Best Tent Camping near Lassen National Forest, CA

Our annual camping trip to Eagle Lake at the Merrill Campground in Lassen National Forest started as a family trip for a good friend about three generations ago. Ourselves and other friends have since tagged along for the last 6-8 years (some longer). We now routinely book 6 or more campsites, most with power for trailer hook ups though a couple of us still tent camp. Half the group are avid fisherman and go out every morning. The trout fishing is world class and makes for an out-of-this-world fish fry! This is one of the most pristine and quiet campgrounds we visit. The camp hosts and other campers are always extremely friendly and respectful. The facilities are clean and well maintained, the marina is well stocked (both fishing and daily food/drink essentials). We look forward to coming year after year.

This campground is just south of Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It has two main sections, one for RVs and the other for tents.  There are a small number of RV sites with full hookups and then a larger number of tent sites.  The RV sites are fairly small, but felt separated enough to have some privacy.  The tent sites are a bit more rustic.

The other slightly odd part is that most of the RV sites were filled with people who came and stayed for the entire summer, year after year.  We were the only not long-term camper in the RV section.  

Pros:

* Close to a lot of amazing scenery with Lassen

* Well kept, clean, quiet campground

* Camp store/restaurant is great

* Laundry on site

* Access to a nice little creek w/swimming hole

Cons:

* Camp store is open limited days

* Tent sites only have pit toilets which are not the best maintained

OK:

* No fires in the RV sites

* Showers were not always very clean

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

There are 4 tent sites and 20+ RV sites.

9 miles away from the Lassen Volcanic NP southwestern entrance.

They have restrooms and showers (one stall and one shower for men and one and one for women).

There are are two fire pits for the “community” but we were the only tent campers for two nights in the middle of June. Each site has a picnic table and charcoal only bbq also.

This is one of several campground at Eagle Lake. The unique aspect of Aspen is it is set aside for Tent camping only. No RVs or cabovers are allowed here. It is set in shady pines just like the other campgrounds at the lake. All the usual amenities are here too. Picnic tables fire pits and nice bathrooms. A camp host is present. The campground sits near the water. Close by and to the east is the trail head for the beautiful Osprey Overlook trail. Overall a nice campground for the back to basics Tent camper.

Perfect RV and tent campground just outside of Lassen National Park. The RV sites are somewhat close to each other but there are plenty of trees around so you really have a forest feeling. There is a good restaurant and general store next door where you register. We would definitely stay here again.

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.

Spent a 3 night camping trip staying here. While it is mainly an RV park, it does have some tent camping. There is a central bathroom that is clean. One trouble that we did have one night was the door to the women's bathroom was broken and no one could get in. There is a small lake in the middle of the lot where people can have catch and release fishing. There is a small store and restaurant, but we didn't get anything there. Many of the RVs seem to have been there for some time, every one was very friendly. The camp site had electric and water nearby with a fire grill.

We spent a full week here and enjoyed it immensely.  Our tent site was large and spacious and even when full, the campground was quiet and peaceful. The hosts were very attentive to the needs of everyone staying there.  We had one night during which a nearby, private property had some dogs that barked all night.  We reported this concern the next morning, after which the hosts contacted the neighboring individuals and the dogs were quite for the remainder of our stay.  The bathrooms and showers were always clean and well maintained.  We will definitely stay there again.

This campground was very close to Lassen NP, which is convenient. Check-In is simply looking at your name on the board and finding your campsite, which is not clear from the confirmation email. It would've been nice to speak to a host to get the lay of the land. The vault toilets in the tent area are very dark even during the day, and are not well maintained. The showers were also very dirty with dead bugs everywhere. The trail down to Mill Creek while short, is incredibly steep and narrow. The creek itself is beautiful and you can hear it while you fall asleep which is nice. The tent sites in the upper numbers are well spaced out. And there are deer in the area that come right by your site :) Mosquitoes were not bad at all even right next to the creek. I would maybe try another campground that came recommend from a fellow tent camper while at this one. Also, I couldn't get a cell signal for Verizon the whole time I was at the campground.

Found the camp and sites easily right off the highway across from the Subway Cave. Visited for the night with my oldest son’s Boy Scout troop, troop 16. Tent sites were flat and free of major debris and rocks. Fire ring was put to good use. The Camp Host, Gary was very friendly and introduced himself and offered to help in any way he could. We also enjoyed a very entertaining magic show by one of the camps frequent guest, Clancy. Flush toilets were clean and well stocked, minus hand soap or sanitizer. It was an easy walk from the site to the subway cave lava tube, which was the destination for the quick trip, is not to be missed. We neglected to bring fishing poles by observed many anglers returning with trout for their camp fires. Park Rangers we’re friendly and inviting.

Will return again!

Why we booked: Came to see Lassen NP. Manzanita Lake Campground canceled on us, and we needed a spot with plenty of FCFS availability.

Campground: Basic USFS campground. Heavily wooded with pine and sequoias, sites relatively spacious, vault toilets and threaded water spigots throughout. We were able to fill our tank by connecting a couple of hoses. Some spots for okay solar—we were getting 200W of a possible 400 after picking a sunny campsite in the summer. Being on a 55mph road, you do get road noise that dies down at night. Probably makes this a better campground for RVs than tent camping. Combining Verizon and T-Mobile with our router and booster let my wife and I work on video calls with few problems.

Quirks: Huge stacks of free firewood due to work done since a huge fire swept through the area a couple of years ago.

Site: Ours was one of a handful that can fit bigger rigs. Most folks should be able to get in here just fine—but if you're bigger, be good at backing.

Nearby: The southwest Lassen NP entrance is about 20 minutes away. The town of Chester is 20 minutes the other way, with propane and diesel and some decent food.

Value: Perfect!

We have stayed on the lake before but at “dusty campground”, this time wanting to spend our trip in a little bit more of a civilized campground. The roads were paved unlike dusty but the campgrounds were just as dusty as dusty campground. Be prepared for everything to be covered from head to toe. We went July 12-14th and I wouldn’t swim in the lake, blue/green foam on the shoreline. Most of the campsites are more like RV sites with no flat ground for a tent. I wish I would’ve known that. There’s vault toilets around with toilet paper and 1 big bathroom with showers that is open 8am-9pm and runs on “tokens” that you have to buy with $1 bills only, no quarters accepted. Just a heads up. The campground was really pretty but I wouldn’t suggest for tent camping, for RV’s or car camping it’s nice. The bathrooms all smelt really good and were for the most part clean, the shower trash cans were overflowing with feminine products and wasn’t changed the whole time we stayed, so I’m not sure how often the bathrooms get cleaned. The camp host was friendly and offered people wood. Seems like the kind of place that you can do about whatever you’d like, music was blasting till 10pm when quiet hours started, that’s okay we just played our music too but those that are looking for a “relaxing camping trip” also shouldn’t come here.