China Meadows Trailhead Campground
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $18.10From, per site
- Sites
- 1715 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
China Meadows Trailhead Campground is located on the northern slope of the Uinta Mountains at an elevation of 10,000 feet. It is an access point to the High Uinta Wilderness where visitors enjoy fishing, canoeing and exploring local trails. Keep reading
Recreation
This area is popular for its fishing and hiking. It is close to wilderness access which is filled with hiking, biking, horseback and off-road vehicle riding trails. Numerous lakes provide fishing and canoeing opportunities.
Facilities
The site offers 11 single camp sites, picnic tables, fire rings and vault restroom facilities. There is plenty of parking for the trailhead and campsites.
Natural Features
China Meadows Trailhead Campground is a small campground located at China Meadows Trailhead. The campground is timbered and near China Lake.
Nearby Attractions
The Uinta Mountains are comprised of beautiful canyons, soaring peaks, pristine lakes, rivers and streams. Outdoor enthusiasts come to enjoy the natural beauty of this rugged region. The area is filled with hiking, biking and horseback and off-road vehicle riding trails. Numerous lakes provide fishing and canoeing opportunities.
Charges & Cancellations
Reservation Cancellations & Changes Cancelling a Reservation: Customers may cancel their reservation prior to arrival both on-line and through the call center. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Depending on when you cancel in relation to your arrival day, it may be considered a late cancellation (see below). Changing an Existing Reservation: When changes are made prior to the cut-off window: If a customer wants to switch dates that are entirely outside of the original reservation dates, there is a $10 change fee. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation, as long as the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit the recreation fee for the day of departure. There is no change fee if the customer wants to switch sites that are the same price with the same reservation dates in the same facility. If a reservation is made that includes dates beyond the maximum booking window, that reservation cannot be changed until 18 days have passed from the original booking date. Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window Individual Campsites: A customer 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 (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers who cancel a cabin or lookout reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): Customers who cancel 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. Group Day Use Area: Customers who cancel a group day-use facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will forfeit the total day-use fee. Changes or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window: Once a reservation date has begun, customers cannot change a reservation using the online system or through the Call Center (see below for early departures). If the location is staffed, on-site personnel may or may not be able to assist with changes or cancellations (check with local staff). No-Shows Overnight and Day-Use Facilities: A 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 (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival). Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date and will hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night’s recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use fee for a day-use facility. Early Departures If a customer departs prior to the scheduled check-out date, they may be eligible for a partial refund. Please notify staff at the facility if you depart early to allow others to use the site. Customers may notify the call center to request a refund of remaining unused nights. If a customer requests a refund for an early departure after the facility check-out time has passed, the customer will not be refunded for that night and is eligible for a refund on any additional nights that will not be used. Interagency Pass Discounts The following are the only Interagency Passes that provide a discount on camping reservations and some tickets: Senior Annual Pass Senior Lifetime Pass Access Pass Golden Age Pass Golden Access Pass Eligible pass discounts only apply to individual campsites and may apply to a ticket for the pass holder. Interagency Pass discounts do not apply to group reservations, cabins, shelters, and multi-use sites (doubles, triples, etc.). 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. The holder of the pass must occupy the site for which the discount is applied. The pass can only be used for one site during a time period. Refunds Customers may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Customers may also initiate a refund request through the call center at any time after their reservation has ended. Fees: Applicable fees, such as reservation fees, service/cancellation fees, lottery application fees, and change fees, are non-refundable. Debit or Credit Card Purchases: Refunds for debit or credit card payments made after October 1, 2018 will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. In the event that a customer has cancelled this card, they will need to contact their card company to have the funds released. We cannot issue refunds to any card other than the one used to pay. If a customer paid with a debit or credit card prior to October 1, 2018 their refund will be issued in the form of a Treasury check. 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. You may update the address at the time you request the refund. It may take up to 6-8 weeks for the Treasury check to arrive. Please make sure your address is up to date in your customer profile. Emergency Closures: 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 your Recreation.gov customer profile. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transactions will appear on customer's credit card statements as "Recreation.gov 877-444-6777 NM" Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated September 2019.
