A
Adriana 
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TravelerNorth Canyon Campground — Spooner Lake State Park
This area is walk in only
Ranger explained you can't drive your vehicle to the campground
Camping near Washington, CA
423 campgrounds · Check availability for any dates.
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SUMMARY PRESENTED BY
Washington, California sits in the Sierra Nevada foothills with several campgrounds offering diverse experiences along the Yuba River and surrounding forest areas. River Rest Resort provides full hookups for RVs and tent camping with amenities including electric, sewer, and water connections. White Cloud Campground in the Tahoe National Forest offers a more rustic experience with tent and RV sites but without hookups, operating seasonally from June to September. The region includes both established campgrounds and opportunities for more remote camping experiences, with most sites featuring fire rings, picnic tables, and vault toilets.
Road conditions vary significantly throughout the area, with some campgrounds requiring travel on rough forest roads. Many sites in the Tahoe National Forest are only accessible during summer and early fall due to snow conditions at higher elevations. "This gem of a campground gives you quick access to a variety of activities. A quick 15 minute drive takes you to Nevada City/Grass Valley and wine tasting. And a quick jaunt up the road to Washington, CA gives you the Yuba River and excellent float sites," noted one visitor about White Cloud Campground. Bear activity is common throughout the region, and proper food storage is essential, with many campgrounds providing bear-proof storage lockers.
Campers report high satisfaction with sites near the Yuba River, which offers swimming holes and gold panning opportunities. Camping near Washington provides easy access to Giant Gap Campground with its proximity to Sugar Pine Reservoir and scenic hiking trails circling the water. A review mentioned, "We hiked around the entire reservoir and it was gorgeous. It does feel like quite a good distance from the highways and also no stores that we found within a half hour drive, so we felt pretty disconnected (in a good way)." The Inn Town Campground, located just a mile from downtown Nevada City, offers a more accessible option with amenities including showers and drinking water. During summer weekends, campgrounds throughout the region fill quickly, especially those with water access, making advance reservations advisable for peak season visits.
Best Campgrounds near Washington (423)
1. White Cloud
"This gem of a campground gives you wuick access to a variety of activities. A quick 15 minute drive takes you to Nevada City/Grass Valley and wine tasting."
"The individual sites are distanced enough so it still feels private, bathrooms and water was available. Hiked the pioneer trail and then went swimming in the lake nearby."
from $24 - $48 / night
Check Availability2. Inn Town Campground
"Just know that here on The Dyrt, the location on the map for some reason shows it as being many miles away from Kidder Ct: it’s marked as if it is at Higgins Corner, halfway to Auburn?"
"Super clean and friendly Not congested and close to many hiking trails Easy drive and close to Nevada City.
Especially nice during Christmas Season. Feels like walking back in time."
3. River Rest Resort
"We stayed at campsite 24, which is right on the river and next to the main river pool access."
"We had the park behind us, and we were right in between the 2 beach access. Kids would get on the top access and tube down to the 2nd one."
4. Lodgepole Campground
"Great place to stay. 1 hours drive from Reno. Lake with in 5 minutes of the campground. Spots for RVs, travel trailers and/or just tent camping."
"The campsite was close to other campers, but not right on top of them. The location is ideal. Bathrooms were the least favorite part, only one bathroom (with 4 stalls?)"
from $32 / night
Check Availability5. Giant Gap
"The site was spacious and a short walk to the reservoir and trail. We hiked around the entire reservoir and it was gorgeous."
"The campsites are all very nice but 23 and 24 can’t be beat with the best access to the water ( you will have a lot of people walking by to get there also though)."
from $24 - $48 / night
Check Availability6. Bowman Campground
"This lake and surrounding are beautiful. The drive in takes a long time over really rocky terrain. I traveled around 10 mph on the way in and out. At least three camps close to the water."
