U.S. Forest Service · Modoc National Forest · CA

Ash Creek Campground

First come, first servedNo reservation, and none to be had: the sites go to whoever pulls in first.

This is how it should work.

Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
A night
FreeNo camping fee
Drawn from the record · 4,890 ft · 37% tree cover · Ash Creek within reach · Bortle 2 sky
4,890 ftElevation
519 ftWater · Ash Creek
25.4 miSW of Alturas, CA
37%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 27th darkest of 1,201 in CA

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

The low elevation for the Ash Creek Campground allows it to open earlier in the season than others at higher elevations. Fishing is always good at Ash Creek as it is stocked by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. There are lots of good spots for fly fishing within walking distance of the campground. Please do not create resource damage by driving on soft roads or saturated soil. Remember the weather can change quickly and you do not want to be unprepared for extreme conditions. There is a boil water advisory. Located just past Ash Creek Campground is the Red Tail Rim Trail south trailhead. This trail is open to equestrian, mountain biking and foot travel. The trail is around 22 miles in length and its north trailhead is along highway 299 north of Canby.

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Creek
Source: Stated in the agency description

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and it costs nothing at all. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.

recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.

BookingNo reservationsNothing to book, and no release date to wait forthe record
A nightFreeNo camping feethe agency’s fee record
A weekendNothingDerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 4

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Camping feeFree
No fee
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
A night, and a whole weekendDerivedNothing

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s own record says there’s no camping fee, and no booking fee, because this campground takes no reservations. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

How we know this receipt · 5
Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Overnight48°Mostly Clear
Saturday72°Sunny
Saturday Night46°Mostly Clear
Sunday70°Sunny

NWS forecast for Adin, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 35°F, day 69°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 23°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

100°32°10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: ADIN RS, CA (USC00040029), 7 miles away and 695 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Knox Mtn.5,975 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Ash Creek Campground is in California’s 1st congressional district. Whoever holds it votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. See how its representative votes on public lands →

Our roster still carries Doug LaMalfa for this district and the current federal record doesn’t list them as sitting, so we’re not naming a representative here until the two agree.

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Adin, CA, 5.5 mi ESE (a census designated place). Straight line.