Three of the East Bay Regional Park District's campgrounds were named the best in the nation for park amenities, outdoor scenery and educational facilities.

They include the campground at Lake Del Valle, Sunol Regional Wilderness and Anthony Chabot Regional Park. The honor was bestowed by ReserveAmerica's Camping Club, a community of active family campers, which honored a total of 100 family campgrounds.

The parks district had three of 11 sites statewide included on the list. EB Park District officials say the quality of the campgrounds is often measured in the number of visitors, with weekends already booked through the end of August. In addition, park staffer say that this is the earliest in the season that sites have been booked this far in advance, which likely is a reflection on the economy and people opting for inexpensive vacations close to home.

But while weekends may be booked, sites are still available mid-week at all three locations. Campsites can be booked a maximum of 12 weeks in advance to as little as 24 hours.

At Del Valle, located just south of Livermore, visitors can choose from drive-in campsites, partial hookup sites for RVs as well as take a dip in Lake Del Valle, which offers swimming, fishing, a boat launch and boat rentals.

Sunol's family campground has four primitive walk-in campsites and a visitor center, nature programs, trails, equestrian trail rides are all within walking distance.

The Anthony Chabot campground has 75 campsites, 12 with RV accomodations, 53 drive-in sites and 10 walk-in sites. The campground is within 10 miles of golfing, fishing and boat rentals.

Information on ReserveAmerica's "Top 100" can be found at www.thecampingclub.com

--Janet Pelletier

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