Camp Three Campground

While our first impressions were terrible (we did not love our originally reserved site - #33), once we moved to another available spot and started exploring, we ended up having the time of our lives. 

The campground itself left a lot to be desired (lots of trash, half the sites are extremely rocky / sandy with little shade, some sites have rotting or broken picnic benches and very little privacy, and there is only one place for trash upon exit), but every site has a beautiful view of the mountainside and the stars, and if you get one of the good sites along the river, you're a few steps from the best part during the summer: swimming in the Kern River. 

We stayed at site #29, where (like sites #25, #27, #28 & #30), there were nice, flat, soft surfaces to pitch your tent under the trees just beyond where you park your vehicles for privacy and shade. From these gems, the river is just a short, 1 or 2 minute walk to the River. Though nice to be near the water spouts and bathrooms, we would not recommend sites (#3-19, #22, #24, #26) Further down the river, we noticed that sites opened up a bit more and had much more space and shade, AND that the river was a lot closer - all great for larger groups and especially those with children. If we were to come back, we'd probably choose site #47 which had two shaded, flat places right near the site and was only a few steps from the river - which had a nice shaded space for chairs along it. Only downside for being on the end is that you're next to the Day Use entry point from the road.

Best sites are right next to the river. Spacious with a good amount of privacy depending on the site you get. Easy to float to if you go up river. Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes during the summer months Mx

This is a great primitive campground if you truly want to disconnect for a few days. No cell reception, no WiFi, there are restrooms but no showers. Take a 3 minute walk through the woods to get to Kern River and you have a little oasis away from it all. Bring everything you need with you. Currently no fires permitted. Great place to unplug and decompress.

This was a first family camping trip, and we were happy with our site. It had plenty of shade, was large enough to fit our huge cabin tent and still have extra space, and was a 2 minute walk to the stream where there was a nice little walled off spot safe for children to swim in. We did not have anyone in the neighboring sites, but if we did we would have hardly noticed them. The only downside was the very poor air quality that is typical of Sequoia and Kings during the summer. The pollution was visible and had an unpleasant smell to it that lingered throughout the day. The worst part of that was it blocked any view of the stars we might have had at night, one of the main reasons we were looking forward to while camping. We may not return until it somehow improves, which is unfortunate because the site had just about everything we were looking for.

Camp 3 is a good location if you can book it quickly outside of the Summer months. We usually always camp here in May and since that is right before Memorial day when the campgrounds all open for the season it is usually pretty nice to be able to be in a quiet spot to hit the river and far enough away from town to be barely out of cell service but still close enough to hit up the brewery when you want. 

There are pit toilets that are well maintained, the camp hosts work really hard to accommodate all people. This is one of the more covered campgrounds going up the river so if you want shade then this is the site for you. 

The River next to the campground is also easily accessed and great for all levels of play. 

There is group camping as well here. It is a bit more open and not as well shaded. There is also easy access to climbing routes on rock formations nearby and access to trails nearby.

I’ll definitely return later in the season.