Buttercup Group Camp
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 15 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Buttercup Group Camp is an outdoor oasis nestled in Southern California's pine-covered mountains. Big Bear Lake is nearby, a popular destination for a variety of recreational activities. The campground offers a great escape from city life and it is one of the best locales for group camping. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing and boating at Big Bear Lake are popular activities. Anglers can look forward to trout, bluegill, crappie, catfish and largemouth bass, among other species. Because of the very cold water and the presence of underwater obstacles near the shoreline, swimming at the lake is sometimes discouraged. Visitors also enjoy the area's plentiful hiking, mountain biking and climbing opportunities. The campground provides access to a number of trails and points of exploration.
Facilities
The group campground offers one large, accessible site that can accommodate up to 40 people and eight vehicles for tent or RV camping. The site is equipped with tables, grills and a campfire circle. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
The group campground is situated at an elevation of about 7,000 feet and is heavily forested with pine trees. The site is relatively shady and secluded. It is about two miles from Big Bear Lake and is accessed by a dirt road.
Nearby Attractions
A general store and restaurants can be found in the city of Big Bear Lake.
What the agency tells you
Click here for more information on the San Bernardino National Forest
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.
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.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
No campfires at this time, propane is permitted.
See hosts at Pineknot to check in.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 25 ft
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…tables, grills and a campfire circle. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…and a campfire circle. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The group campground…”
- Store
- Nearby
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Night sky · 1120th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
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 · 13
What you actually pay
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
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
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.
| BUTT | 001 | group standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 3,264 ftSimmons Trout Lake | 195 ft | $149 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
PineknotSan Bernardino National Forest · 0.3 mi
Deer Group CampgroundSan Bernardino National Forest · 2.4 mi
SerranoSan Bernardino National Forest · 2.6 mi
Serrano Family CampgroundSan Bernardino National Forest · 2.7 mi
Boulder Group CampSan Bernardino National Forest · 3.8 miFrom San Bernardino, take I-10 east to Running Springs. Turn onto State Highway 18 and continue to Big Bear Lake Dam. Continue about 6 miles on State Highway 18 and turn right on Summit Boulevard. Turn left at the end of road and go about a half-mile to the second gate on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Big Bear Lake, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 63°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 24°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Buttercup Group Camp is in California’s 23rd congressional district. Its representative, Jay Obernolte (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →