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

Big Trees Campground

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 35 mi
Wildfire
Wildfire Training fire · 35 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026
Wildfire
Land fire · 47 mi away · 20 acres · updated Oct 11, 2026
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
Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
A night
$34From, per site
Drawn from the record · 7,430 ft · 0% tree cover · Middle Fork Bishop Creek within reach · Bortle 2 sky
7,430 ftElevation
292 ftWater · Middle Fork Bishop Creek
5.9 miSW of West Bishop, CA
0%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 258th darkest of 1,201 in CA

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

Named for the very large Jeffery pines that grace the site, Big Trees Campground is located along the banks of Bishop Creek and affords nice camping and fishing opportunities. Some sites in shade and some in open sunlight. Bear proof food storage containers available in the campground. 16 campsites.

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

Facilities

Bear boxes
Yes
Source: Stated in the agency description

Around the campground

On the water
Creek
Fall color · reported 14 days ago, 7.6 km away
Peak color
Source: Stated in the agency description
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (7.6 km) · Oct 2, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and a night costs $34 with nothing added. 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 night$34Per site, fromthe agency’s fee record
A weekend$68DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 5

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night, from$34
Night$34
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
One night, fromDerived$34
A weekend, Friday and Saturday, fromDerived$68

Derived by CAMPANAC: the lowest per-night amount the agency’s fee record states ($34), 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

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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

Today61°Sunny
Tonight43°Mostly Clear
Saturday62°Sunny
Saturday Night41°Clear

NWS forecast for West Bishop, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 37°F, day 58°F.

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

80°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: HUNTINGTON LAKE, CA (USC00044176), 35 miles away and 410 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
North Lake2,406 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Table Mtn.4,215 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Coyote North11,932 acres · 3 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 Trees Campground 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.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (7.6 km) · Oct 2, 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.