Cottage Creek Campground (CA)
1Heads up1 fire 22 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $48–$72Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 9All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices
In the agency’s own words
Cottage Creek is a new campground with all new amendities. It has double and triple sites. It has a beautiful view of the Bullards Bar Reservior. Keep reading
Recreation
Activities include wildlife viewing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, fishing, boating, water skiing, and other water sports. Swimming opportunities are limited because of the steep slopes; however boaters will find numerous opportunities for swimming in various locations around the reservoir. The reservoir provides yearlong fishing opportunities for both warm and cold water fish species. Supplies are available at the marina as well as the nearby communities of Camptonville, North San Juan, and Dobbins.
Facilities
Public access for boating and recreation is limited to 2 developed and 1 undeveloped boat launches: the Cottage Creek Boat Launch ramp at Emerald Cove Marina, the Dark Day Boat Launch ramp, and the undeveloped site at the end of Moran Road. The area includes 6 campgrounds, 2 picnic areas, 2 boat launch ramps, 1 marina, 1 overlook, 1 day use area and several developed hiking trails.
Natural Features
The sides of the reservoir are generally steep and public access for boating and recreation is limited. The reservoir is surrounded by both conifer and hardwood forests with numerous brush spieces. There is plenty of shade at the campsites Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
Nearby Attractions
There is a beautiful non- motorized trail system in the area, with 5 different trails to choose from. Bullards Bar Trailhead is 14 miles, 7 Ball Trial is 1 mile, 8 Ball Trail is 3.8 miles, Rebel Ridge Trail is 1.6 miles and Schoolhouse Trail is 0.7 miles. Maps are available at the North Yuba Ranger Station just a couple miles east of the reservoir on Marysville Road.
Charges & Cancellations
No Show Policy 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). * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees. There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference. Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.
What the agency tells you
The facility opens April 15 and closes October 15 each year. 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. Utility hookups and showers are not available Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers food lockers are about 4' wide by 2' deep by 4' high There is no dump station at this facility
No Show Policy 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). * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees. There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference. Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 9
- Hookups
- None
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 8 of 9 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Motor Boat
- Mountain biking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Picnicking
- Water Skiing
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
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $48–$72 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.
“Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility.” · 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 Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
9 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 9 mapped sitesAll 9 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. 9 of the 9 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 1D | standard nonelectric | 84 ft | 1,127 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 2T | standard nonelectric | 79 ft | 1,048 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 3D | standard nonelectric | 79 ft | 989 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 4D | standard nonelectric | 127 ft | 1,002 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 5D | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 1,118 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 6D | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 1,123 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 7D | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 1,211 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 8T | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 1,145 ft | $48–$72 |
| A | 9D | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 1,276 ft | $48–$72 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Hornswoggle Group CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 1.9 mi
Schoolhouse Campground (CA)Tahoe National Forest · 2.0 mi
Garden Point Boat-in CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 2.8 mi
Dark Day CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 3.1 miFrenchy Point CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.2 mi
Madrone Cove Boat-in CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 5.0 miFrom Nevada City, travel north on Higway 49 from approximately 20 miles to Maryville Road , turn left onto Maryville Road and travel west approximatley 6 miles. You will cross over the dam and take a right at the Cottage Creek/Emerald Cove Marina parking area. Drive through the main parking lot and stay to the left and the stop sign. (The marina is to the right). You will travel 1/4 mile on a narrow road and the Cottage Creek Campground will be on the right. Please see the attached map for the overview of the directions through the parking lot to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for North San Juan, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 78°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 34°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Cottage Creek Campground (CA) is in California’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Kevin Kiley (I), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →