## Overview

 French Meadows Campground is located along the shores\_\_French Meadows Reservoir, about 40 miles from the town of Foresthill. Visitors enjoy the area for its fishing, boating and trail opportunities.\_\_ This facility is operated and maintained by the Tahoe National Forest.
## Recreation

 Popular activities on the reservoir include boating, canoeing, fishing and swimming. A boat ramp is located adjacent to\_\_the campground. The North Fork American River can be accessed nearby and provides additional opportunities for fishing and swimming. A variety of hiking and biking trails are found in the surrounding area, including some that provide access to the nearby Granite Chief Wilderness and The Western States Trail. Just down the road is the Granite Chief Wilderness which provides amazing hiking opportunities for an adventurous party to explore historic aspen trees and secluded mountain passes and trails. The Western States Trail provides great opporunity for hiking, horse back riding, dirt biking, and for adventurous mountain bikers. 
## Facilities

 The campground offers single-family campsites, a few of which are wheel chair accessible. Each site is equipped with a picnic table, fire ring and food locker. Flush and vault toilets as well as drinking water are provided. Roads and parking spurs are paved.\_\_ Several campsites\_\_are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
## Natural Features

 The campground sits on the southern shore of French Meadows Reservoir, in a pine/fir forest. Summer days can be hot, but evenings are usually cool.

French Meadows

Nice reservoir lots of camp sites. Long somewhat treacherous drive to get there.

1st time french meadows

We stayed Memorial Day 2014. The location is beautiful, the reservoir is nice. We reserved our campsite online and when we arrived there was as another family who had also paid the host for the same spot. We ended up getting moved to a campsite next to the road and heard all the highway traffic . By Saturday night both the restrooms closest to our campsite were closed. There were people playing loud music late at night. I understand it was a holiday weekend and it was crowded but it was our worst camp ground experience so far. 

Beautiful location bad host

We rolled in around midnight on a Thursday in September and there were still plenty of walk-in sites available. The camp sites were a little close together, but it wasn't too bad. There was a water spigot, toilets, table, fire ring, and easy access to the reservoir. Would definitely go again. 

Good campground

This was my first camping trip and I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy it but it was amazing! The campsite is very well kept, the rules are enforced but they’re also extremely relaxed. Our fire was steaming a bit when we were walking down the water and when we came back the gentleman was willing to give us a warning instead of a ticket. Being that it’s COVID I was worried about bathrooms but they were as well kept as you could have it. The road to get to the site is extremely windy and narrow with no rails so be careful! 

Breathtaking!

We were here in August. Slightly long to get to on the windy roads at night time, but during the day the drive back wasn't bad. Loved the water access, and water was perfect temperature for swimming for our toddlers even. Great amenities(fire ring, table, bear box). Water pumps were good in the locations where water was present, but due to lower water levels, the pumps on the higher grounds had no water; had to walk to the lowest pumps(which had water, all but the last day when a big RV connected to it, and filled up the entire tank, leaving zero water for tents). Thought that was inconsiderate, and should not be allowed during drought season. Not sure if rangers can prevent that or ask RVs(who are more mobile than tents) to fill up tanks at neighboring campgrounds. Also we arrived late on Friday, so went to buy wood on Saturday morning(around 8 am). No firewood available for purchase left. If we knew that, we would have brought and purchased own wood at a grocery store(nearest town an hour away). However, we know most campgrounds don't allow outside wood, not to contaminate with non-native bugs, etc. Thankfully, there were enough dry logs in the forest nearby that we could scavenge to burn. Overall, great location, with great swimming, but some things could be improved with better facilities management.

Great swimming, facilities could be improved

To get to French Meadows you have to take some winding roads along the mountain side.  I went during all the fires, and it was very smoky, which made it seem like I was driving out there at dusk.  It was a little unnerving on some parts!  But once I got to there, it was definitely worth the drive!  There was not a lot of people there, which made it seem like a very private campground.  The site I stayed was pretty big with lots of options for setting up the tent.  It was easy to get to the water from my site.  The downside for me, was that my site was by the toilets, and people could not figure how to not slam the door in the middle of the night.  The camp host was good, he stopped by each day to do a check in and kept me updated on weather (lightening storms!), fire conditions and possible evacuations.