Whether you're an RVer or tent camper, Meadow Valley, CA is a great place to post up for the weekend—or longer. Meadow Valley is an adventure-filled destination for those who love the outdoorsy camper lifestyle. But it's also great for those who prefer to spend time near the city, exploring and sightseeing. Find the best campgrounds near Meadow Valley, CA. Read helpful reviews and tips to find the perfect camping option for you and your crew.
$31 / night
"Only downside was no dump or fresh water and it’s a 30+ minute drive to town. Biggest downfall of this area is the hour long drive with a trailer down the wash board road."
"Clean campground, great fishing, and nice trail around lake. Kids love camping here. Bathrooms are kept clean and stocked 2-3x a day."
$29 / night
"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."
$24 / night
"It was not busy, there was on other occupied campsite not to close to where we were. It has water, bathrooms and a bear box. Beautiful trees and clean sites."
"The campground itself is pretty standard, sites are decent size, and lots of shade. There is a path down to the Yuba River, where you can get in the water or float on a tube. "
"A very clean RV park and friendly staff. Call for reservations as its popular. Some lower sites had concrete pads for the provided table. Several seasonal private modular homes among the RVer."
"It’s a cute RV park, it’s clean and close to a little town the bad thing is that every space is so close to each other, you have next to you their services and it’s impossible to access your storage without"
"Movin west is perfect being so close to town and the brewery ronin is a short bike ride away"
"Short walk to town for a morning of mini golf. Even though the park is close to the road, I didn't hear anything. Memorial day weekend George hosted camp-wide dinner of BBQ tri-tip and kielbasa."
$39 - $47 / night
"If the first place you think of when you hear “the Sierra Nevada mountains” is Tahoe or Yosemite, I would strongly encourage you to explore points north of Truckee/Tahoe in the Plumas National Forest."
"Surprised how well maintained and friendly staff assisting with set up. Nice dog large area without enclosed fencing. All short term campers are located in the center very cozy."
$15 / night
"No cell signal here - speed test is from starlink. Note google & garmin routing from Nevada City takes a bridge with a 4 Ton weight restriction."
"There's hiking access to the river, and almost never anybody at this campground. It's scenic privacy at it's best. Hike up or downstream for some really great swimming holes."
"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."
"It’s definitely a place I’ll put on my list to camp at again, especially when they figure out their electrical issues."
"Clean and Rustic. WiFi is very very limited- drive to top of hill or lodge( very sporadic) Great Lake for swimming, fishing and small boats. Store on site. Clean swimming pool. Ideal for Tent or RV."
TravelerImpressed with clean sites and tall pine trees. A very clean RV park and friendly staff. Call for reservations as its popular. Some lower sites had concrete pads for the provided table. Several seasonal private modular homes among the RVer. Secured large dog area with running creek within walking distance. A number of lower RV spaces within walking pathways to creek. Most were 30 amps and upper level had some 50 amps. Lots of back ends and pull throughs. Visitors must walk to the trash designated area fenced in with recycling bins. Only one bathroom building that housed laundry room. Shower stall in women’s area .50cent for 20 minutes and 2 toilet stalls that the door hits your knees a very weird old bathroom. We enjoyed the park and plan to return again.
GuideThis is a great campsite, with lots of amenities. Super family friendly. Lots of kids at this site.
I came here in early August, 2020! It gets warm during the day and many spots have trees, which provide partial shade at some point in the day. I do recommend bringing a pop up structure for the moments when shade is not available.
We stayed at campsite 24, which is right on the river and next to the main river pool access. Lots of people coming by but everyone is respectful and there is some privacy from small trees planted along the path.
At the other end of the site is a river access that’s smaller and allows dogs (the main one does not). Since I do not have kids but do have a dog, I will probably try for the sites closer to the dog access next time.
The main river pool gets busy, lots of kids, families etc. but in the early evening and morning it is pretty empty and was a great time to relax. The dog access river pool was a lot less crowded. You can also float from the dog access pool down river to the main pool site which was a lot of fun.
The property has great bathrooms with showers. They take quarters for the showers, $.25 for 2 minutes. They have a small store onsite for the last minute essentials. They have a air pump to fill up rafts to float in the river. They also have wood delivery to your site if you order by 7pm. Each site has a picnic table and small fire pit with a grate if you want to cook on that! They also have a larger communal areas with BBQ and sink for those wanted to have a group meal. Each campsite has water, electricity and full RV hookups. So lots of RV’s at this location.
Very dog friendly and kid friendly.
Staff was super helpful and always present. They made rounds emptying trash cans, cleaning the bathrooms and just monitoring the area so that’s is super well maintained. You can tell they really love the place and want to keep it clean. They also were super nice when enforcing the rules, not mean but were not afraid to remind people to follow the camp rules (which were super reasonable).
No cell service, which was great. But you can drive up the hill 10 minutes to park at the vista and get a signal.
All in all we had a great time and will be back!
GuideThis 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
GuideManzanita 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.
TravelerStayed 2 nights, August 17 and 18 in B22, Loop B. This is a smaller campground that contains 2 Loops, A & B. We could see a bit of the lake from our site through the trees. No hookups although drinking water is offered as well as restrooms. Campgrounds are well maintained with bear lockers and rv sites ample. Road into the park as well as rv sites can accommodate big rigs. Generator hours are a bit odd although the only time we needed it was briefly in the morning to fix meals. Clouds drifted in about 2:00 p.m. each day with some sprinkles for about 1/2 hour keeping temps cool. Wonderful stay! Definitely would come back - picked out our preferred site already!
GuideLocated with convenient access from Highway 89, the campgrounds and all sites can be easily accessed by any road vehicle. Several motorcycle campers were here during my visit. The sites I saw were all pull in/back in… no pull through. Highway 89 is a two-lane highway, well paved, and plowed in the winter.
A friendly camp host can set you up with a site recommendation and as much firewood as you'd like to buy (current price was $5 for about 10 pieces).
Each campsite has a picnic table, fire ring, and cooking fire enclosure (bricks covered by grate). They do not have bear lockers and the site suggests you store your food in your locked vehicle.
Sites varied in size and proximity to other campers. In mid-summer mid-week, there were less than 10 campers in the whole campground. Every week is different, but most people appeared to have reservations starting on Wednesday, so Monday-Tuesday are very light. There are first-come-first-serve sites, but the ones taking reservations seemed to book up for the weekend.
Sites near Highway 89 will hear road noise during the day and the occasional vehicle at night. Some of these are big logging trucks or diesels, so if you are a light sleeper or looking to get away from society, pick a site closer to the back. In the back, if there was the slightest breeze, I could only hear it blowing through the trees and no road noise. This was a big plus versus other sites in the area which tend to all be very close to the highway.
The campground has towering trees and most sites are very well shaded. This is a big plus versus nearby campgrounds that may have pull-through spaces but also sparse coverage.
This site is close to civilization. About 2-3 miles North the forest ends and there is a ranger station. Another 2 miles beyond that is the town of Sierraville. The small gas station/grocery store says fuel is available 24/7, advertises propane available, has diesel, and has a modest selection of food and supplies. Definitely enough to help round out your inventory. The town has two cafes but I did not visit and can't confirm if they are still open (one said "for lease" in the Google photo). And of course, about 10-12 miles to the south is Truckee, a very full service town with restaurants, bars, large grocery stores, etc.
For hiking, a very easy 1/2 mile round-trip botanical trail is located at the south end of the campground. It is level, following the creek. Various markers highlight botanical references, but no brochure was available, so download one before you go just in case. The trail goes out about 1/4 mile and then turns back to return on the other side of the creek. It is fully shaded.
An offshoot from the trail takes you up 3/4 miles to the top of a hill overlook - very much worth the exercise and the view. You aren't 'on top of the world', but you have a good view of the valley and some nice breezes. The hike is moderately strenuous but there are plenty of opportunities to stop and catch your breath. It is very well shaded.
If you are looking to burn off a few calories, a campground walk plus botanical trail plus lookout trail loop will get you to about 3 miles total including a good uphill portion to the lookout.
LegendGeneral: Four loops plus a cabin loop, however, after September 5 at noon, the only loops open are A, B, and cabins.
Site Quality: Some pull-throughs and some back-in. The back-in sites were, for the most part, better suited for tent camping as the camper pads were quite short and many were not level. We lucked out in that our camper pad was only slightly unlevel and we could make it work with our camper van. Some sites were close together with minimal separation while others had more trees separating them.
Bath/Shower house: There were several toilet options ranging from vault toilets to basic bathrooms with flush toilets, to larger restrooms with dishwashing sinks. Although there was a soap dispenser in the two closest to our site, there was no soap. The very cold water was oh-so refreshing on a cold September morning! The dishwashing sink in the A loop was locked but we did see campers using the one in the B Loop.
Activities/Amenities: There is a camper store with food, showers, gas, and laundry available. You can access both Manzanita and Reflection Lakes (1.5 and.5 miles respectively) from the campground. The Chaos Crags trailhead is approximately a half mile from the A Loop. There are kayak, cataraft, and SUP rentals available for Manzanita Lake but it was a bit chilly when we were there. There is zero cell service in the campground but it is noted there is a milepost where you can grab a signal. On our Chaos Crags hike, however, we got a strong signal on Verizon!
The campground was okay but worth it as a base camp for exploring the northwest part of the park. Happy this one has not been outsourced to a vendor and the price is still reasonable ($26 or$13 with the senior pass).
ScoutWe have been going here for years. The spaces are large, sunny and shaded with lovely trees and all within walking distance from the lake. Staff is friendly and helpful and the park is always clean. Love the fishing, swimming and hiking. Beautiful views of the mountains and lake any direction. Family and pet friendly at a reasonable cost.
GuideWe live about 35 minutes away in Reno. We decided to practice camping with our new travel trailer at this campground. We have never camped even in a tent. The sites are paved. They are all back in sites. There's good room between sites. I think there's good privacy even though you can see that there are other campers around. There are tables, fire pits, flush toilets, and bear boxes. There's a shallow stream and access to it for the campsites along one side of the campground. There's a camp host by the entrance. It's hard to see the entrance to this campground because the sign is not close to the street. If you get to Frenchman Lake about 10 minutes away, you've gone too far. We've never had any cell signal with ATT at this campground. It's a very easy drive from Reno. We go there all spring and summer for quick getaways.
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular RV campground near Meadow Valley, CA is Whitehorse Campground - Bucks Lake Recreation Area with a 3.8-star rating from 4 reviews.
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