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2025

Spots in North Sierras

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  • Tule Lake NWR
  • Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge, Tulelake CA
  • Migratory birds. long auto tour, beautiful setting, short hike up the ridge at the Vis Cen, camping at Lava Beds Nat'l Monument. Next to Lower Klamath NWR. August: Coots, Buffleheads, and Clarks Grebes - love those grebes!

  • Summit Lake South Campground
  • Lassen National Park, Old Station CA
  • Lovely spot at 7,000'-ish on the south side of a little alpine lake. On the north side is Summit Lake North Campground which costs $2/night more. It has flush toilets and sinks with running water. It has the shambling, kinda charming disorganization I associate with National Park campgrounds. Sites are not very level, but there's a lake to swim in and you're in an awesome place!

  • Battle Creek Campground
  • Lassen National Forest, Mineral CA
  • quiet, road nearby but it's not busy, in a young redwood forest, at the edge of the National Forest. First good place to stop east of Red Bluff.

  • Sierra Buttes Lookout
  • Tahoe NF, Sierra City CA
  • Never actually done the hike, but I hear it's awesome.

  • Sierra Hot Springs
  • private business Sierraville CA
  • Camping is just the edge of the forest behind the lodge. Next to a very pretty cow pasture at the edge of the huge Sierra Valley. Nice lodge to hang out in, wifi and kitchen, free to campers. The Hot Springs has also taken over the hotel in town. There is also a breakfast place and aMexican restaurant in town, both pricy but good!

  • Ramhorn Springs
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Ravendale CA
  • A washboardy, dusty couple of miles off 395. I clocked it at 2.7 miles. Very cool little spot once you get here ... in a lonely, boring kind of way.

  • Modoc NWR
  • US Fish and Wildlife, Alturas CA
  • A must stop for me if I am in the area. There is a nice auto tour around a little lake. My impression is that the Sand Cranes are the star attraction here.

  • Jeffroe's Fruit Stand and Pie Shop
  • private business Chester CA
  • My friend Jeff lives and works in Reno until Memorial Day, then he commutes to Chester every weekend to run his fruit stand / pie shop / ice creamery / burrito place. It's really fun to hang out here.

  • Summit Lake North Campground
  • Lassen National Park, Old Station CA
  • Lovely spot at 7,000'-ish on the north side of a little alpine lake. On the south side is Summit Lake South Campground. This one is $2 more, but well worth it, a much nicer campground. B Loop is reservable, A Loop is first come first served. There's a lake to swim in or just admire and you're in an awesome place!

  • Merrill Campground
  • Lassen National Forest, Susanville CA
  • huge-ass campground on ever-diminishing Eagle Lake. Full of giant RVs with hookups and run by a concessionaire, so it is much more bureaucratic and rule-bound that most. Site 159 is pretty sweet, unobstructed lake view (150 yds away), open, but the tall pine behind (south of) me give it pretty good afternoon shade.

  • Potato Patch Campground
  • Lassen National Forest, Chester CA
  • Passed by this many times on the Chester to Chico run on Route 32. Really pleasant campground about 30' above Deer Creek, a picture perfect trout stream. 40 miles from Chico, 30 miles from Chester.

  • Hat Creek dispersed
  • Lassen National Forest, Old Station CA
  • A mile or so north of Cave Campground is a gravel road (called Wander Lane on the Google map) and a bridge over Hat Creek. If you follow that road you will see a couple of good campsites.

  • North Eagle Lake Campground
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Susanville CA
  • A real find! About a mile off Route 123, at the deserted top end of Eagle Lake. Its a beautiful scrub and pine forest looking out over the lake and the wide valley. Pretty close to Susanville.

  • Frenchman's Lake
  • Plumas National Forest, Chilcoot CA
  • A simple loop campground on an east-facing hillside above Frenchman's Lake. I like the inside of the upper loop with my living room facing the lake. It's quiet and pretty and the sun is on the other side of the van. Eight very scenic miles north of Chillcoot. For much of the drive the beautiful Sierra Valley spreads out to your left. Then you enter the canyon of Last Chance Creek, the outflow of the lake. Hundred foot lava cliffs, dramatic formations. Then boom! you're at the dam. The other two lakeside campgrounds have flush toilets. Maybe they are more deluxe?

  • Lava Beds Campground
  • Lava Beds National Park, Tulelake CA
  • Really nice place, quiet and well maintained and a beautiful situation, on the side of a high hill overlooking a huge, arid valley. Wildlife refuges right down the hill.

  • Eagle Campground
  • Lassen National Forest, Susanville CA
  • very pretty, next campground has wifi, level enough to bike around

  • Cedar Pass Campground
  • Modoc National Forest, Cedarville CA
  • Cool campground between Alturas and Cedarville that is now closed because of "dangerous trees". Update, it appers to be closed forever. I hope not, it was a nice place.

  • Eagle Lake beach
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Susanville CA
  • The BLM campground is closed for the season, so I pressed on to the free camping along the shore. Pretty cool! I'll bet it would be really buggy in the summer. The lake level is very low and the last 50 yards or so of shoreline is quite boggy and churned up by the cows, so there really isn't a "beach" per se to get to, but it is a very pretty, quiet stop for tonight in any event.

  • South Klamath Lake NWR
  • Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge, Tulelake CA
  • ring-necked pheasant many, many red tailed hawks, most intimate ever for me a coyote a noble 10-12 point mule deer buck, then later a whole herd of lesser mule deer northern harrier Northern Spoonbill, (I think) buffleheads and redheads Sandhill crane (couldn’t stop to get a good look ):

  • Sardine Campground
  • Tahoe National Forest, Sierra City CA
  • busy but pretty quiet, very scenic. nature trail. a short hike past the swimming pond to a great sunset over non-swimming Sardine Lake, shining off the Sierra Buttes to the left.

  • Rocky Rest Campground
  • Tahoe National Forest, Downieville CA
  • on the South Fork of the Yuba River. very crowded in August. There is an excellent, deep pool in the river right here. The river is shallow and kinda boring at the next campground west - Indian Valley. Sites 6,7,8 are the best, right on the bluff overlooking the river. Best sites: 7 and 8 are on the river, 6 is best site and most private yet convenient to the bridge.