Black Oak
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 25 mi
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- Sites
- 4All of them booked ahead
- Season
- June 1 – September 30Open June 1 through September 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Black Oak Campground is group camping destination near Stumpy Meadows Lake on the Eldorado National Forest. The forest boasts over 400 miles of hiking trails and an abundance of lakes and rivers for fishing and swimming. Keep reading
Recreation
Stumpy Meadows Lake, with its clear waters and 5-mph speed limit, offers plenty of swimming, kayaking and canoeing opportunities. The lake is regularly stocked with rainbow trout from May to August. Campers also enjoy birding and picnicking.
Facilities
The group campground offers one RV site and three tent-only sites. The RV site accommodates up to 75 people, while the tent sites accommodate groups of 25 or 50. Each site is equipped with picnic and serving tables, grills and a campfire circle. Vault toilets are provided. A dump station is located on-site.
Natural Features
Black Oak sits at an elevation of 4,400 feet, within walking distance of the lake in the foothills of the rugged Sierra Nevada Range in California. In the Eldorado National Forest, the climate is similar to that of the Mediterranean, with warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters.
Nearby Attractions
The El Dorado County Scenic Byway offers miles of scenic driving.
Charges & Cancellations
Recreation Fee: Recreation fees are the fees a visitor pays for things like overnight camping, a day-use pavilion, group facilities, a tour or a permit. Recreation fees vary by location and/or activity. Reservation Fee: A fee may be charged at the time a reservation is made to cover the cost of reservation services. This fee is in addition to the Recreation Fee and is non-refundable. Fees for camping, day use, group sites, cabins and lookouts: $8 if made on-line; $9 if made through the call center; $3 if made in-person. Change Fee: A service fee may be charged at the time a modification is made depending on the changes. Cancellation Fee: Customers who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee.. Cut-Off Window: The latest date and/or time that you can make an advanced reservation or a change to an existing reservation. Cut-off windows can vary by location, but are typically 14 days before your arrival date. Late Cancellation: If you cancel your reservation too close to the start date, additional service fees may be withheld.
What the agency tells you
Bears frequent the area. Keep all foods, soaps, and garbage properly stored.
No electric hookups available
Keep family pets on a leash at all times.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Forest Order No. 19-15-01: Prohibits camping for a combined total of no more than 14 days during a calendar year (January-December), forest-wide. Visitors may book campsites annually but the maximum stay may not exceed a total of 14 days each calendar year (January-December)
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. Call (530) 644-6048 for local information and conditions.
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).
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.
Click here for more information on the Eldorado National Forest
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 4 · 3 tent-only, 4 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…tables, grills and a campfire circle. Vault toilets are provided. A dump station is located on-site.…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Meadow
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 865th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 29 km away
- Near peak
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.
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.
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 make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
“Fees for camping, day use, group sites, cabins and lookouts: $8 if made on-line $9 if made through the call center” · this campground’s own 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
The sites
4 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 4 mapped sitesAll 4 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 4 of the 4 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| BLAC | 1 | group tent only area nonelectric | 462 ft | 1,175 ft | $105–$135 | |
| GRP2 | 2 | group rv area nonelectric | 40 ft | 355 ft | 1,366 ft | $145 |
| GRP3 | 3 | group tent only area nonelectric | 285 ft | 1,028 ft | $105–$135 | |
| GRP4 | 4 | group tent only area nonelectric | 285 ft | 1,241 ft | $105–$135 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Stumpy MeadowsEldorado National Forest · 0.2 miPonderosa Cove Group CampgroundEldorado National Forest · 0.8 mi
Ponderosa Cove Campground2.2 mi
West Point CampgroundEldorado National Forest · 8.2 miCamino Cove CampgroundEldorado National Forest · 8.8 mi
Dru Barner CampgroundEldorado National Forest · 9.9 miFrom Georgetown, head northeast on Main Street/Wentworth Springs Roadd toward Orleans Street. Continue to follow Wentworth Springs Road for 17 miles and cross the dam at Stumpy Meadows Lake. Continue 1 mile to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Pollock Pines, CA
Typical weather
Typical June night 54°F, day 70°F.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Black Oak 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 →