U.S. Forest Service · Stanislaus National Forest · CA

Clark Fork Campground

First come, first servedNo reservation, and none to be had: the sites go to whoever pulls in first.

This is how it should work.

Right now
OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
Season
May 1 – October 31Open May 1 through October 31
Drawn from the record · 6,120 ft · 41% tree cover · Clark Fork within reach · Bortle 2 sky
6,120 ftElevation
1,579 ftWater · Clark Fork
26.3 miSW of Topaz Ranch Estates, NV
41%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 311th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Open May 1 through October 31Today

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

Clark Fork Campground is situated along the banks of the Clark Fork of the Stanislaus River, five miles from the junction of Clark Fork Road and Highway 108. It is about 25 miles east of the Summit Ranger Station. There are two loops in the campground: A-Loop and B-Loop. Both loops have paved roads and parking pads. A-Loop has 28 sites with a table and a campfire ring at each site. Three of the sites are double sites. The restrooms are vault toilets. Water is available at hydrants serving several sites. A-loop is the first to open and last to close during the camping season. B-Loop has 60 sites, six are double sites. There are flush toilets in B-Loop. Three sites near the first restroom are fully accessible. There is no fee for parking extra cars in the campground. An RV dump station is located near the entrance road to Clark Fork Campground; the fee for the dump station is $6.

Facilities

Toilets
Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets
“…are double sites. The restrooms are vault toilets. Water is available at hydrants serving several… / …sites, six are double sites. There are flush toilets in B-Loop. Three sites near the first restroom are…”
Drinking water
Yes
“…sites. The restrooms are vault toilets. Water is available at hydrants serving several sites. A-loop is the…”
Dump station
Yes
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
River
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.

recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.

BookingNo reservationsNothing to book, and no release date to wait forthe agency’s record
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 3

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s no total to show.
How we know this receipt · 4

rules read Sep 7, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight46°Clear
Saturday70°Sunny
Saturday Night44°Clear
Sunday66°Sunny

NWS forecast for Bear Valley, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 36°F, day 70°F.

Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 36°F. Bring the bag rated for it.

100°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 Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: TOPAZ LAKE, NV (USC00268186), 28 miles away and 828 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Dome11,085 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Carson - Iceberg56,430 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Eagle16,116 acres · 8 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

Clark Fork Campground 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 open right now. Its own recreation database, though, flags it not open with no reason or date; the flag is named under How we know all this.
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: Bear Valley, CA, 13.4 mi ESE (a census designated place). Straight line.