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

Aspen Group (Inyo)

1Heads up1 fire 40 mi away
Wildfire
Wildfire Training fire · 40 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026
ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 7 opens May 7.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
30 ftLongest rig
8,330 ftElevation
202 ftWater · Rock Creek
2.8 miSE of Crowley Lake, CA
28%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices

In the agency’s own words

Aspen Group Campground is a secluded, creek side camp in Inyo National Forest between Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, California. The group camping area is primitive and provides spectacular scenery, as well as fishing, hiking, photography and wildlife viewing. The campground has plenty of wide-open spaces and group picnic areas, making it ideal for large parties and family functions. Keep reading

Recreation

Rock Creek and other waterways in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains are known for their exceptional trout fishing. A catch from the creek may include brook, brown, rainbow and stocked Alpers trout, while anglers may be treated to golden trout in the backcountry. Hikers can explore the area majestic scenery on trails that meander around high-elevation alpine lakes. Several non-wilderness trails that range from easy to challenging, are a draw for mountain bikers in and around Rock Creek Canyon.

Facilities

The group camping area can be reserved for up to 25 guests. It provides flush toilets and drinking water, as well as ample space for RVs and tents.

Natural Features

The campground sits in a stand of rustling aspen trees that shimmer golden in fall. Situated at an elevation of 8,100 feet, Aspen offers views of massive peaks to the west and surrounding steep canyons. The group site is adjacent to the clear, cold and cascading Rock Creek, which originates in the John Muir Wilderness and runs for 22 miles through the bottom of Rock Creek Canyon. The area is home to abundant wildlife, including black bear, mountain lions, mule deer, pine martin, marmot and many species of fish and birds.

Nearby Attractions

A commercial pack station is within close proximity for horse enthusiasts looking for an outdoor adventure. Several general stores, restaurants, and pay showers are available at nearby resorts.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Maximum of five trailers or RVs

Rule

This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations

Rule

Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in food storage lockers and remove all food from area after eating; always keep a clean camp and do not feed any wild animals

Everything else this campground posts · 4
Rule

Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.

Rule

Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.

Rule

Click here for more information about the Inyo National Forest

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 group
Hookups
None
Longest rig
30 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Flush Toilets
“…for up to 25 guests. It provides flush toilets and drinking water, as well as ample space for RVs…”
Drinking water
Yes
“…25 guests. It provides flush toilets and drinking water, as well as ample space for RVs and tents. Natural…”
Store
Nearby
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Creek
Night sky · 224th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Bortle 2
Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 28 km away
Patchy color
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (28 km) · Oct 3, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 7, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 7, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Max stay14 nights2-night minimum on weekendsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$95From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Fri, May 7 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$95
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$95
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 8, 2026 to Oct 10, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Group1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate37.52361, -118.71194
The phone760-935-4321
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Bishop, California, take Highway 395 northwest for 25 miles. Turn south at Tom's Place, and continue driving south for 4 miles onto Rock Creek Road, following signs to the campground.

The weather

the next four days

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon48°Sunny
Tonight34°Mostly Clear
Saturday50°Sunny
Saturday Night35°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Aspen Springs, CA

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Rock Creek West3,626 acres · 2 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Whisky Creek865 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Nevahbe Ridge302 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Who answers for this land

Kevin Kiley, official portrait

Aspen Group (Inyo) is in California’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Kevin Kiley (I), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

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’s own recreation database flags it not open and publishes no reason and no date. That’s a flag, not a notice: the number below is the only way to be sure.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (28 km) · Oct 3, 2026
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: Aspen Springs, CA, 0.9 mi SSW (a census designated place). Straight line.