"Awesome spot to camp, fish, off road, launch a kayak or paddle board"
7. Grouse Ridge Campground
"There were a lot of people parked around to backpack and camp along the trails bin the area. It took 30 minutes to drive the 5 unpaved miles of grouse ridge road. No issues in my ‘83 2WD Westy"
8. Tahoe National Forest Onion Valley Campground
"Some friends of ours love North Fork Campground just off I-80 at Emigrant Gap, so we were going to try it on the way back from the California coast to Reno. "
"Vault toilet near the entrance was in surprisingly good condition. The dump spot by the front was obviously not bear/raccoon proof enough and I assumed rangers hadn’t been through in a while."
9. Lake Spaulding Campground
"Quiet beautiful location"
"We stayed here for a night before backpacking to Eagle Lakes, and it was a nice little wooded campground. Very quiet, spacious sites. Hiking along the lake is gorgeous. "
10. Rucker Lake Campground
"Got here on a Friday late afternoon and found a walk in spot close to the lake. Nice, quiet campground."
"Definitely a gorgeous view all the way around! Lake was very warm and had a epic rope swing if you can find it."
Drive Time
- 1 hr 10 min from Yuba City, CA
- 1 hr 16 min from Reno, NV
- 1 hr 47 min from Carson City, NV
Recent Camping Photos near Washington, CA
454 Photos of 423 Washington Campgrounds
Christina L.
River Rest Resort
Jordan L.
White Cloud
Kelley A.
Bright Bear Camp in Tahoe NF
jim N.
Lake Spaulding Campground
Caroline B.
Tahoe National Forest Onion Valley Campground
Linda L.
Grouse Ridge Campground
Lucia S.
Grouse Ridge Campground
Grant M.
Lodgepole Campground
Autumn L.
Bowman Lake Dispersed
Jesse H.
Bowman Campground
Davidson L. H.
Indian Springs
The Dyrt
Dutch Flat RV Resort
Recent Reviews near Washington, CA
1171 Reviews of 423 Washington Campgrounds
Douglas S.
RangerSly Guard Cabin
Typical of the campground you find in downtown Valdez Alaska
I invite you to take a look at the pictures. This is a simple gravel parking lot with hookups. There's nothing special about this location.
Michele Z.
GuideUnion Valley Reservoir Dispersed Camping
Pretty but not private
There’s only a couple of spots to pull off the road, the boat ramp clearly states no camping. I found a spot but every few hours all night long a truck with flashing lights on the roof drove by. Kinda weird
- GGreg U.Traveler
Reno KOA at Boomtown Casino
Solid spot, quiet overnight
Campground was nice and quiet despite being adjacent to a casino. Showers lock up at seven except for two to cover the entire large campground. Laundry shuts down at six and opens in the morning at eight. Location was fantastic.
- VVanessa H.Traveler
Lake valley road dispersed camping
Per CAL FIRE not legal.
This appears to be another roadside pullout in the Demonstration Forest area rather than a legal overnight campsite. Based on on-site clarification from CAL FIRE at a nearby listing, overnight camping is not permitted in this Demonstration Forest area. Only the campground run by PG&E is legal.
- VVanessa H.Traveler
Lake Valley Rd Pullout
--- Not a legal campsite: confirmed by CAL FIRE ---
--- Not a legal campsite: confirmed by CAL FIRE ---
I originally stopped here with an in-progress cargo trailer conversion because this looked like an excellent roadside pullout: large, easy to access, relatively level, and long enough to maneuver a truck and trailer without drama. As a short stop, turnaround, or day-use staging spot, it is genuinely useful. However, this should not be listed or treated as an overnight campsite. While I was on-site, I was contacted by Officer Steve Garcia with CAL FIRE, who advised me that overnight camping is not permitted at this location. I had interpreted the posted seasonal“no parking” signage as suggesting that public use might be allowed outside the snow-removal season, but he clarified that the signage relates to snow removal and does not authorize overnight camping in the Demonstration Forest area. For practical details: the pullout itself is easy to enter and exit, with enough room for a modest trailer rig to get fully out of traffic and turn around. Road noise drops off substantially overnight, though traffic begins again in the morning. The area may be useful for a brief rest stop, equipment check, turnaround, or day-use pause. But as a camping location, the important information is simple: Do not plan to camp here overnight. I’m updating this review so others don’t make the same assumption I did. This is a good pullout, but it is not a legal overnight campsite.
