National Park Service · Lassen Volcanic National Park · CA

Butte Lake Stock Corral

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 28 opens May 28.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
35 ftLongest rig
6,110 ftElevation
1,083 ftWater · Butte Lake
16.5 miNW of Chester, CA
49%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices

In the agency’s own words

Butte Lake Stock Corral (elevation 6,100 ft.) is located in the northeastern section of Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. It is fairly remote and within walking distance of Butte Lake, which is popular for fishing, canoeing, kayaking and swimming. Several trails are located nearby. The facility is 45 minutes from the main park road. Keep reading

Recreation

Outdoor enthusiasts stay at Butte Lake Stock Corral for its many recreation opportunities. The lake is popular for trout fishing, as well as non-motorized boating. Trailheads within the facility include the hike to Snag Lake, trails leading to the interior of the park, and the Cluster Lakes loop. Longer trails nearby will take you to Juniper Lake and Summit Lake. The Pacific Crest Trail can also be accessed from Butte Lake and runs through the park.

Facilities

The stock corral area has two adjacent metal corrals with water troughs and spigots. A vault toilet is located next to the facility for the use of those reserving the corral. This facility is remote and you must travel on a six-mile gravel road to access the facility.

Natural Features

The area is dominated by Ponderosa pines and surrounded by soft volcanic soils. Extending into Butte Lake is a large black lava flow, creating rocky shores and interesting views for visitors in kayaks and canoes to explore. Trails suitable for horses are easily accessed from the corral and numerous forest roads just outside the park boundary. The national park is known for its volcanic history, as well as its diversity of plants and animals. It contains 300 active volcanic domes and many hydrothermal features, such as mud pots and steam vents. Lassen Peak is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascades, and the second most recent volcano to erupt in the lower 48 of the United States before Mount Saint Helens. Lassen Volcanic National Park boasts over 700 species of flowering plants and 250 species of vertebrates, including birds, mammals, reptiles and fish. The park is at the junction of the Cascade Mountains, the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Great Basin, thus providing many unique habitats.

Nearby Attractions

The Caribou Wilderness area is managed by the Forest Service has numerous trails that are suitable for stock use and can be accessed directly from the park via the Widow Lake trail.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Persons reserving the stock corral and campsite must have accompanying horses or stock animals.

Rule

No motorized boats are permitted on the lake.

Rule

Pack animals allowed include horses, mules, burros, and llamas.

Everything else this campground posts · 3
Rule

A $30.00 entrance fee is required for all vehicles entering the park.

Rule

An entrance fee of $30 per vehicle is required and campers must have a valid entrance permit or pass before camping.

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 group, 1 equestrian
Hookups
None
Longest rig
35 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Not allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…with water troughs and spigots. A vault toilet is located next to the facility for the use of…”
Drinking water
Yes
“…metal corrals with water troughs and spigots. A vault toilet is located next to the facility for…”
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Around the campground

On the water
Lake
Boating
Fishing
Hiking
Swimming
Visitor center
Night sky · 86th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Bortle 2
Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 14 km away
Peak color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (14 km) · Oct 4, 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 28, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 28, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Max stay14 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$37From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. National Park 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 itNational Park 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 28 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 priceNational Park Service
Sites, a night, from$37
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. National Park 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$37
These are next season’s rates, May 28, 2027 to Aug 30, 2027. The campground is between seasons now.
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
SleepsUp 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
Coordinate40.56500, -121.30528
The phone530-595-6121
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Redding, California, drive 63 miles east on state Highway 44 to Old Station. From the intersection of Highway 44 and State Highway 89 , continue east on Highway 44 for 11 miles. Watch for sign to Butte Lake Campground. Turn right and continue for six miles on a rough gravel road. The stock corral road is located directly left of the Butte Lake self-registration entrance station. Turn left up the hill and take the immediate road to the right. Continue up the hill to the campsite and the corrals.

The weather

the next four days

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Overnight41°Mostly Clear
Saturday66°Sunny
Saturday Night36°Mostly Clear
Sunday62°Sunny

NWS forecast for Old Station, CA

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Prospect4,078 acres · 4 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Trail Lake1,124 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Who answers for this land

Butte Lake Stock Corral 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: National Park 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: the number below is the only way to be sure.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (14 km) · Oct 4, 2026
Cell signal: the Park 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: Old Station, CA, 8.6 mi SE (a census designated place). Straight line.