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

Black Rock 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
Drawn from the record · 2,140 ft · 19% tree cover · Mill Creek within reach · Bortle 2 sky
2,140 ftElevation
86 ftWater · Mill Creek
16.6 miN of Forest Ranch, CA
19%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 362nd darkest of 1,201 in CA

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

Black Rock Campground is a dispersed campground situated in the Oak Woodlands along Mill Creek. 6 sites are available for primitive dispersed camping. Grills and tables are provided at each of the 6 sites. Black Rock Campground is open year round. Black Rock Campground is located on the Northeast corner of the Ishi Wilderness . Hiking in the Ishi and along Mill Creek is wonderful and the fishing in Deer and Mill Creeks can be very rewarding. Black Rock Campground is accessible via Highway 36 east from Red Bluff to Ponderosa Way . Ponderosa Way is a dirt road, not recommended for RVs, that leads to the Ishi Wilderness.

Around the campground

On the water
Creek
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first. 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 agency’s record
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 3

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s no total to show.
How we know this receipt · 4

rules read Sep 7, 2026 · record Aug 23, 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

Tonight57°Clear
Saturday83°Sunny
Saturday Night55°Mostly Clear
Sunday79°Sunny

NWS forecast for Butte Meadows, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 46°F, day 74°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 34°F. Bring the bag rated for it.

100°30°

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: DE SABLA, CA (USC00042402), 22 miles away and 570 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Ishi21,805 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Mill Creek7,587 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Polk Springs9,466 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

Black Rock 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: Butte Meadows, CA, 10.7 mi NW (a census designated place). Straight line.