Best Campgrounds near La Porte, CA

We went mid week in August and it wasn’t too crowded. The views were beautiful and the water was perfect. The road was much more technical than a standard forrest service road, but doable in most stock crossover vehicles or better. We had a borrowed AWD Transit van and did it with some patience and strategic line choice.

Not really sure if we camped in the right spot. It isn’t great, but it got the job done to just crash for a night. Felt like we were in a construction zone

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.

FCFS OHV campground that can be approached from a couple of rough dirt roads,  high clearance helpful,  4wd not needed.   Not all sites are flat.  People from the area (i guess)  seemed to be "reserving"  sites with styrofoam coolers and water jugs...  they did not occupy their sites at night. I didn't use the vault toilet facility.  Took a hike.  Very pretty.  No OHV noise,  but a copter was circling the area in the middle of the night.

If you are looking to be near the water and no service, this is perfect. The rough road in I believe must keep some folks out but the lake is amazing.

We had a great time up at Antelope Lake. It is a very pretty lake and would definitely recommend going. However, the camp host there was very rude and very unaccommodating. I booked 6 campsites for two nights, when I showed up on Friday, the campground was not full so I moved to my trailer to a different site because it was close to friends and family. The site I moved to was first come first serve. The camp host was hounding me - saying I must pay for the site I moved to even though the campground wasn't full. Originally, I paid close to $500 for all 6 sites and the camp host made me pay for the extra site that wasn't even taken/reserved. Be careful of this guy! I think this guy might be pocketing the money.

It’s $30 a night for dry camping and goes up from there depending on what hookups you need. Very peaceful and the fairgrounds are open during the day to walk around.

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.

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!

Stayed 6 days with friends and dogs. Sites were rustic but clean. We had direct access to lake to launch and swim. Jake, site host, very kind and professional as he answered questions and gave advice when a group member popped a tire coming up to the lake. We will be back!

This place was a slice of heaven, but only accessible by way of 4 x 4 with decent clearance. The trail will take you off road for quite some time , but it's well with the adventure. Traction boards and a winch could help you through unexpected obstacles and are recommended to have on hand, but you most likely won't need them. No running water, but there are restroom buildings, fire rings and bear boxes to use. Mosquitoes are abundant here. Don't forget your repellent. The lake is gorgeous, a great fishery, and there are plenty of inspirational views and solitude to be had.

*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.

This site is really close to Reno, except for the time it takes on the dirt road.  We went in one way and out the other.  Our way in was from 395 at Bordertown north of Reno on Long Valley Road.  Once on the dirt the first couple of miles were bad washboard.  Slow going.  Then, the rest of the trip had some challenging driving with rocks and ruts.  We went really slow and everything was fine.  We left via Dog Valley Road and hit the pavement again in Verdi.

We visited for a night mid-week.  Only one other campsite was occupied.  The trail from the campground to Crystal Peak was great.  It's more like Crystal knoll.  The history of Cristal Peak is amazing, and the crystals are everywhere.  Really nice views from atop the knoll too.  Many people visit just for the day to collect crystals.

Clean and easy to get to with 27ft class a. Some sites weren't as flat as others. First come first served worked well.