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

Butte Meadows Campground

1Heads up1 fire 48 mi away
Wildfire
River fire · 48 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 16, 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
OpenInside the published season, our reading; a database flag says not open
Season
– October 31Closes October 31. No opening date published.
Drawn from the record · 4,310 ft · 55% tree cover · Butte Creek within reach · Bortle 3 sky
4,310 ftElevation
117 ftWater · Butte Creek
10.3 miNE of Forest Ranch, CA
55%Tree cover
Bortle 3Night sky · 375th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Closes October 31. No opening date published.Today

The place

the agency’s own description

In the agency’s own words

Developed campground with 13 designated sites. Maximum of 8 people per site. Grills and tables provided.

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

This Afternoon77°Sunny
Tonight47°Clear
Saturday72°Sunny
Saturday Night46°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Butte Meadows, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 33°F, day 66°F.

Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.

100°32°10°

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: CHESTER, CA (USC00041700), 23 miles away and 220 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
Polk Springs9,466 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Cub Creek8,643 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 Meadows 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: Today falls inside the season the agency publishes, and it has posted nothing else. That reading is ours. The U.S. Forest Service’s own database, though, flags it not open with no reason or date; the flag is named under How we know all this.
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: inside Butte Meadows, CA (a census designated place). Straight line.