside, houses the office, a furnished lounge, a fully functional kitchen, and a large exercise room well equipped with numerous exercise machines. In a separate adjacent building are the laundry, mailroom, vending machines, and bath/shower rooms. The bath/shower rooms are clean although somewhat dated. The entire southwestern end of the property is comprised of park models, all of which appear to be well kept and landscaped. I do need to mention a conflicting rule/regulation. The official park rules/regulations state “RV’s Must be 10 years old or newer and 26 feet or longer.” In addition the registration confirmation contains the identical stipulation and a warning of no refund. So the conundrum is that our coach is over 10 years old, yet upon registering no inquiry was made as to the age of our coach. In addition we witnessed numerous rv’s that definitely were age deficient; some even under 26’ in length. I don’t have an issue with this rule by rv parks (well I do, however that is an article for another day) to operate their business as they wish. However, instead of burying this rule/regulation in their text, and so as to avoid unpleasant misunderstandings this requirement should be posted promennity at the head of all literature and as a banner on their lead web page (perhaps rv parks do not do this for fear of blow back; I personally have seen many 25-30 year old restored rv’s that should not be subject to this restriction). The WiFi internet does not provide a stable experience, although it does support streaming with buffering. Using our  Winegard ConnecT we attained signal strength of 64% at -65dBm; speed was 8.04 Mbps download, 6.55 Mbps upload (these numbers support our experience of streaming at differing quality levels from occasional buffering to lack of broadband; also response is slow as documented by a latency[loaded] of 463ms). The Winegard Rayzor Automatic enabled us to pull in the local tv channels; since this is Truckee we received two Reno channels in SD and stutter-picture (most likely due to being surrounded by tall ponderosa pines); cable is provided at each site which we did not avail ourselves of.

The Takeaway: For location and aesthetic beauty in a ponderosa pine forest there are no competing campgrounds nearby. The new corporate ownership has visions of grandeur for this rv park and modest landscaping and utility improvements confirm Roberts’ Resorts intentions. As an older park it has its idiosyncrasies such as maneuvering and parking challenges. The unique pull-thru’s piggyback to your neighbor with utilities between; to state that distance from your neighbor’s slides is minimal is an understatement. The FHU utilities are standard and updated. The WiFi internet does not provide a stable experience, although it does support streaming with buffering on an irregular basis. If you do not have satellite the over-the-air options are two Reno channels in SD and stutter-picture; cable is provided at each site which we did not avail ourselves of. The shower/baths provide a clean experience in an older setting.Go to www.rickpicks.com for more photographs, other reviews, critiques and essays with links to area attractions and a more detailed review of rv parks as well as reviews of restaurants, etc.