Best Tent Camping near Lassen Volcanic National Park

Another great campsite within the gorgeous (and uncrowded) Lassen Volcanic National Park, this one is on the northern shore of a Summit Lake, a blue, pristine lake near 7000 feet. There are two camping loops with tent sites and small RV trailer sports available. No hook-ups, but flush toilets and sinks nearby.

Sites can be further inland near the forest with a parking lot that separates you from the lakeshore. In the summer, the lake is great for swimming.

There is another campsite on the southern side of the lake that is very similar, but we prefer the north campground in that the sites are closer to the lake itself. Numerous hikes are available within the area.

I have camped at Lassen Volcanic National Park twice. And this campground is definitely the family friendly, rangers in sight, store nearby type of campground here. It’s right next to manzanita lake, and easy to access the area off the highway. My first time here I was more than excited to see bumpass hell, unfortunately this was in June of 2018 so bumpass hell was closed for construction. I still enjoyed my time here because the park is very beautiful. We drove up to summit lake and did some exploring in the area. Summit lake also has a campground that only holds a few sites. It’s a more relaxed and quiet campground since there aren’t really stores nearby.

Very large camp near the western entrance of the Lassen Volcanic National Park. Situated on the banks of Manzanita Lake. There are numerous tent, RV, and a few cabin sites available that you can get with little advance notice, unlike many other national parks.

Manzanita has a small camp store with supplies with supplies, hook-ups, and dumpstations availability for RVs, and there is a boat launch for kayaks and canoes on the lake. You can also rent kayaks and canoes and fishing is also widely popular with licenses available in the store.

The camp is also a short drive from the very cool and historic museum that has information about the volcanic history of the park as well as early photographs of the 1915 eruption. It is well worth a visit and has a junior ranger program available for kids, plus general park information. Manzanita is probably the largest camp location within the park and is busy, but there is plenty of opportunities to escape into Lassen.

This is a first-come, first-serve campground within the Lassen National Forest, about 14 miles from the southern entry gate of Lassen Volcanic National Park. My family and I arrived on a Thursday afternoon in June and there were plenty of campsites available. There were more people arriving on Friday and Saturday but still a handful of sites were available and it never got very crowded. The campground is near a highway but it stayed relatively quiet the whole time, since there's not much traffic on the road. The campground loop roads are not used much and make for a safe area for kids to ride bikes or scooters nearby the campsites. The only complaint I had about the campground is the large amount of cut wood logs that were stacked around the camp sites. It made the view a little less scenic but provided for a large amount of firewood. If you enjoy a quiet and serene camping experience near a National Park, I would definitely recommend this campground! It's also near the town of Chester, which has gas stations, restaurants, and a grocery store, as well as Lake Almanor, which has boating, swimming, and hiking trails.

Manzanita Lake Campground is the campground closest to the north entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park. It is best accessed from California State Route 44/89. My wife and I reserved space A8 for a four-night stay beginning August 7, 2023. 

While the campground is well-maintained, I cannot, under any circumstances, recommend that space for anyone camping with an RV or travel trailer. From all appearances A8 looked perfect. But appearances can be deceiving. Looking at an online map of the campground A8 appeared to be a pull-through site which it is. The problem is the site dips down from the access road, bottoms out slightly, then rises again back toward the access road. It took us nearly an hour to locate an area within the space that would allow us to attain a reasonable level so that our refrigerator would operate on propane. And our travel trailer is only 18-feet in length. Once the trailer was reasonably level, the entry step was approximately 18 inches from ground to the step (see images).

Despite the initial difficulties, once settled, we found the campground to be quiet even though there is not a lot of space between sites. The camp store offers some grocery items but is mainly dedicated to the sale of tourist merchandise. It does have a gas pump offering only 87 octane regular gas at $4.99 per gallon - cash only which is below market price for the area.

We would camp at Manzanita Lake Campground in the future but would be highly selective in our choice of sites - driving through the various loops we noted that very few are close to level.

I like this campground a lot. Just the right size, maybe 40-50 camp sites total in two separate loops and it’s all very walkable. There’s a couple of pull-though spots for RVs and trailers and a decent mixture of small and medium RVs and tents.

Camp sites aren’t huge, but enough room not to be completely on top of each other and lots and lots of trees. Some have more room behind them depending on whether they are facing in or out on the loop. Each spot has a fire grate and picnic table. Nice camp host when we were there and an amphitheater nearby.

Totally awesome lake that’s safely swimmable for kiddos that’s also available for day-use. Flush toilets(always a plus). Enough to do either at the campground or nearby to keep kiddos busy for several days. And Lassen in general is a lovely park.

Pros: Best part is the awesome lake. Fairly shallow overall but plenty of fun.

Cons: Not many“extras” (like a store or playground), but I liked it just the way it is. Some spots better than others as far as privacy/space goes.

I loved this campground! Would go back in a heartbeat. This was the first KOA I've ever stayed in, and I was worried it would be too cheesy/boring (in comparison to the forest/state/national park ones I tend to love), but it was totally fun.

Pros: Lots of clean bathrooms, warm swimming pool, lots to do including a whole forested area with swings, a fort, etc., games, ping pong, decent sized sites. Close to the entrance to Lassen Park.

Cons: Some tent sites were better than others. My favorite tent sites were T6. T7, T8 and especially T13.

Spacious campsites with soft dirt/gravel that makes tent camping pretty comfy. Bathrooms were in good shape. The camp store is a close walk and has everything you would need. Stunning views of Lassen Peak from the lake.

The smaller sites at Juniper Lake are first come first serve, unlike the group sites that can be reserved.  Over the last few years the popularity of Juniper Lake has grown and it is difficult to find a spot on weekends, but early to mid week there's a pretty good chance you can find a spot. If you're lucky enough to get a spot on the lake you'll have one of the most beautiful camping spots in Northern California with an epic view of Mt. Lassen.  There are a couple of good day hikes nearby as well.  Typically camping here is tent camping, but if you have a smaller trailer like a tent trailer or Rpod you might be able to get it in. There are no RV hook ups.

I stayed here numerous times as a young kid and teen with my family. We lived in Susanville and would go here to get out of the town and feel closer to nature and experience it all. The sites are walk in so be ready to pack what you need with you. The wildlife possibilities seem endless and it's a very tranquil spot to camp. You can head to thr river to fish as well, which is a plus. Overall, a food campground if you're not looking for any amenities and are tent camping.

I decided to go on a last minute solo trip and called this places for a one night reservation. Next time I definitely want to stay longer. It’s a great family spot and there were lots of dogs and kids running around. The tent camping spots are far enough from people and you don’t feel like you’re on top of each other. You can choose if you want to glamp or camp here, so it’s also a good place if you have friends that don’t like dirt but want to be around pine trees.

One thing I will warn is google maps did tell me to turn too early and I was wondering around a neighborhood for a little bit. You turn right off of 44 to get to the site.

We absolutely loved our 3 days here tent camping in a grass covered site. We lucked out as there was a cancellation for the group site just minutes before we checked in. And we jumped at the chance to spread out! I will say we looked all over at each site and there were dirt sites in the pines that would have been nice too but once you have camped in the grass nothing else compares! Barefoot and clean! Amazing. The staff! Awesome! Very helpful and fun. Bathrooms and showers were clean and everything worked. Their little section of Hat Creek is beautiful. I didn't catch a thing but at least I wasn't working! I haven't covered it all but you get the idea! Get out there and get your social distancing on folks!!

Cheers!

The falls sell the place.  They are beautiful.  The PCT trail goes right by on the opposite bank. Great fishing upstream from the falls. Great fun at Lake Britton.

BUT this is one busy crowded campground.  It is large (many sites) has cabins, a visitor center and a store.  So for me a tent camper this can feel like a freeway.  So go in the off season - spring and fall.  All the camping areas are not open then, but there are no crowds.

For tents some of the sites are open and not very private - meant for RVs. But you can hunt down a decent tent site.  They have all the amenities here.

Beyond the falls and beyond the lake there is lots of hiking here. Hiking up the stream is magical.  There are fall colors to enjoy, especially around Lake Britton.  You can even strick out for the subway cave or Lassen or Mcloud from this central location.

This is a great spot that I almost didn't review because I don't want anyone else to know about it. The campground is approximately 30 minutes off of Hwy. 44 on dirt forest service roads. The roads were in great condition in August of 2017, to the point were a two-wheel drive low-clearance car would have made it without issue, but would likely take longer than 30 minutes.

The campground itself is nice with sites being reasonably spread out. This was our first visit to this campground but in talking with some of the friendly neighbors many people come back to this same campground year after year.

There are two sets on campsites, drive-up and walk-in. The walk-in sites can be a bit of a hike away from the parking area, so if you do plan to camp there (I believe they are all first come, first serve), do bring a wagon, cart, or backpack to carry your gear in and out. It did seem like a few folks may have been able to talk the host into opening the locked gate so that they could drop off their stuff before parking their car in the designated lot. The walk-in sites are located right next to the reservoir and there is a separate bathroom building for those sites. The remaining drive-up sites are still close to the reservoir, maybe a short 500-foot walk to the closest access point.

The reservoir is beautiful and is plenty big enough for some great kayaking or paddle boarding. There were also many people fishing both from the shore and from boats or floats.

Four-wheeling and dirt bike riding seemed to be another common way to spend the day for many folks at the campground, likely exploring the miles and miles of forest service roads surrounding the campground. Although we didn't notice anyone with a telescope, this area was incredible for stargazing. Camp near the reservoir or bring your telescope down to the shoreline as the rest of the campground is pretty heavily wooded, but don't miss out on enjoying one of the most amazing night skies you may ever see.

We drove in and out once each day we stayed at the site to hike inside Lassen Volcanic National Park. While it wasn't a short drive we enjoyed being away from the RVs and large groups of people camping within the National Park campgrounds.

Next time we come here, and we do plan to go back, we will plan in a day or two to simply enjoy the reservoir and area around the campground. There is plenty to do between exploring and just relaxing in the relative quiet, and well worth a day or two to not go anywhere and just enjoy the area.