Dark Day Campground
1Heads up1 fire 23 mi away
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $24–$72Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 10All of them booked ahead
- Season
- April 15 – October 15Open April 15 through October 15
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bullards Bar Reservoir is located on the North Yuba River at an elevation of 2000 feet. It is located approximately 21 miles north of Nevada City, California. It has a maximum surface area of 4,760 acres and a length of over 16 miles and shoreline of more than 60 miles. 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 5 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 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. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
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
Everything else this campground posts · 5
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
We have added orange cones at the parking area for each site to keep your parking site from being used by a "day use vehicle by someone else". When you arrive, just move the cone and park and place the cone in front of your vehicle.
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
- 10 · 10 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, River, Creek, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Paddling
- Picnicking
- Ranger Station
- Swimming
- Water access
- Water Skiing
- Water sports
- Night sky · 818th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $24–$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
10 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 10 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 10 of the 10 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. 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.
| A | 10 | tent only nonelectric | 23 ft | 72 ft | 198 ft | 493 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 1D | tent only nonelectric | 29 ft | 107 ft | 397 ft | 241 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 2D | tent only nonelectric | 29 ft | 73 ft | 388 ft | 340 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 3D | tent only nonelectric | 29 ft | 73 ft | 404 ft | 405 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 4T | tent only nonelectric | 45 ft | 235 ft | 527 ft | 354 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 5 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 111 ft | 338 ft | 471 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 6 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 86 ft | 323 ft | 302 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 7 | tent only nonelectric | 19 ft | 64 ft | 325 ft | 387 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 8 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 80 ft | 226 ft | 411 ft | $24–$72 |
| A | 9 | tent only nonelectric | 22 ft | 64 ft | 269 ft | 442 ft | $24–$72 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Garden Point Boat-in CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 0.9 mi
Schoolhouse Campground (CA)Tahoe National Forest · 1.0 mi
Hornswoggle Group CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 1.2 miFrenchy Point CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 3.0 mi
Cottage Creek Campground (CA)Plumas National Forest · 3.1 mi
Madrone Cove Boat-in CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.1 miFrom Nevada City, travel north on Higway 49 for approximately 20 miles to Maryville Road , turn left onto Maryville Road and travel west approximatley 3
miles to the Dark Day Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Camptonville, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 78°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical April night 40°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Dark Day Campground 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 →