Castle Lake Campground

Years ago you could camp right on the lake in primitive walk in spots, now that is not allowed.  There is a small campground with just a few spots down the road a quarter mile but it's rare to find an empty spot there.  The lake has grown in popularity over the years and if you want to secure a day spot on the lake's edge plan on getting there first thing in the morning.  People do also disperse camp about another mile down the road in a gravel pull out area.  Castle Lake is easy to get to via Castle Lake road which is paved the entire way.

The first thing to know about this campground, is that there are only 6 camp sites, and it is all first come first serve, and it's free.  I got there on a Thursday to be sure we got a spot, and already 4 of the 6 were taken.  Since there is only 6 sites, it was super quiet all the time.  I'm not sure which site we had, but it was at the end of the road, and set far back in to the forest.  We couldn't see anyone else, and no one could see us.  We loved the privacy!  Castle Lake was a short drive up the road, and it is a very popular lake.  There was tons of people there fishing, hiking, paddling, taking pics....  There are trails to get to Heart Lake, which is a smaller lake, but great views of Mt Shasta from there.  It is about a 20 minute drive to get back to town, so if you needed anything it would be easy to just pop down.  There was reception at the campground about 80% of the time.

There’s only 6 sites on the campground and we were lucky and got the last one available. It’s a perfect amount of space between campsites, and it’s free. 3 night maximum. The walk to the lake is easy and the lake itself is wonderful! I would stay here again.

After reading another review from a backpacker we decided to dispersed camp near the Castle Lake Campground. The campsites themselves are nice with and offer fire rings, but there are few sites to use. The Lake is a trailhead for an amazing hike that is quite popular, so expect some traffic. The view is top notch of both Castle Lake and Mt Shasta

This campground was a great - and free! - place to stay! There aren’t very many campsites, but if you get there early, or go at a time of year when it’s not busy, it’s not hard to get a site. We went in the fall, and there was only one other site taken that night. It is right down the road from Castle lake, which is beautiful, and the hike up to Heart Lake and Castle Peak is one of my favorites in the area! On a clear day, you can see some of the mountains in Oregon!

we camped a couple times in the dispersed camping area just below the marked Castle Lake campground. literally the best view of Mt Shasta ever. the roads to the campsites can get a bit narrow, so bringing in a trailer is a challenge, but we managed it ;)

This is a great little campground located right near a beautiful lake and some great hiking.

The campground itself is small and first-come first-serve, so arrive early in the day to get a spot at all, much less the best spots. We arrived at about 10am on a Thursday in June and had our pick of the spots. For the three days we were there we only had "neighbors" one of the nights.

Nothing too special about this campground other than it is small, so less chance of getting some obnoxious, noisy group near you. There are pit toilets, but no potable water.

The campground is a short walk or really short drive up to Castle Lake, a truly spectacular lake with great options for hiking, kayaking, or paddle boarding in the summer.

The main hiking trail takes you up to Heart Lake and then offers great views of Castle Lake and across to Mt. Shasta. It's only about a mile each way to Heart Lake and then another quarter mile or so to a nice lookout point.

There is another trail that splits off about half a mile from the parking lot and heads east toward Little Castle Lake and eventually the Mt. Bradley fire lookout if you keep going. From there you can go just about anywhere on a series of fire roads.

Dogs are welcome in the campground and on the trails, but please leash your dogs. There are many other dogs on these trails and wildlife nearby, so keep your dog leashed to protect it and the areas around the trails.

The campground is also quite close to the town of Mt. Shasta and other great hikes like Black Butte and Castle Crags State Park.

This is my favorite free camp ground ever! Vault toilets, tons of trails, beautiful crystal clear water, wonderful memories!