Curly Jack Campground
4Heads up4 fires, nearest 28 mi
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 16All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Curly Jack Campground is situated along the Klamath Wild and Scenic River near the town of Happy Camp. Visitors enjoy whitewater boating and fishing on the river, and exploring local hiking trails. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing, birding, hiking and whitewater boating are popular options, as is scenic driving along the State of Jefferson Scenic Byway. Visitors can access a Class III section of the Klamath River from the campground. The campsite is a put-in and take-out point for whitewater rafting - boats must be carried across a gravel bar.
Facilities
The campground offers shaded single family sites, as well as four group sites that can accommodate up to 30 people each. Many sites have a view of the river. Group sites feature a general area for dispersed tent camping and a large gravel parking area for extra vehicles and trailers.
Natural Features
The campsground sits at an elevation of 1,075 feet on the banks of the Klamath River opposite the town of Happy Camp. The Klamath National Forest is comprised of a vast array of mountains, streams and lakes straddling the California and Oregon border. The nearly 2-million acre forest includes five wilderness areas, one scenic byway, 200 miles of wild and scenic river and 1,100 miles of hiking and equestrian trails. Elevations range from 450 to 8,900 feet, making for varied topography and diverse plant and animal life.
Nearby Attractions
The campground is within walking distance to the town of Happy Camp, where there are restaurants and a grocery store. A whitewater rafting outfitter and several fishing guides are based in Happy Camp.
What the agency tells you
This is bear country; all food must be store in approved containers
Individual sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis
Call Happy Camp Ranger District at 530-493-2243 for information about local conditions and recreational activities
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Click here for more information on the Klamath National Forest
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
- 16 · 4 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Whitewater rafting
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 221st darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 2
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:46 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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 rate for this season, $15 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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:46 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
16 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 16 mapped sitesAll 16 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 16 of the 16 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. 16 of the 16 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 001 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 109 ft | 511 ft | 108 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 002 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 109 ft | 405 ft | 117 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 003 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 74 ft | 332 ft | 104 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 004 | group standard area nonelectric | 24 ft | 74 ft | 353 ft | 126 ft | $50 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 005 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 21 ft | 223 ft | 174 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 006 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 21 ft | 227 ft | 155 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 007 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 65 ft | 219 ft | 90 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 008 | group standard area nonelectric | 24 ft | 137 ft | 83 ft | 144 ft | $50 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 009 | group standard area nonelectric | 24 ft | 96 ft | 141 ft | 78 ft | $50 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 010 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 96 ft | 235 ft | 91 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 011 | group standard area nonelectric | 24 ft | 85 ft | 263 ft | 74 ft | $50 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 012 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 105 ft | 332 ft | 170 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 013 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 113 ft | 459 ft | 277 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 014 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 96 ft | 408 ft | 177 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 015 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 71 ft | 549 ft | 148 ft | $15 |
| AREA CURLY JACK CAMPGROUND | 016 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 71 ft | 480 ft | 92 ft | $15 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Fort Goff CampgroundKlamath National Forest · 8.8 mi
Grider Creek CampgroundKlamath National Forest · 9.0 miSulphur Springs CampgroundKlamath National Forest · 9.5 miNorcross CampgroundKlamath National Forest · 11 miWest Branch CampgroundKlamath National Forest · 11 miONeil Creek CampgroundKlamath National Forest · 14 miFrom CA State Highway 96 in Happy Camp, turn south on to Elk Creek Road. Drive across the river bridge then follow Elk Creek Rd approx. .5 mile to Curly Jack Rd. Turn right on to Curly Jack Rd., and drive .3 miles to campground entrance.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Happy Camp, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 72°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 33°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
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
Curly Jack Campground is in California’s 1st congressional district. Whoever holds it votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. See how its representative votes on public lands →
Our roster still carries Doug LaMalfa for this district and the current federal record doesn’t list them as sitting, so we’re not naming a representative here until the two agree.