Best Cabin Camping near Black Butte Lake

A simple, rustic cabin.  As noted by others, it suffers from a little damage/neglect—many of the windows are boarded up—but it's an old fire lookout so we didn't expect a rental cabin atmosphere.  Views are exceptional, as is the peace and quiet.  Get up early and you'll catch the dawn chorus of an amazing number of birds: warblers, woodpeckers, quail, juncos, grosbeaks, cowbirds, even robins.  The cabin is roughly outfitted with cots, bunkbeds, a table and chairs.  There's a clean outhouse down by where you park and a firepit, which we didn't use because it was windy when we were there.  Keep your food up on the table at night--the mice are nocturnal visitors and will help themselves if you leave food on the counter.  Only caveat is the access to the cabin.  They're not kidding when they warn you to bring a chainsaw.  Two of the three roads in and out were blocked by downed trees (so big our small chainsaw wasn't helpful), and in places the road that was open had pretty deep potholes and gullies formed by last winter's heavy rains.  I was really glad we had 4WD.

This is a gem in Red Bluff. CA. You are minutes from I-5 but it is impossible to hear the traffic. Right on the Sacramento River and the skies are remarkably dark.

We paid $8 per night for a site with our Interagency Senior Pass, no hookups. There are some sites with water and electric for $25 or $12.50 with pass. No sewer dump available.

I did not use the showers or bathrooms. Quarters required for a hot shower. Husband says bathroom was clean.

Beautiful old sycamore trees give this park lots of shade in the hotter months and provide a peaceful setting even in the winter months.

It is only about an hour to Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center at Lassen NP.

In November when we stayed, there were maybe four or five other campers.

We would definitely return when we are driving thru.

I've been to this campground twice now, and had very different experiences.  

The first time was memorial day in 2019, and we had a great spot right on the water.  We took our canoe and were able to launch from our site.  So ideal.  It was relatively quiet, and nobody immediately near us.  Amazing sunsets.

The second time we went was June 2020.  This time we stayed on the other side of the lake.  The water was super low, so our view was completely dried up.  Also, it was pretty noisy with sites cramming several tents onto their sites.

Either way, on both occasions we the site relatively last minute, maybe a week or two in advance.  Any Californian will know it isnt always easy to book last minute campsites, so I appreciate that!  There are 100+ campsites there, so it seems like always something available.  Plus, not too far from the bay area.

This is a great reservoir to camp, boat, jet ski, fish, etc. It is a pretty good size that has plenty of space for small parties or large party campsites. It is not too far out from the town of Stonyford but still has enough privacy. Not too many people are familiar with East Park Reservoir which is nice in the sense that it usually isn't over crowded on holiday weekends and especially not during regular seasons. The pricing is pretty inexpensive but the only downfall is that here isn't a whole of tree coverage for shade(hence why I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5) so make sure to bring a pop up tent/canopy for shade. Otherwise, this is an overall great reservoir to camp at and a friendly one.

Having recently set a goal of staying at all our ‘local’ lookouts, Post Creek is #2.
This is a gorgeous, and larger than expected, structure. It has a living room, restroom & bedroom. Sadly, the area was devastated by fires several years ago (McFarland 2021?) But the views & privacy are breathtaking!! I drove ‘option 2’ TO the camp without any issues. (Lifted Crosstrek) Washboards were fair/moderate. Upon leaving, I tried to follow ’option 1’ FROM the camp, but got slightly off track & stayed on 24N10. (no biggie, just more dirt than pavement) The road is ‘fine’, but there are lots of tight spots due to downed trees & fire damage There is ZERO cell service (Verizon), and non-potable water. Price paid online was $60. I could NOT find the ‘swimming hole’ 😞