Planning a dispersed camping trip near Bear Valley Springs? Find everything from dispersed backcountry camping to boondocking with The Dyrt. Each dispersed site offers quick access to one or more of Bear Valley Springs's most popular destinations.
Keysville (formerly Keyesville) is a historic mining area that offers a wide variety of recreational opportunities. Set in rolling terrain amidst a blue oak and foothill pine woodland, Keysville is dissected by the lower Kern River. A little exploration can turn up a wealth of historic resources, including a variety of mining structures and features, a historic fort, and the famous Walker Cabin. Keysville offers commercial and noncommercial white-water rafting opportunities as well as fishing, recreational gold panning, and dispersed camping. A network of over seventy miles of trails provides for mountain biking, equestrian, and motorized recreation use.
Travel Responsibly - on designated roads and trails or in permitted areas
Respect The Rights of Others - including private property owners and all recreational trail users, campers and others to allow them to enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed. Educate Yourself - by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies, planning for your trip, taking recreation skills classes and knowing how to use and operate your equipment safely. Avoid Sensitive Areas - such as meadows, lakeshores, wetlands and streams, unless on designated routes. Do Your Part - by leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species, restoring degraded areas and joining a local enthusiast organization.
https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/documents/files/Keysville%20arch%20E%20low%20res.pdf
POTENTIAL FIRE BANS - CHECK BEFORE CAMPING Last report - bans in effect til 11/2020 (reported 10/2020) Located on the east side of Lake Isabella off Sierra Way. Open camping; Free use area; Chemical toilets. No limit on trailer length. Open year round. Supplies at Kernville
Dispersed Camping on the shore of Lake Isabella. Vault toilet available. No trash recepticals available (Pack In-Pack Out). ALL Upper Kern Dispersed Camping sites, under restrictions - No Camping or Campfires are allowed within 25 feet of the water___s edge.
Dispersed Camping on Upper Kern River approximately 4 to 5 miles north from Kernville. Ther is no water available at this location. Portable toilets and trash recepticals are available during__summer months. See Larger Picture Here.
Campfire Permits required for campfires, barbeques, and camp stoves. Campfires and barbaques may be prohibited during fire restrictions, camp stoves allowed with current Califronia Campfrire Permit.
Beware of steep grade to access if you are in a camper.
Guide
dispersed camping along keyesville rd. big open areas for group or big rig camping, lots of pullouts with fire rings. vault toilets and dumpsters at staging areas. this recreation area has lots of trash, easily could spend days picking litter. keyesville rd. has plenty of traffic though from 2200hrs til morning is fairly quiet. it’s a rec area, so with that in mind the weekends are getting busy. a lot of motocross, ohv and atv traffic from late thurs to sunday. other than that it is a wonderful free camping.
Guide
We love lake Isabella and just discovered this free camp spot right on the beach…
Guide
Great hideaway with plenty of dispersed sites. I spent two days here and only seen a handful of vehicles drive through, mostly US Forest Service trucks. Pack in, pack out. No toilets, showers, or water so bring in everything you need. 14 days of free camping every 30 days. A great find to get away from it all.
Guide
Hot and dry. Boondocking only. Lots of campsites.
GuideOn my way into Sequoia NF I was so excited to see Hanning Flats dispersed camping area. My pup and I stayed for three nights and didn’t see another person or vehicle the whole time. So peaceful, quiet, sunny, green. My dog did get lots of ticks and we had a mouse find its way into the van but I still really have no complaints. Such a gorgeous spot, lovely sunsets and sunrises. We loved walking on the sandy dirt roads at golden hour. My van is only 2WD and did fine. As with all dispersed camping.. pack in pack out and we found a pre-made site to park at. No services/facilities. About 35 mins to Isabella for groceries/gas. We will be back :)
Scout
I'm driving a large Nissan can converted into a camper. I made it to where Forest route 26S06 meets black gulch. I might have made it the rest of the way but it was getting dark and scary. A motor home or camper trailer would surely not make it. The whole Keyesville SRMA is open for dispersed camping.
LegendWe stopped here on the way into Sequoia National Forest knowing the Kern River sites would be full. There were lots of families playing by the water here and it was nice to have our dog out and swimming for a little bit.
There is only one pit toilet bathroom so that was rough waiting for the line to go down. Kernville isn't far away so you can go to town easily to get supplies and food.
Traveler☆ No target shooting allowed ☆ Arrived on a drizzly day & tried going further down the road to other more secluded camping spots. However the dirt road was slick & minivan, loaded down, was slipping & sliding. Backtracked to a nice spot, camaflouged by a small hill, it'll protect my gear tent. This is open castle range.
GuideYou can park RVs right next to the water but it gets very busy, there are more secluded spots accessible to even Class A rigs further down. My Class C was able to make it through a few of the dirt roads no problem. Best part is the nature, trails, river, fire rings almost everywhere you need, dumpster and vault toilet near the main road. Worst part was the dirt bikes passing by my campsite on the weekends but it wasn’t loud honestly. The busiest spot is the one down next to the river , easily 20+ vehicles on an April weekend.
Traveler
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.
GuideAccess to the river is closed as of 26 January, still plenty of dispersed places down the road to camp. Bathrooms and trash dump and lots of trails to ride bikes! Some of the sites are a little rough for trailer access.
LegendWe stopped here on our way to Death Valley and ended up staying for several days because we love it so much! There’s another dispersed site a few miles away (Stine Cove) and we found this one to be much more pleasant. The two are actually connected by dirt roads. Our site was shaded and had a fire pit as well as trees perfectly spaced for our hammock. Temps were lovely during the day, but quite chilly at night and during the mornings/evenings.
The area is also used by lots of cows for grazing so beware of the patties and lots of mooing. They didn’t bother us, we actually quite enjoyed watching them.
Literal MILES of dispersed sites so plenty of room to spread out. There’s a bit high spot of rocks in the middle at the beginning of the road which was great to climb for sunset views!
GuideThere are several very dispersed spots, but its all open so dont expect too much privacy or shelter from the wind. Gorgeous sunset to sunrise. Watch eagles prey on ducks, pelicans gather, hear the frogs croak. Gnats get a little crazy before the bats show up. Nightime lights permeate the sky across the lake, but star viewing is still possible.
GuideWe stayed here in June and there were plenty of open spots we just couldnt see many since it was dark. We eventually found a spot about half a mile back. Only one other person nearby. We had a few bars of service on verizon and at&t.
Overall nice secluded spot off the road with great scenery would recommend
GuideHey, it's free. Weekends are busy but weekdays are exceptionally peaceful. Be advised the Jawbone canyon store charges RV's $40.00 for potable water. Fill up before you come out here.
LegendI'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!!!!
ScoutI’ve been camping at This lake since I was 11. My favorite place caught 100’s of fish out of there. I’ve camped in all the camps over the years but I like steins cove when we had a boat. Camp right on the water and the price is right FREE. I live in Az now but when we go back we always hit the lake. Love it great memories with my mom and dad and our kids and grandkids. Enjoy❤️
GuideI’ve camped here multiple times, sometimes with multiple RVs in a group, it’s very private with wide vistas.
Sometimes you can go days without a single car passing by, and there are a lot of spots to just camp since it is all completely level. There are a lot of insects, birds, and the occasional cow and deer.
To swim in the lake this area connects to Stine Cove campground - via a very soft sandy road - which is also free, has a vault toilet, but is shaded by mountains and less private.
There’s a $12 dump station with potable water at Camp 9 and one at Old Isabella Recreation Site.
T-mobile was very slow but Verizon had a good connection.
Heads up that the lake is MUCH lower than anything you see on satellite view, from Stine Cove I still had to walk 30min before getting to the shore.
GuideMarch 3, 2021
We headed here to both see the area and camp for a few days and to be scouts for a future trip to celebrate a family member's birthday who wanted to do some fishing on his b-day.
The first thing we noticed was how low the water level was…bummer! Because of that, any fishing would have been casting into or over trees that are now exposed.
The area is exactly like the pics; a wide open beach so there's space to spread out but not too much to do for active kids due to the aforementioned water level. Verizon cell service was non-existent and lots of cow poop, which we were aware of in the area. Also it's right on the road which was, if you're looking for silence, there's decent traffic on the roadway.
It's free which is awesome and if the water level goes up a bit, I would love to try it again. Disbursed to please pack in and pack out. Happy Camping!
Traveler02NOV2020 - 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.
GuideWe stayed here two nights and felt so peaceful and out of sight ! Def recommend
TravelerThere was no food locker or bathroom close to where I parked but there are lots of spots, and a great view, it's also very close to grocery stores. Heavy wind and some critters interested in the tent. Very immersive area. I ended up just putting all my food in a cooler in my trunk and it worked.
Wouldn't go down the last steep section, it was wet sand, I decided not to risk it, as it was night too, and parked sideways at the spot overlooking the valley, it was a great view but I couldn't really see where the river was.
ScoutClean Spots, recommend! lot of space and different places.
TravelerWe pulled in at night time around 10:30PM. I was scared it would be sketchy, but turned out to be a smooth dirt road. We encountered multiple other campers as well before we found a suitable turnout. Loved the accessibility. We woke up to a beautiful little spot near the water; would definitely camp again here
GuideLots of space and lots of ppl with their toys. Pack it in, pack it out!
GuideAll the spots at the front were taken here so we had to drive almost all the way to end. Don’t go down the final steep hill, you might not make it up. It’s very tight there and you have to do a 20 point turn to turn back.
We walked down the hill and our friend saw some random guy come out the trees and follow us as we were walking back up. He might be living there because there was so much trash
2 stars because the area itself is nice, there’s the river nearby and internet was good
TravelerI drove past a couple of camp grounds directly at the lake and was very disappointed what I found. Yes, you can camp right at the lake but only if you appreciate the charme of a Walmart parking lot. There is basically next to no trees or any nature for that matter.
So I looked a little further and was very happy to have found this site. Beautifully located right at a river, surrounded by trees, big boulders and the stunning mountain scenerey.
However, be aware that this is not serviced at all. There is no electricity, water, dump stations or anything else than the actual spot. And BEWARE: there is quite a steep and narrow entry road into the site. I drove in with a 30 feet class A camper and I am little worried if I will get out tomorrow. Also I smacked some leaves off of a tree on my way in with my 13“ clearance.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Bear Valley Springs, California, where nature lovers can find serene spots away from the crowds. This area offers a variety of locations for those seeking adventure and tranquility in the great outdoors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Bear Valley Springs, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Bear Valley Springs, CA is Keyesville Recreation Area Dispersed with a 4.4-star rating from 9 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Bear Valley Springs, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 20 dispersed camping locations near Bear Valley Springs, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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