What the agency tells you
This Campground is in Bear Country Always store food and trash securely to avoid attracting wildlife -Failure to comply may result in fines up to $5,000, removal from your campsite and/or imprisonment Remember, a fed bear is a dead bear; your actions can save lives
There is no water available on site; bring all water need for your stay including drinking water This is a 'pack it in, pack it out' facility; bring trash bags
Dogs or Domestic Pets Owners must -Control the dog by a leash not to exceed six feet (6’) at all times -Clean up dog feces immediately -Limit two dogs per campsite Do not allow dogs to -Rush, threaten, or attack people/animals -Obstruct or interfere with people, vehicles, or property -Cause damage to vegetation, habitat, or harass wildlife
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Campground Etiquette and Rules Gates open at 7am, Gates close at 10pm Quiet Hours are 10pm to 6am No generators after 10pm Camping is allowed only within the designated space provided. Do not go beyond the boundaries of your site Maximum occupancy is 8 people per single site Reserved campsites will be held until 12pm on the day following your scheduled arrival date Off-road vehicles are prohibited in the campground Leave No Trace -Put all trash in dumpsters, when provided, or properly stored in your vehicle or bear box -Remove all personal property and trash when leaving -Unclean campsites will be reported to the District Ranger LEO -Leaving food/trash in an unoccupied campsite may result in a $5,000 fine Cleaning fish, animals, or bathing where drinking water is supplied is strictly prohibited Fireworks or other explosives are prohibited. Discharging of a firearm in the campground is not allowed No fighting or boisterous behavior. Be courteous to your fellow visitor. Keep noise at a reasonable level No amplified music is allowed in USDA Forest Service campgrounds and facilities. People come to the campgrounds for peace and quiet Max Vehicle Length includes tow vehicle
There is a 2-night minimum stay on weekends; 3-night minimum stay on holiday weekends
Trailers/Campers and RVs: Come with water tank filled. Hooking up to spigots or the power in the restrooms, even for medical devices, is strictly prohibited
First Come First Served (FF) sites You must claim a FF site in person on the day you wish to check-in A site listed as FF does not guarantee availability, Recreation.gov does not update FF occupancy The only way to know if an FF site is available is to arrive at the campground on the day you plan to check-in Availability cannot be predicted Many sites are in remote locations, we cannot contact camp hosts about availability Recommended arrival times vary by day. Weekends and holidays typically fill more quickly To claim an FF site, you must be physically present, occupy the site, and pay at that time There is no waiting list for FF sites
Extra Vehicle - $10 per vehicle, per day (paid on-site cash/check) Firewood - $9
Only Senior or Access passes qualify for discounts and proof of ownership upon arrival is required. If you booked at a discount without a Senior or Access pass, you'll need to pay the difference
Please understand that camping is an outdoor experience; we do not give refunds for weather or natural conditions Early departures, or cancellations after the arrival date are not entitled to a refund
For more information on visiting Bear Country visit wildawareutah.org wildlife.utah.gov For campground Rules and Regulations visit gocamputah.com/rules
Click here for more info about the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest For more information, call Evanston/Mtn View Ranger District at 307-789-3194 or Utah Recreation at 385-273-1100 Visit our website gocamputah.com or Facebook facebook.com/letsgocamputah
Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood within 10 miles of your destination and burning it on-site. For more information click here
Please note: Utah Recreation is not responsible for accident or injury to any person or property resulting from the use of this facility and is not responsible for the loss of money or valuables of any kind. The user of this permit assumes full and complete responsibility for the conduct and actions of all members in their party
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 17
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 12 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…sites, picnic tables, fire rings and vault restroom facilities. There is plenty of parking for the…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Mountain biking
- Night sky · 179th darkest of 458 in UT
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 36 km away
- Peak color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 15 of the 17 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“Cash, Check, or Scan & Pay (with recreation.gov app) 11 single sites - $20.00 , capacity - 8 people + 1 vehcile Day use - $15.00 Extra vehicle - $10.00 per vehicle (paid on-site cash/check) Trailhead overnight parking…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $18.10 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.
“A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Changing an Existing Reservation: When changes are made prior to the cut-off window: If a customer wants to switch dates that are entirely outside of the original reservation dates, there is a $10 change fee.” · 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
17 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 11 mapped sitesAll 17 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 12 of the 17 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. 17 of the 17 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| China | 13 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | $18.10 | |||
| China | 14 | standard nonelectric | $18.10 | ||||
| China | 15 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | $18.10 | |||
| China | 16 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | $18.10 | |||
| CHINA | 1 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 117 ft | 516 ft | 515 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 10 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 133 ft | 790 ft | 325 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 11 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 81 ft | 863 ft | 197 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 12 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 81 ft | 918 ft | 201 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 2 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 88 ft | 545 ft | 470 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 3 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 84 ft | 587 ft | 355 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 4 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 88 ft | 630 ft | 395 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 5 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 79 ft | 671 ft | 287 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 6 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 79 ft | 716 ft | 214 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 7 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 80 ft | 678 ft | 227 ft | $18.10 |
| CHINA | 8 | type not stated | 12 ft | 664 ft | 86 ft | $17.90 | |
| CHINA | 9 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 144 ft | 659 ft | 376 ft | $18.10 |
| S&P | Single S&P | type not stated | $17.90 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
China Meadows CampgroundWasatch National Forest · 0.6 mi
Marsh Lake CampgroundWasatch National Forest · 1.9 mi
Bridger Lake CampgroundWasatch National Forest · 3.1 mi
Stateline CampgroundWasatch National Forest · 4.2 mi
StatelineWasatch National Forest · 4.8 mi
Stateline Campground Long TermWasatch National Forest · 4.8 miTake Wyoming State Highway 410 South out of Mountain View about 8 miles. Where the highway makes a sharp right turn to the west, go straight on to Uinta County Road 283 (gravel) and continue to Forest Service Road 072. Follow the signs past the Stateline Campground and past the China Meadows Campground to the China Meadows trailhead.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lonetree, WY
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
China Meadows Trailhead Campground is in Utah’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Kennedy (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →