Best Tent Camping near Downieville, CA

We stayed here for three nights. Two of those nights were during the week. Friday night had a completely different vibe- lots of parties and loud music. Note on the map that site 7 looks like it is on the river. It is not, but 7A is. We stayed at 7A which had zero shade, but did have access to the swimming hole. Our kids loved this campground. The swimming hole was awesome. This campsite is about 15 minutes from Downieville.

Says right on the web home page, no tent camping ( no car camping either).

I tent camped and loved it. Very quiet and beautiful scenery. A water faucet and picnic table at every campsite .

Absolutely delightful campground with flush toilets and potable water. Super close access to the water. Would be a perfect spot for tent camping if there weren’t so many trailers everywhere.

Great camp ground with spacious spaces. Accomadates large groups and tent camping. Friendly host and very clean. Stones throw from the boat ramp and Stampede Lake. Only down is the place is a little noisey.

This is a small hidden little gem of a campground. They have flush toilets and bear boxes which makes it nice for those of us that tent camp. Close to the water and sites have plenty of space.

This campground has it all. It’s clean, has great amenities (pool, showers, kitchen, bathrooms), and it’s a nice walk away from town. It has a spot for everyone - RVs, glamping tents, and the standard tent sites (my style).

Highly recommend!

Nice campsite. They are a little  close to other campers but still nice. Lake was right down the hill. Bathrooms are close if you are tent camping. Very limited cell service. Camp host wad very nice and accessible. Would camp there again 😊

Great place to stay. 1 hours drive from Reno. Lake with in 5 minutes of the campground. Spots for RVs, travel trailers and/or just tent camping. Restrooms spread around the area with access to fresh water. Good size creek flowing through the campground from the lake above.

We spent two nights doing a family and friends reunion. We loved our rv spot, the rest of the group had great tent site and glamping tents. Facilities were super clean and nice. Pool was small but the pool area was really nice. Great location for swimming in the Yuba river!

So beautiful! The lake is nestled in the mountains. The scenery, fishing and water sports are superb! There are ample campgrounds with spots from tent camping to RV camping. They also have group camping right on the water! If you love mountain lakes, don’t miss this one... and book early!

Lake cove is always a good choice. Clean bathrooms and laundry facility on site. There are tent sites, even sites with and without hookups, cabins, and a trailer to rent. They also have a volleyball court, horse shoes, and arcade available.

I drove way to long and when this campground showed up I was so relieved I would have stopped no matter what but to find out it’s charming clean and the manager a dear showers laundry and lots of space. The rv spaces look out over the lake tent camping in the back but you still have lake views

Scott’s Flat is just five miles outside of Nevada City. It is run by the Nevada Irrigation District. One of the many man made lakes in the region. There are bath houses, tent sites and no hookup RV sites. It is clean but can become loud with rowdy camping neighbors. A beautiful lake to boat, fish and swim.

I get the impression this is a family park. There are cabins & tent sites and a handful of RV spots. Good for a shower & dump. The list of park rule are too long to list. Nice bathrooms. Cell & WiFi are poor for AT&T users. I only stayed here because it was all that was open in the area in March and I needed a shower!

This review is based on an off-season visit. During the summer months, this campground would likely have a much different vibe. In fact, our family camped at Rollins Lake 20+ years ago and had a great time (although it was at a different RL campground). This is one of two Rollins Lake campgrounds open in the off-season; it is open for camping, boating, swimming, and picnicking year-round. Although we saw several boat trailers in the day-use area, there was only one occupied campsite on a Tuesday in late October. The camp store was closed for the season. 

There is a mix of FHU, electric, and tent sites. The sites have gravel camper pads, and many were not clearly defined and, in fact, seemed to be laid out in a hodgepodge fashion, making it difficult to see where the sites were separated. If the campground was full, there would be little to no privacy/separation between sites. 

I thought the fees were a bit high for this campground - $51 for a tent site, $56 for electric, and $65 for FHU. The website does not provide much information on camping, so I called. It took more than a month for my call to be returned. We felt a little like Goldilocks but after eating our lunch, we decided to head further down the road in search of a more affordable campground.

This is a great spot for camping. There are very nice and large spots for both Camper and Tent camping. The bathrooms and showers are clean and exactly what you would expect from a county park. There are lots of tall trees for shade during the day, and the trees separated the spots enough that groups can be separate or together. The road isn’t too close, and there isn’t much traffic after 9:00 or so anyways.

There is also a water access to go easing and a few deep spots for swimming.

There are also 3 Poké stops and a gym for Pokémon Go players.

We camped in site #20 and did not need to level the trailer! There are logs lining the roads and the campsites. There are stones circling small plants. There are bear boxes at each campsite and also bear poles for hanging food. There are fire rings and also bbqs at each campsite. The whole area was tidy! The bathrooms were very clean. It was quiet - only a few other campers. I believe there are 24 sites, including the tent sites. I would imagine this campground fills up pretty fast in the summer. It was May when we camped here and lightly snowing. There is an airport nearby and heard one small jet engine aircraft take off in the morning.

This is not a destination campground, nor a great site for tent camping. That said – it can be really hard to get a spot in Tahoe. This site saved our trip, and was conveniently located. It was fine for a weekend, or just passing through. We did not explore along the river too much, and that might have made it better. Okay place, but not what you think of when you say you are going to Tahoe to camp. Not much shade, rocky, small sites. The hosts were quite nice though. Picnic table, campfire ring and grill. Vault toilets.

The biggest downside is that it is right on a busy highway. There was always road noise which was quite loud at times. Also you’ll hear your neighbors – every word. You might not notice this so much in if RV camping? A lot of bear activity in the area so follow the rules keep your food locked up.

There is a grocery, pharmacy, fast food nearby which was handy too.