Rob H.GuideKyburz Flats
Dispersed Camping
If you are looking for Free Dispersed camping then this is the place. No hookups but there is a toilet at the entrance (about 1 mile from the highway). The first mile was gravel. Turning towards the Sheep Camp the road gets a lot rougher and narrow. I have a smaller RV with 9-10” ground clearance and we were jumping around a bit and taking a lot of trees down the side of the RV. We set up at the end of the road past the Sheep Camp and got Absolutly Overrun with an actual Sheep Herd along with their protectors (3-4 dogs who just barked as us and visited several times in the middle of the night just to remind us not to mess with their sheep). We moved closer to the bathrooms away from the sheep. We were able to get good sky views and solid Starlink connection. This was 4th of July and there was no one there the first day and only two other sites the next. Very quiet. Near the bathrooms there is a dozen sites but I think there are way more if you don’t turn at the bathroom and continue down the road you can camp more in the meadows.
- HHope H.Guide
Indian Valley
Quiet and Off the Highway
Indian Valley. Site 5. I love this campground and this area of California. It is not directly situated on the Hwy, and abuts the Yuba River, which is clear and gorgeous and draws a lot of birds and wildlife. A small, quiet family campground with an excellent local host couple. Vault toilets are kept clean. Site 5 has a large open space to the right and a beautiful view to the scenery beyond the river. The vault toilet was close, and now and then I could smell an odor, but it was not constant, nor terrible.
- EEmma B.Traveler
Alpine Meadow Campground
Nice place
This was a nice place to stay in Truckee for the night.
I was able to get enough Starlink signal to surf web, I didn’t trust it for work video calls with lots of trees in the actual campsites. There’s a couple of places a 2-5 minute drive away where you can have open sky and post up for the day if you need to work.
Guide to Washington
Camping spots near Washington, California range from 2,000 to 4,000 feet elevation in the Tahoe National Forest. The region experiences seasonal extremes with summer temperatures reaching 90°F during day and dropping to 30°F at higher elevations during spring and fall nights. Forest roads accessing many campgrounds close completely during winter months, with most sites operational only from May through October.
What to do
Hiking around lakes: Sugar Pine Reservoir offers a 5-mile loop trail circling the water at Giant Gap Campground. "We hiked around the entire reservoir and it was gorgeous," notes one visitor. The trail provides relatively flat terrain suitable for most fitness levels.
Mountain biking: Access to Pioneer Trail makes White Cloud Campground popular with cyclists. "Pioneer trail is amazing for mountain biking and hiking," reports camper Deb P. The trail system connects to extensive networks throughout Nevada County with terrain suitable for beginners and advanced riders.
Float trips: The Yuba River offers tubing opportunities during summer months. At River Rest Resort, one visitor explains, "Kids would get on the top access and tube down to the 2nd one." Water levels fluctuate seasonally, with late summer typically providing the calmest conditions for floating.
What campers like
Privacy between sites: Many campgrounds offer good separation between campsites. At Inn Town Campground, "The campsites are well maintained, there is water nearby all sites and they drive thru the campground once a day to pick up trash in case you don't want to haul it to the dumpster," notes Nicole G.
Kitchen facilities: Some campgrounds provide cooking amenities beyond standard fire pits. Inn Town Campground offers "a fully stocked kitchen so you can camp without having to bring supplies," according to Amanda M., making meal preparation easier for families or groups.
Seasonal wildflowers: Open meadows provide colorful displays during spring and early summer. At Tahoe National Forest Onion Valley Campground, Caroline B. observed "open fields of wild flowers. Those open spaces allow for some great star gazing night."
What you should know
Road conditions: Many campgrounds require driving on rough forest roads. For Bowman Campground, Christopher L. warns, "MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN OFF ROAD VEHICLE. Great campsite but hard to get to. Not bad if you have a 4x4 that's lifted with some all terrain tires."
Highway noise: Some campgrounds experience traffic sounds despite forest settings. White Cloud Campground sits close to Highway 20, with Rory R. noting it has "Awesome spots to camp, it's just insanely close to the 20 so you'll hear non-stop traffic."
Wildlife considerations: Bear activity remains common throughout the region. Christopher L. reminds visitors to "Make sure you bring bear spray! Pack your trash too." Most established campgrounds provide bear-proof storage lockers, but proper food storage protocols remain essential.
Tips for camping with families
Swimming access: River Rest Resort offers designated swimming areas with varying policies. "At the other end of the site is a river access that's smaller and allows dogs (the main one does not)," explains Christina L., making it important to check specific rules for each water access point.
Campground amenities: Some sites offer additional facilities for children. Inn Town Campground includes "a pool, outdoor movie area, and a lot of historic gold-rush elements," according to one reviewer, providing entertainment options beyond hiking and swimming.
Off-peak timing: Weekday visits offer quieter experiences. "Lots of folks showed up after dark and were quiet and respectful," notes Allison M. about White Cloud Campground, though weekends typically see full occupancy at most sites from June through August.
Tips from RVers
Site selection: For optimal river views, Christina L. recommends: "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."
Hookup availability: Lake Spaulding Campground provides limited RV facilities. "Trailers and RV are mostly kept to the boat launch," notes John and Trish N., indicating that larger vehicles have dedicated areas rather than being distributed throughout the campground.
Road access warnings: When driving to Giant Gap Campground, Stephanie C. cautions: "Be warned though, Google maps will suggest driving up Iowa Hill. DO NOT. Follow the directions of the campground, that road is not for the faint of heart. And NOT for RVs or trailers."
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the best campgrounds in Washington, California?
Where are the best campgrounds in Washington, California?
Washington, California offers excellent camping options in the Sierra Nevada foothills. White Cloud is a gem providing quick access to the Yuba River with excellent float sites, plus it's just a 15-minute drive from Nevada City/Grass Valley. Another fantastic option is River Rest Resort near Washington, featuring drive-in access with reservable sites, water, and toilet facilities. The area's proximity to the Yuba River makes it perfect for water activities during summer months. These campgrounds offer a true escape into nature while still providing reasonable access to nearby towns for supplies or day trips.
What amenities are available at Washington, California campgrounds?
What amenities are available at Washington, California campgrounds?
Campgrounds near Washington, California typically offer essential amenities for a comfortable outdoor experience. American River Resort provides fire pits and picnic tables at all sites, clean bathrooms with private showers, and is conveniently located close to the river with just a half-mile walk to town for shopping and dining. At Tahoe National Forest Wild Plum Campground, you'll find large campsites nestled in pine forests offering plenty of privacy. Many campgrounds in the area feature standard amenities including vault toilets, picnic tables, and fire rings, though water availability varies by location. Some sites also provide access to creek or river swimming.
When is the best time of year to camp in Washington, California?
When is the best time of year to camp in Washington, California?
The best time to camp in Washington, California is late spring through early fall (May through September). Summer offers warm days perfect for enjoying the Yuba River, with Gold Lake 4x4 Campground providing excellent access to fishing and hiking trails that showcase the Sierra Buttes. However, be prepared for typical California dryness during summer months, as noted at Beals Point Campground where the landscape becomes quite dry by mid-summer. Spring brings beautiful wildflowers but cooler temperatures, while fall offers comfortable camping weather with fewer crowds. Winter camping is generally not recommended due to snow and cold temperatures at higher elevations.
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