Best Glamping near Modoc National Forest

Off season visit, September 12. I rolled in five minutes after 5pm, so the entrance staff had left, and the cafe closed. Bummer. But as I struggled to figure out where to look for a campsite on the park map, I found the hiker/biker site, and got excited about a potentially cheap night.

It was empty when I arrived and set up camp. Two picnic tables, one fire ring, a couple of bear boxes that seemed a little flimsy, and one had noticeable gaps between the wooden boards. That one was empty, but the other one had random bits of helpful things for Pacific Crest Trail hikers who stop through, since the PCT runs past this park.

I headed to the shower, and almost forgot to bring quarters in the event that it cost something, which it did. 50 cents for 2 minutes, and a quarter for every minute thereafter. I was just glad I had quarters to use, since the cafe was closed.

Walked back to my site, dropped stuff off. Headed out to see the falls that are the focal point of the park. And they are pretty impressive. Not hugely tall, but wide, with interesting fractal patterns of falls. Apparently due to three very different layers of rock being eroded away at different rates. There are a number of hikes around the falls.

When I got back to my site, there was a PCT through hiker there. It was interesting to talk to him about his experiences. He was heading north to south, and had started late, missing all the snow in the north. Now he just had to get south fast enough to avoid snow in the Sierras in October and November.

That night, the trucks on the adjacent highway were ridiculously loud. I think there was a particularly loud period from midnight to 1am, and then they started back up again around 5:30am. I think the sites on the other side of the campground would be ok, but anything on the highway side probably got a decent amount of noise. Probably the worst part of the campground, and more annoying than the trains I experienced at two other camps on this trip.

The next morning I was up hoping to get a good breakfast sandwich at the cafe, but they only had standard convenience store food, which mean frozen breakfast burritos to microwave. It was ok, but I didn't feel so bad about missing dinner there the night before. I also stocked up on snacks, knowing I was camping in the middle of a National Forest next, and there would be no food whatsoever. Jerky, Milky Way, Fritos and Cheetos. Probably some other stuff. Then I went out to talk to the PCT hiker, who had gotten not just his restock package, but also a care package from a friend. And he ended up with so much food we both started laughing. He had offered some to me as he started unpacking, and I was hesitant to accept, but thought he could probably spare a few things. But by the end of the unpacking, it was clear plenty of it wasn't going to fit in his bag, so I ended up with a few different bars, and granolas, and the like. Pretty sweet. Another PCT hiker came up as we were wrapping up, and I think he probably got even more.

This campground is not far from the highway, on a nicely maintained gravel road. Some private homes not too far from the grounds. There were about 10 sites here, each had fire pit. You should be careful to read about fire restrictions in the area, just in case. At the time we were there, you could have fires in designated areas, but please make sure they’re out cold when you’re done! The front part of the camp ground has drive in sites and across the bridge, over the creek, there were a handful more walk up sites that were nicely shaded and removed. Those back sites had these sort of ovens as opposed to traditional fire pits. The pit toilets were decently clean, but quite dark inside. There are water spigots, but no water comes out - we later saw a sign posted saying that the water system was shut off. There’s little to no Verizon service. Overall, it was a nice quiet, shady place to stay!

This well-maintained campground is within the national monument and steps from the visitors center. We were there offseason (October), so there were only 3 other campsites taken. SItes A6 and A7 definitely have the best views. There are no hookups for RVs, but there is a water spigot at most sites, along with picnic tables and fire pits. The bathroom was super clean. The $10 camping fee is half priced if you have an annual national park pass. Staying at this campground makes it easy and possible to stay late exploring the lava tubes and getting right back to it in the morning. There’s also a hiking path that leaves right from the campground that takes you to more caves to explore (Three Sisters).

These are the ancestral lands of the Modoc people who were forcibly removed by settlers. The museum and park has excellent education and information about the horrific battle between the Modoc people and the white settlers.

Where camped here just after they opened in April, 2021.  The daytime visitors made for a large crowded parking lot and line at the entrance station, but so far on 8 campers in the 64 sites that were open.

It is a wonderfully shaded park (i.e. no solar) and the sites are nicely separated.  However it is an older park and our 18 foot trailer was too large for many of the sites.  There were no pull throughs and any trailer over 25 feet is going to have a problem.  Otherwise, for the most part the pads were paved and flat.

They had solid picnic tables, aging stone fireplaces, but nice, newer heavy metal fire rings.  Wood was available for purchase.  There is no electric on site and the water faucets (not threaded) were scattered around the site.  No dish water dump or cleaning station, but there was an RV dump station.  They flush toilets with hot and cold water sinks as well as the showers (2 tokens for $1 = 4min) are excellent.

This is a cell dead zone.  Absolutely no Verizon service until you drove back to Burney.

We really enjoyed the different hikes that were available, being around 2 miles more or less in length.  The falls are the usual tourist zoo, but very beautiful.  Once you get out on the trails, you don't see many people.