2Heads up2 fires, nearest 13 mi
Wildfire
Wildfire Training fire · 13 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026
Wildfire
Land fire · 42 mi away · 20 acres · updated Oct 11, 2026
ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 28 opens May 28.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
A night
$47–$87Across the site types the agency prices
Sites
24All of them booked ahead
Season
June 1 – September 30Open June 1 through September 30
30 ftLongest rig
7,000 ftElevation
616 ftWater · Huntington Lake
14.1 miNE of Auberry, CA
53%Tree cover
Open June 1 through September 30Today

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices

In the agency’s own words

Catavee Campground is located on Huntington Lake near the Kaiser Wilderness. This campground offers convenient access to all the activities and events available around Huntington Lake, including the annual sailboat regatta. The campground is forested and provides good privacy at several of the sites. A few sites overlook Bear Creek, while others offer lake views. Keep reading

Recreation

There are many hiking trails in the area, including Rancheria Falls, Indian Pools and Black Point. Hikers and horseback riders can access the 12-mile Kaiser Loop Trail, which connects to a network of trails within the Kaiser Wilderness. Huntington Lake offers many activities, including swimming, sailing, boating, non-motorized boating, fishing and water skiing. Additionally, California Land Management sponsors a variety of interpretive programs and nature walks throughout the summer at several locations in the Huntington Lake area.

Facilities

This campground has paved roads and paved parking spurs that can accommodate RVs up to 30 feet. Each site has a picnic table, grill, food storage locker, and fire ring. Drinking water and flush toilets and accessible flush toilets are provided.

Natural Features

The Sierra National Forest, located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada, is known for its spectacular mountain scenery and abundant natural resources. Some sites have a view of Huntington Lake. The terrain includes rolling, oak-covered foothills, heavily forested middle elevation slopes and the starkly beautiful alpine landscape of the High Sierra.

Nearby Attractions

The Billy Creek Guard Station Museum is roughly 10 minutes from the campground. It provides historical overviews on Huntington Lake, Native Americans and the Forest Service. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (909) 638-6117.

Charges & Cancellations

Rules & Reservation Policies As you make travel plans that include reservations on Recreation.gov, there are standard policies that apply to most locations of which you should be aware. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many exceptions, so it is best to review reservation information listed on individual facility pages for those policies and procedures that pertain to your specific locations. Any location or activity requiring a permit or lottery will have unique requirements and policies. Please check individual facility pages for pertinent information for those sites. Booking Window For most locations, you can reserve six months in advance of your stay for individual sites and 12 months in advance for group sites. There are some exceptions, so it is best to check with each facility. Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Tours & Tickets: You may request changes to tour dates at no cost before the arrival date. If you cancel before your tour date, you may be eligible for a refund. Cancellation fees apply. Please check the tour facility description details page for cancellation policies. Permits: Varies by location. Please check the permit details for the permit location. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer 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. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Tours: A tour or ticket no-show is one who does not cancel a ticket before arrival and does not arrive for the tour. Tour no-shows are not entitled to a refund. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as "Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July

What the agency tells you

Rule

Please register at the boat ramp kiosk.

Rule

No showers or RV Hookups

Rule

Bears frequent the area; please store food in bear-proof containers

Everything else this campground posts · 5
Rule

Please Note: One RV with tow vehicle for single site or one vehicle for single tent camping. Two RV’S with tow vehicle per double site or two vehicles for double tent only camping. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. Extra vehicle will be charged a per night fee and collected at the campground.

Rule

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. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the High Sierra Ranger District, Sierra National Forest (559) 855-5355

Rule

Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests.

Rule

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.

Rule

Click here to learn more about the Sierra National Forest

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
24
Hookups
None
Longest rig
30 ft
Paved pads
All
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Flush Toilets
“…and fire ring. Drinking water and flush toilets and accessible flush toilets are provided. Natural…”
Drinking water
Yes
“…food storage locker, and fire ring. Drinking water and flush toilets and accessible flush toilets are…”
Bear boxes
Yes
Camp host
On site
recreation.gov lists “Host”
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Creek
Boating
Fishing
Hiking
Ranger programs
Swimming
Water sports
Night sky · 559th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Bortle 3
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 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
A night$47–$87plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$102–$182DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest 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 · 13

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night, per site$47–$87
Standard Nonelectric$47
Standard Nonelectric-Double$87
These are next season’s rates, May 28, 2027 to Sep 11, 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
One nightDerived$55–$95
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$102–$182

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $47–$87 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.

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

“Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount.” · 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 · 6

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

24 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 24 mapped sites
61 ftbetween you and the next site, typically
Least room018 25 ft019 25 ft011 39 ft

All 24 sites

24 of 24 sites located
Standard24
SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 24 of the 24 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. 24 of the 24 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.

CATAVEE001standard nonelectric30 ft74 ft656 ft2,120 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE002standard nonelectric30 ft69 ft701 ft2,193 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE003standard nonelectric30 ft51 ft741 ft2,278 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE004standard nonelectric30 ft63 ft681 ft2,219 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE005standard nonelectric30 ft49 ft721 ft2,288 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE006standard nonelectric30 ft49 ft769 ft2,333 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE007standard nonelectric20 ft70 ft742 ft2,346 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE008standard nonelectric30 ft70 ft807 ft2,414 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE009standard nonelectric20 ft84 ft818 ft2,503 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE010standard nonelectric20 ft69 ft734 ft2,425 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE011standard nonelectric20 ft39 ft686 ft2,357 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE012standard nonelectric30 ft39 ft725 ft2,391 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE013standard nonelectric30 ft85 ft528 ft2,107 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE014standard nonelectric30 ft106 ft598 ft2,211 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE015standard nonelectric20 ft57 ft595 ft2,280 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE016standard nonelectric30 ft50 ft528 ft2,216 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE017standard nonelectric30 ft57 ft562 ft2,268 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE018standard nonelectric30 ft25 ft496 ft2,213 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE019standard nonelectric30 ft25 ft472 ft2,189 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE020standard nonelectric20 ft50 ft478 ft2,173 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE021standard nonelectric30 ft61 ft342 ft2,015 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE022standard nonelectric30 ft61 ft390 ft2,028 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE023standard nonelectric20 ft91 ft390 ft1,937 ft$47–$87
CATAVEE024standard nonelectric20 ft85 ft449 ft2,027 ft$47–$87

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight39°Clear
Saturday64°Sunny
Saturday Night37°Clear
Sunday63°Sunny

NWS forecast for Big Creek, CA

Typical weather

Typical June night 43°F, day 66°F.

Coldest night of the open season: typical June night 43°F. Bring the bag rated for it.

80°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: HUNTINGTON LAKE, CA (USC00044176), 3 miles away and at about the same elevation

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Dinkey Lakes34,171 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

Tom McClintock, official portrait

Catavee is in California’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Tom McClintock (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: The agency lists it out of season. The season it publishes is the bar below.
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: Big Creek, CA, 4.5 mi NE (a census designated place). Straight line.