China Camp Campground
1Heads up1 fire 10 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 10All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Pleasantly nestled under a large canopy of pine trees, China Camp is a campground where peace and quiet is commonplace. The spacious campsites allow you to set up camp with more than enough space between you and your neighbors. As you drive into the campground you are overtaken by the sweet smell of pine and the natural beauty surrounding the campground. Keep reading
Recreation
China Camp offers trails along the hillside and a trailhead which begins in the campground. The Pine Ridge trailhead begins across from the campground bulletin board. This 23-mile trail offers stunning views of the Santa Lucia mountain range which are covered in towering oaks trees.
Facilities
The campground offers 10 campsites, with campsites 1 - 5 open year-round and campsites 6 - 10 open only in the summer season. The campground is suitable for tent and car camping, but is not recommended for RVs over 20 feet. Fires are allowed only in designated fire rings, however, always check local fire restrictions prior to your arrival. Two vault toilets are located near the campground bulletin board. You should plan to be completely self-sustainable for the duration of your trip. There is no potable water (drinking water) onsite. There is no dump station.
Natural Features
China Camp is surrounded by oak and pine trees, providing ample shade for visitors. Bobcats, coyotes and black tailed deer roam the rolling, lush hills. Red tailed hawks and turkey vultures can be seen soaring above the trees, so bring along some binoculars and make sure to keep an eye out. The melody of chirping of birds during the day time complimented by the sounds of crickets at night provide the textbook balance of unspoiled nature.
Nearby Attractions
Hiking and biking trails are within 10 - 15 minutes from the campground. Backpacking and mountain biking the trails nearby is a popular activity in the area.
What the agency tells you
In order to contact our offices, please use the email: customerservice@pmcparks.com or view our website: CampOne.Com for answers to frequently asked questions.
Camping fee includes 1 vehicle and 1 tent, trailer or RV.
$10 fee for each extra vehicle.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
No drinking water is available.
Pets are allowed.
No public showers in the region.
Quiet hours are 10 p.m. - 8 a.m.
Fireworks are prohibited at all times.
The nearest stores and gas are 22 miles to Carmel Valley or 40 miles to Greenfield.
Absolutely no cell service can be found in the campground but a connection can be made in either Carmel Valley or Greenfield.
Don't ride alone. Tell someone where you plan to go and then stick to your plans.
Don't take unnecessary chances - help for emergencies is miles away.
Bring your gnat/mosquito repellent in Spring/Summer/Fall.
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 10
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…restrictions prior to your arrival. Two vault toilets are located near the campground bulletin board. You…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…for the duration of your trip. There is no potable water (drinking water) onsite. There is no dump station.…”
Around the campground
- Biking
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 747th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
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
“$10 fee for each extra vehicle.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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.
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
The sites
10 sites
All 10 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 10 of the 10 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Loop 1 | 001 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 1 | 002 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 1 | 003 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 1 | 004 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 1 | 005 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 1 | 006 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 1 | 007 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 1 | 008 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 2 | 009 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
| Loop 3 | 010 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
White Oaks CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 2.2 mi
Arroyo SecoLos Padres National Forest · 6.3 miArroyo Seco Group CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 6.4 mi
Escondido CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 11 mi
Memorial CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 14 miBottchers Gap CamproundLos Padres National Forest · 14 miLatitude: 36.29554 Longitude: -121.567507
The road eventually turns into dirt, please drive slow and carefully.
From Highway 101 North, take exit for Arroyo Seco Rd before the city of Greenfield. Continue down the road for 16.2 miles to the junction of Arroyo Seco Road and Carmel Valley Road then follow to the right. Take Carmel Valley Road 17.2 miles to the junction with Tassajara Road and turn left. Continue for 11 miles until you see the entrance to China Camp on the right-hand side.
From Highway 101 South, take exit for Arroyo Seco road then make your first, immediate left onto Elm Ave. Continue down Elm Ave for 6 miles then take a left at the "T" onto Arroyo Seco road. Follow the road for 6.5 miles to the junction of Carmel Valley road, then bear right. Take Carmel Valley for 17 miles to the junction of Tassajara road, take a left and continue 11 miles until you see the entrance to China Camp on the right-hand side.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Carmel Valley Village, CA
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
China Camp Campground is in California’s 18th congressional district. Its representative, Zoe Lofgren (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →