Chico Flat Dispersed Camping - Partially Closed, See Description

Found this campground on a spontaneous camping trip to the Kern River. There were only two other groups there and they were far enough away that we couldn't hear them at all. Just the sounds of the river, the crickets and the birds. The stargazing at night was spectacular. The site we chose was a bit of a rocky walk from the car, but worth it to have a more private spot.  The vault toilets were open and very clean and not very smelly. We could not go swimming here, had to go to another day area for that. The tent was in the sun, so the morning/afternoon was hot. But there was a tree to hang out under. Our T-Mobile and AT&T phones did not work at all. Overall great experience.

Chico Flat Dispersed Campsite offers many areas with flat ground to tent upon, as well as a large parking lot to car camp if that’s your thing. However there aren’t loads of trees to hammock camp on. You cannot build a campfire here. There is a pit toilet. There is river access right next to the campsite. There is also spotty cell reception if you want that.

Let it be known, this campsite is not clean. The previous campers that came long before me left two things: trash, and a message. There was a menagerie of bottle caps and broken glass strewn practically everywhere for me to pick up. This can be said for dare I say everywhere in this whole campsite. Additionally, this trash acted as a proverbial “go ahead” for other people to litter and make the litter situation worse; not cool.

If you want to really get away from people, don’t come here. When I went people brought the whole kit-and-kaboodle: a suburb of tents, gas generators, bright lights, loud music, etcetera.

Perhaps this isn’t how this site always is, but man it got crowded, noisy, and annoying. I’ll spare you from the whole story.

If you’re looking for a quick spot to crash, look no further. If you’re intent on bringing generators, lights, dogs and speakers, this is unfortunately for you. If you’re looking to get away and spend time in nature like myself, this isn’t for you.

Would have been perfect right across the street there is climbing. Right on the river. Closed as of may/9/2021

02NOV2020 - As others have mentioned, portable toilets and dumpster available. It’s not far from town as the description indicates, about 6 miles. With that said, however, there is little cell service. You might get 1 bar for a minute and it’s gone the next. There are about 6 spots or so along Kern River but this is a place people like to drop in for tubing. Each site is private-ish and they won’t be walking through your site to drop in, you’ll just see groups of people float by your area, once they drop in close to the first site on the north end. There is a review on here indicating the parking lot was full, but that likely was just people tubing. It is pretty large lot. Also, there is really only one way down to get to the campsites, at least to see what’s available. Just note, you’ll have to walk through other people’s occupied sites and walk along the river to see what is available. Once you find one, you can rough hike from that spot, directly up to the parking lot. You can then move your vehicle closer to the site you found along the river. I ended up just climbing the rocks and rough paths so I didn’t disturb my neighbors. Most people did it this way to respect each other’s privacy. Once you’re established along the river, there won’t be much road noise, but if you car camp in the lot, there will be plenty of road noise, depending on season. The river is nice to fall asleep to, and some sites have a lot of shade, where others do not. Plenty of trees along the river to set up a hammock. Store at the edge of town for any essentials you need, restaurants, laundry, and Kern River Brewery. Stars are bright, and little to no light pollution. You can see the Milky Way faintly, if the moon isn’t out. Oh, and no official RV sites with hookups, but plenty of room to park one and use the generator.

I wen’t 6/14/2020 with the plans of camping there but couldn’t unfortunately.It was so crowded, people were using it as a parking lot.I only saw one person actually camping.The place was just filled with cars.I didn’t actually camp there so I can’t give a honest review.I drove around and tried to look for other places to camp and it was full everywhere .No luck

Stayed here in January and were the only ones there. Bathrooms were locked. It’s only a 3 minute walk down to the river. Very nice, convenient and clean.

This was a great place to crash for the night. We got in when it was getting dark but were able to easily find a spot to park our campervan. Beautiful sunrise view and close to Kernville to get breakfast and coffee if you want to.

I've camped here since I was a kid really get great place for large groups. We usually pick up a lot of trash and glass from this site from careless campers so wear shoes in the sand. Use caution in early spring and summer months the river is very fast and DANGEROUS! Really great. Be ready for a hike from the car to the site, it's down a decent hill to the campsite. Watch out for snakes!!!!