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

Big Bend Group (Yuba River)

1Heads up1 fire 27 mi away
Wildfire
Old fire · 27 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 16, 2026
ReservableOut of season, no booking; December 19 opens June 19.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
OpenInside the published season, our reading
Sites
2All of them booked ahead
Season
– October 31Closes October 31. No opening date published.
22 ftLongest rig
5,740 ftElevation
67 ftWater · South Yuba River
11.7 miW of Truckee, CA
55%Tree cover
Closes October 31. No opening date published.Today

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices

In the agency’s own words

Big Bend Group Campground is located 19 miles west of Truckee, California in the Tahoe National Forest at an elevation of 5,700 feet. Visitors enjoy the area for its fishing and hiking opportunities, as well as its historic significance along the California Emigrant Trail. This campground is operated and maintained by Forest Service staff. Keep reading

Recreation

The South Yuba River offers swimming and rainbow trout fishing. The historic California Emigrant Trail and Loch Leven Trail are located nearby. The surrounding area offers many additional hiking, biking and off-road vehicle trails.

Facilities

The campground offers two accessible group sites, Lincoln and Victory, which can accommodate up to 25 people and five vehicles each. Picnic tables, grills and large campfire rings are provided, as well as vault toilets and drinking water.

Natural Features

The campground lies along the gentle South Yuba River; just behind and across the river from the Big Bend Fire Station. Stands of pine and fir covers the area, offering pleasant shade at the group sites. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.

Nearby Attractions

Donner Lake is located 15 miles east via historic Route 40/Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental highway. Many points of interest lie along Route 40, including China Wall, Rainbow Bridge, Sugar Bowl, Lake Van Norden and Ice Lakes.

Charges & Cancellations

No Show Policy A no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival). * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees. There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference. Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.

What the agency tells you

Rule

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. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the Yuba River Ranger District (530) 288-3231 (voice), (530) 288-3656 (TDD).

Rule

Click here for more information on the Tahoe National Forest

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.

Everything else this campground posts · 2
Rule

Flatten the Curve Maintaining social distance of 6ft or more when walking, hiking, jogging or biking. • Stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arms’ length) from other people. • Do not gather in groups. • Stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings. Remember to bring soap & hand sanitizer. • Clean your hands often.  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. • If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub your hands together until they feel dry. STAY HOME IF YOU’RE SICK. Wear a cloth face covering in public. Cover coughs and sneezes. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces.  Before traveling please check for local advisories: https://www.placer.ca.gov/ For more information on Corona Virus visit:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Rule

No Show Policy A no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival).  * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees.  There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference.  Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
2 · 2 group
Hookups
None
Longest rig
22 ft
Paved pads
All
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 2 of 2 campsite records
Drinking water
Yes
WATER SPIGOT on 2 of 2 campsite records

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, River
Biking
Birding
Climbing
Fishing
Gold Panning
Hiking
Historic site
Information Site
Mountain biking
Off Highway Vehicle Trails
Stargazing
Swimming
Water access
Night sky · 824th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Bortle 4
Fall color · reported 11 days ago, 33 km away
Patchy color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (33 km) · Oct 6, 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 December 19, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through June 19, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Sites, a night, from$95From the rate schedule matched to 2 of its 2 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 reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.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 Sat, Jun 19 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 2 of its 2 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, Jun 15, 2026 to Oct 15, 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

“Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility.” · this campground’s own no-show terms

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 · 6

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

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

2 sites · the site map

All 2 sites

2 of 2 sites located
Group2
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 2 of the 2 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. 2 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

AREA BIG BEND GROUP (YUBA RIVER)Lincolngroup standard nonelectric22 ft76 ft1,272 ft$95
BIG BEND GROUP (YUBA RIVER)Victorygroup standard nonelectric22 ft69 ft1,023 ft$95

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate39.30639, -120.51944
The phone530-478-6253
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Truckee, take I-80 19 miles west to the Rainbow Road Exit. Travel west about 1.5 miles to the Big Bend Ranger Station and Visitor Center. Turn right past the Visitor Center and cross bridge. The campground is on the right. Victory is the first campsite and Lincoln is the second one at the end.

From Nevada City, take Highway 20 east for about 26 miles. Travel east on I-80 for 4.5 miles. Take exit 166 for Big Bend, travel about a 1/4 mile on Hampshire Rocks Rd. Turn left before Fire Station and cross the bridge. The campground is on the right. Victory is the first campsite and Lincoln is the second one at the end.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today68°Sunny
Tonight42°Clear
Sunday64°Sunny
Sunday Night40°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Kingvale, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 48°F, day 63°F.

90°32°20°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season

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: BLUE CANYON AP, CA (USW00023225), 10 miles away and 464 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
Grouse Lakes19,085 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
North Fork American River38,495 acres · 6 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

Big Bend Group (Yuba River) 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: Today falls inside the season the agency publishes, and it has posted nothing else. That reading is ours.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (33 km) · Oct 6, 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: Kingvale, CA, 3.2 mi WSW (a census designated place). Straight line.