CALPINE LOOKOUT

Beautiful spot to escape the city. The roads in are not great. Good tires and ground clearance needed, as it's very rocky in some spots. Not recommended for motorhomes or RVs. Permit required for campfires. (can be aquirred through Cal Fires website) Secluded, clean bathrooms, good fire rings and tables, bear proof trash bins on site, and hose with non potable water at host site to extinguish c... Beautiful spot to escape the city. The roads in are not great. Good tires and ground clearance needed, as it's very rocky in some spots. Not recommended for motorhomes or RVs. Permit required for campfires. (can be aquirred through Cal Fires website) Secluded, clean bathrooms, good fire rings and tables, bear proof trash bins on site, and hose with non potable water at host site to extinguish campfires. Only $6 a night.

Camped there because of proximity to the crystal mine. There's a trail that goes from the camp to the mine. $6/night in June 2018. The sites have a tent pad, picnic bench and fire ring. Some are more private than others. Lots of dogs. 2 vault toilet locations, I think 4 total toilets. No host was present and they ran out of payment envelopes, so while we paid I have a feeling others didn't and too... Camped there because of proximity to the crystal mine. There's a trail that goes from the camp to the mine. $6/night in June 2018. The sites have a tent pad, picnic bench and fire ring. Some are more private than others. Lots of dogs. 2 vault toilet locations, I think 4 total toilets. No host was present and they ran out of payment envelopes, so while we paid I have a feeling others didn't and took chances. A couple campers were shady as heck, and a couple were rowdy until 2am (grrrrr). In their defense sound travels well unfortunately. The group area was neat but closed. I would think about coming back just for the cheap price compared to our area, but with proper permits it would be better to camp in the wilderness. This would be 5 stars if people would quiet down in respect for other campers.

great camping options for overlanders, impossible for any type of RV (unless they fix the road… even then, maybe not), & still only a possibility for car camping (depends on the vehicle). it may be worth your trouble if you plan to stay for a couple days. the road is pretty rough. there was no one in the campground (as far as we were told). but we didn’t make it that far with our loaded up van. w... great camping options for overlanders, impossible for any type of RV (unless they fix the road… even then, maybe not), & still only a possibility for car camping (depends on the vehicle). it may be worth your trouble if you plan to stay for a couple days. the road is pretty rough. there was no one in the campground (as far as we were told). but we didn’t make it that far with our loaded up van. we turned back around 3/4 of the 8mi route off the highway, stopped at a pull thru site overlooking the valley and overnighted there. we only saw 4 other vehicles, all SUVs who were either camping or coming down the mountain from some sort of day use. beautiful area, but needs serious road maintenance to make it more accessible.