Best Campgrounds near Chico, CA

Easy access via paved road. Very bucolic area. Lots of trails. Sacramento River is within walking distance. Pit toilet, no water or other services.

Camping here in early April, we weren’t able to access anything past the pull off from the highway. The area has a good amount of space that we felt safe enough to put two tents down.

Each space has a nice grassy area and concrete patio. Sites are level. Great showers and laundry. Nice dog play area. Away from highway noise. Lots of shade trees.

Just a small parking lot with 8 or 9 pull through sites in the middle of a small downtown commercial area. The parking lot is next to two restaurants and a bar.

We came in at about 3 AM and went to sleep. Woke up and made coffee in the parking lot around 10 the next morning. Several very confused customers looked at us like we were hillbillies.

The good. Managers are there daily. Dumping trash and cleaning the pit toilet.

The bad. Managers are there daily being passive aggressive in reminding you they can kick you out, walking around looking in the same vehicles (even yours as you stand there) and writing down plate numbers. They like to remind you of the 14 day in 365 day limit for the region, not just here. They like to talk about their database and what will happen if you try to camp somewhere else and they love complaining about tent campers outside the parking lot. Also, no fires, ever.

That being said. Blm law enforcement they claim to have in their pocket reminds everyone that tent camping is allowed outside the parking lot.

It is clean though, the rivers is blah and turkey hunters might fire off next to you but walk the road. Plenty of trails, beautiful meadows, horseback riders seen regularly. Quiet at night usually to. If not tell the managers, they’ll get right on that lol.

I won’t go again but that’s not because of the CG.

Details: Law Enforcement does visit, they are nice Locals are a problem Be prepared for management complaints, not camper complaints Town is 20 minutes away Free stay with a weird 14 day regional rule, inquire with management

Men’s shower code is 9271 as of 10/10/24 for all you stinky campers (myself included)

This was a perfect campsite. Came in late but everybody was eager and happy to help out. Met the hosts who took their time and explained about the park.

Located only 10 minutes from Lassen and by the road and still an rv spot in the forest. Very nice.

An upper class restaurant and a bar so something for everyone.

Very recommandable

This campground is a very quiet spot after Labor Day, it is small, only 10 sites total and it is only open until September 30, which I don't understand since there is no snow here until November.

When we were there only one other camper was staying here and he was a deer hunter.

The water is shut off after Labor Day so come prepared. This campground has two sites that will take a 30' trailer and the remaining sites will take smaller trailers, tents or campers.

One site has a new picnic table but all sites have tables, fire pits and plenty of room between sites. Pit toilets are near the entrance and only one was clean when we stayed here.

Not to far from Bucks Lake if you want to camp and then drive to the lake.

Fees have changed, they are $25 a night and $12.50 if you have the pass.

This was a beautiful campground, primitive in the Plumas National Forest but it is burnt to the earth after the North Complex Fire and it will never reopen.

We drove up on 9.25.24 to see if any of the down trees have been cleared and only some have been. You can pull into the camp but large dead and down trees prevent access to the campground.

The pit toilet is also damaged and it is unlikely the USFS will make any repairs.

This campground and the one to the south, Cool Springs, are both run by Pacific Gas and Electric Utility company. 

There are campground hosts at both campgrounds and late in September half of Ponderosa Flat closes. The entire campground closes at the end of September. 

There was plenty of water in the Reservoir and it could be okay for a boat but you have to look out for all the snags in the water, and there are a lot of them.

Campground is quiet but tight to get a large trailer in, ours is 26 feet and it was tight. The spaces in the closed portion of the campground were a bit more spacious. 

Fire rings, tables and pit toilets. It was $30 a night with no power, power sites are more expensive. 

If you have a cool campground host you can ride your ATV or Side by side out onto the dirt road and ride for miles. Just be mindful it is not really supposed to be a ride out campground.

Great spaces next to lake. No cell service. Lots of places to enjoy on the shoreline.

Very clean campground with a helpful host. Bathrooms/showers for paid guest have a code to get in. The day use area has porta potties. This place is dark at night so really good for star watching.

The place itself has delicious food. It is also a little grocery store. The “dog area” is something they squeezed into the side of the lot. Not fenced in but there were dog poop bags when we stopped.

It's along a cove in the lake. Super nice hosts and nice campers. The bathrooms are kind of gross but that's expected. Always camp here when we go to the lake.

Place wasn’t too bad. Very nice people, very peaceful, and quiet, however, there were many people here who are permanent residents of the park, some of their areas are a little trashy looking for lack of a better word. Definitely not a bad spot if you’re on the way to another campground, but there are probably better ones to head to, especially if you have children with you. We were also looking for a place to camp with two days notice and this was all we could find. Cheap too!

*pros: great little market, very nice staff, clean, great views *cons: rocky watch your step, especially at the beach and a long the shore. Recommend water shoes, although this may only help a little as the rocks are quite large and when can trip over them as much as step on them. they are not round river rocks, but pointy and painful to traverse. *my stay: I was only here for two nights and on the second morning some people pulled in and pitched a tent at 4:30 in the morning. They weren’t particularly loud, but they did curse and had their flashlight bright enough that it shone into my site and RV. Overall, it was still a very pleasant stay for the two nights.

Just try to get a last minute camp spot on Memorial Day weekend most places.  We were fortunate to discover Butt Lake near Lake Almanor.  Only one small burn area far from the campgrounds.  Friday was opening day for Cool Springs campground.  A PG&E operated facility, it was in great shape and ready for the season.  We did three nights, departing on Monday.  On Friday night we were one of only a few guests.  Saturday and Sunday were full, but the feeling was vary spacious.  The lake is a reservoir with no actual inlet.  Rather it is fed by a pipe from Lake Almanor with a hydroelectric plant just prior to the water entering Butt Lake.  Oddly for a PG&E lake there is not hydroelectric plant at the outlet dam.  Did some bike riding to check out the dam, Ponderosa Flat campground, Pioneer cemetery, and east shore of the lake.

No water or outhouse. If you have a low clearance vehicles, pick your pins carefully.

Heh, well, there's only one other review for this place, and it's from me from 2 years ago. So I won't repeat it all, because basically everything is the same except:

• The showers were fine this time, not gross
• There was no host on site
• The water fill station at the dump station was functional and we filled our tanks no problem

We arrived mid week with no reservations and the place was practically empty. It filled up on the weekend with loud partiers but overall it was a quiet and pleasant experience.

Great place to camp! Read my last review for more details!