Camp 9
1Heads up1 fire 0.6 mi away
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 2 of the next 9 nights read 16:31 UTC
- A night
- $36–$88Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 6334 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Camp 9, a year-round facility, rests on the shores of Lake Isabella, a high desert reservoir. Its proximity to the lake and the Upper Kern River makes the facility popular among boaters, rafters and anglers. The camp is also a favorite among RV campers, with ample parking available to accommodate both trailers and motorized watercraft. Keep reading
Recreation
Anglers enjoy fishing on both Lake Isabella and the Upper Kern River. Boating, kayaking and swimming are also popular activities. A seasonal boat ramp and dock are available within the day use area in the campground.
Facilities
Camp 9 offers over 100 single campsites, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally 11 group sites are available by reservation. Some sites are on the lakeshore, while others are set further back but have views of the lake. A few cottonwood trees are found in the campground, but shade is limited; plan on bringing protection. The group sites offer two picnic tables each, campfire rings, portable toilets, and paved parking. Group sites 1, 2 and 6-11 have drinking water. Group sites 1 and 2 have shade shelters. S ites 1-5 each have a locked gate for security. An RV dump station, fish cleaning station and boat ramp with floating dock are also available within Camp 9 Recreation Area.
Natural Features
The campground sits on the north shore of Lake Isabella, an 11,000-acre reservoir, at an elevation of 2,600 feet and is a short drive to the Upper Kern River. In the spring and early summer, a breeze can come up in the afternoons, but the mornings are quiet and calm. Fall and winter are perhaps the most beautiful time of year at Camp 9, with temperatures ranging from the 60s in the day to low 40s at night. Sequoia National Forest, located at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada in central California, is named for the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree, which grows in more than 30 groves on the forest's lower slopes. The forest encompasses about 1.1 million acres. Elevations range from about 1,000 to 12,000 feet, creating precipitous canyons and mountain streams with spectacular waterfalls, such as Salmon Creek Falls and Grizzly Falls.
Nearby Attractions
The Upper Kern River is a short drive away, with additional fishing opportunities. Rafters and kayakers also enjoy the river. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (760) 376-1269.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. Group Sites Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels 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. No-Shows A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. Refunds Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
What the agency tells you
No hookups available
Shade is limited
Click here to learn more about Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument
Everything else this campground posts · 4
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.
The group sites offer two picnic tables each, campfire rings, portable toilets, and paved parking. Group sites 1, 2 and 6-11 have drinking water. Group sites 1 and 2 have shade shelters. Sites 1-5 each have a locked gate for security.
The RV Dump Station fee is $25.00
There is an extra vehicle fee of $8.00/night on the 2nd vehicle in each single campsite and on the 3rd & 4th vehicle in any double campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the 1st vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the 1st and 2nd are considered to be one vehicle and the 3rd and 4th are also considered to be one vehicle. So the fee would be a single $8.00/night of stay for the 3rd/4th motorcycle.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 63 · 6 tent-only, 11 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- 13 of 63
- Accessible sites
- 5
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 3 of 8 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets · Portable Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 46 campsite records / PORTABLE TOILETS on 10 of 46 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 8 of 46 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Boating
- Fish Hatchery
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Night sky · 856th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
Something open on 2 of the next 2 bookable nightsread 16:31 UTC
recreation.gov lists 34 of the 63 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBookedNot reservable
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 · 16
What you actually pay
“There is an extra vehicle fee of $8.00/night on the 2nd vehicle in each single campsite and on the 3rd & 4th vehicle in any double campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the 1st vehicle by a hitch and tow…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $36–$88 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a cam…” · this campground’s own no-show 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 · 7
recreation.gov availability, read 16:31 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
80 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 11 mapped sitesAll 80 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 60 of the 80 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| LAG1 | G01 | group standard area nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 214 ft | 714 ft | |
| LAG2 | G02 | group standard area nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 176 ft | 703 ft | |
| LAKA | X | type not stated | 40 ft | ||||
| LAKA | X1 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X10 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X11 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X12 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X13 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X14 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X15 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X16 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X17 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X18 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X19 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X2 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X20 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X21 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X22 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X23 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X24 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X25 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X26 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X27 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X28 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X29 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X3 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X30 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X4 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X5 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X6 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X7 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X8 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKA | X9 | standard nonelectric | $36 | ||||
| LAKB | A1 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A10 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A11 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A2 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A3 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A4 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A5 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A6 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A7 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A8 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | A9 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | $36–$88 | |||
| LAKB | XX12 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX13 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX14 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX15 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX16 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX17 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX18 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX19 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKB | XX20 | rv nonelectric | $36–$88 | ||||
| LAKC | G03 | group standard nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 176 ft | 589 ft | $88 |
| LAKC | G04 | group standard nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 211 ft | 434 ft | $88 |
| LAKC | G05 | group standard nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 268 ft | 268 ft | $88 |
| LAKC | G06 | group tent only area nonelectric | 10 ft | 261 ft | 447 ft | $155–$220 | |
| LAKC | G07 | group tent only area nonelectric | 10 ft | 237 ft | 369 ft | $155–$220 | |
| LAKC | G08 | group tent only area nonelectric | 10 ft | 215 ft | 324 ft | $155–$220 | |
| LAKC | XXX | unnamed record | 40 ft | $36 | |||
| LAKC | XXX1 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX2 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX3 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX4 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX5 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX6 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX7 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX8 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKC | XXX9 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKD | G09 | group tent only area nonelectric | 10 ft | 237 ft | 134 ft | $155–$220 | |
| LAKD | G10 | group tent only area nonelectric | 10 ft | 215 ft | 343 ft | $155–$220 | |
| LAKD | G11 | group tent only area nonelectric | 10 ft | 283 ft | 390 ft | $155–$220 | |
| LAKD | XXXX | unnamed record | 40 ft | $36 | |||
| LAKD | XXXX1 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKD | XXXX2 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKD | XXXX3 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKD | XXXX4 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKD | XXXX5 | unnamed record | $36 | ||||
| LAKD | XXXX6 | unnamed record | $36 |
The agency files 17 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It filed them without a site name, and nothing in its own record decides what they are. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
25 of 80 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Tillie CreekSequoia National Forest · 1.7 miLive Oak North CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 1.8 mi
Live OakSequoia National Forest · 1.8 mi
Live Oak SouthSequoia National Forest · 1.8 miFrom the south, take Highway 99 to Bakersfield. Take the Highway 178 exit and travel east toward the Kern River Canyon. Follow Highway 178 for approximately 40 miles to the town of Lake Isabella. From Lake Isabella, take Highway 155. Continue past the town of Wofford Heights to Kernville. At the stop sign in Kernville, turn right onto Sierra Way. Proceed 4 miles. Camp 9 is on the right side of the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Kernville, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 81°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 31°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
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
Camp 9 is in California’s 20th congressional district. Its representative, Vince Fong (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →