Merrill Campground

LOVE this campground! HUGE spaces. Handicap spaces available. Book 6 months out.. Family friendly. Dog friendly (must be leashed), kid friendly. Hiking, and biking trails take you off-site. The restrooms are cleaned several times a day. Faucet water is spring fed from the lake. Lake is clean - once you get away from the shoreline! Fishing is ok. lots of golden mantles running around. (They look l... LOVE this campground! HUGE spaces. Handicap spaces available. Book 6 months out.. Family friendly. Dog friendly (must be leashed), kid friendly. Hiking, and biking trails take you off-site. The restrooms are cleaned several times a day. Faucet water is spring fed from the lake. Lake is clean - once you get away from the shoreline! Fishing is ok. lots of golden mantles running around. (They look like chipmunks.) A few pull-through sites, several tent sites, and RV sites accommodating 45' RVs. Full hookup and partial hookups sites, as well as dry camping sites available. There are also a few first-come, first-served sites, if you want to gamble without a reservation. The marina is about a mile away. Drive over on Eagke Lake Road, or take one of the hiking trails on your bike to get there. Pay showers and washers and dryers are available there. There's a small store at the marina. The store sells Eagle Lake merch, some fishing supplies, and limited groceries. You can also purchase your fishing license. Camp hosts are top-notch, very friendly, and accommodating. Wood bundles are available for purchase from the camp hosts for $10.00 (in 2025). Quiet time is 10pm to 7am. You'll see park rangers, fire, and sheriff cruising through the campground on any given day. We feel safe there. PS: Quick heads up - Amazon and Post Office no longer deliver to the campground...

A few years ago, we were told to evacuate from our prior campground at Warner Valley in Lassen National Park due to the approaching Dixie fire. We escaped in the early evening before the whole town of Chester was next evacuated (a good thing). We then went directly (4 days early) to our next campground which was Merrill Campground. The many fires in California caused cancellations of many sites... A few years ago, we were told to evacuate from our prior campground at Warner Valley in Lassen National Park due to the approaching Dixie fire. We escaped in the early evening before the whole town of Chester was next evacuated (a good thing). We then went directly (4 days early) to our next campground which was Merrill Campground. The many fires in California caused cancellations of many sites in this campground because campers could not get here from most directions. This was a wonderful campground (with full hookups) but sadly the one day we wanted to use the air conditioning it was found to have gone out. If the area wasn't so remote we would love to camp here for a couple of weeks every year. It is the best federal campground I have ever had the privilege of enjoying. As you enter the campground, the left half is first-come first-serve. The right side is reservable and grouped by utility availability. The sites closest to the lake had no hookups. The sites furthest from the lake had full hookups (and so forth). I took pictures of all the reservable sites and am posting them below so you can see what the shade is like around noon at each site. Don't forget bicycles if you have them because there is a great paved bike trail along the lake going thru this campground. I hope the attached photos help you decide which of the great campsites should be reserved and will please you the most. Some are well shaded, and others might be loved by those who want to use solar panels instead of the electrical power sites that are farthest from the lake.