Dripping Springs Campground (CA)
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 23 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:52 UTC
- A night
- $25–$50Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 32All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices
In the agency’s own words
Dripping Springs campground is a wonderful campground adjacent to the Agua Tibia Wilderness. Keep reading
Recreation
Recreation in the area includes hiking, trail running, and backpacking.
Facilities
The campground facilities include restrooms and potable water. No showers or other amenities are available at this location.
Natural Features
The campground is adjacent to sensitive riparian habitat which is home to the endangered Arroyo Toad. The hills surrounding the campground are covered in southern California chaparral which is host to a diverse population of flora and fauna. The mountain tops above the campground are lined with coniferous forest.
Nearby Attractions
The campground is directly adjacent to Agua Tibia Wilderness. This wilderness area includes a 20-mile hiking loop. The campground is also near Temecula, California, and the Temecula Wine Country.
What the agency tells you
Be sure to check current area fire restrictions prior to visiting this, or any campground. Conditions frequently exist which prohibit the use of wood and charcoal fires. Please contact the Palomar Ranger District at (760) 788-0250 or visit here for updated information.
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
- 32 · 2 tent-only, 5 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 25 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed at 27 of 32 sites
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “Facilities The campground facilities include restrooms and potable water.”
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “No showers or other amenities are available at this location.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…facilities include restrooms and potable water. No showers or other amenities are available at…”
Around the campground
- Historic site
- Hunting
- Visitor center
- Night sky · 1134th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 5
Full this Saturdayread 16:52 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
2 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read Oct 15. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 17 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 26 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:52 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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 · 15
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $25–$50 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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 2
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read Oct 15
- Corral Canyon CampgroundCleveland National Forest · 18 mi · 36 of 38 site-nights open
- Bobcat Meadow CampgroundCleveland National Forest · 18 mi · 33 of 36 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:52 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
33 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 32 mapped sitesAll 33 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 32 of the 33 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 01 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 184 ft | 2,385 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 02 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 145 ft | 2,201 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 03 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 67 ft | 2,057 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 04 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 117 ft | 1,409 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 05 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 141 ft | 1,126 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 06 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 109 ft | 988 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 07 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 157 ft | 789 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 08 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 100 ft | 580 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 09 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 141 ft | 442 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 10 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 93 ft | 247 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 12 | tent only nonelectric | 96 ft | 269 ft | $25 | |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 13 | tent only nonelectric | 93 ft | 327 ft | $25 | |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 14 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 104 ft | 407 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 15 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 74 ft | 492 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 16 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 74 ft | 550 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 17 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 99 ft | 615 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 18 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 103 ft | 714 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 19 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 100 ft | 1,051 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 20 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 84 ft | 1,284 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 21 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 117 ft | 1,506 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 22 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 112 ft | 1,763 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 23 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 112 ft | 1,874 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 24 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 67 ft | 2,029 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 25 Host | host pad | 25 ft | $25–$50 | ||
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 26 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 174 ft | 806 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 27 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 130 ft | 920 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 28 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 145 ft | 956 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 29 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 88 ft | 1,149 ft | $25–$50 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 30 | equestrian nonelectric | 25 ft | 119 ft | 1,157 ft | $25 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 31 | equestrian nonelectric | 25 ft | 85 ft | 1,230 ft | $25 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 32 | equestrian nonelectric | 25 ft | 85 ft | 1,271 ft | $25 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 33 | equestrian nonelectric | 25 ft | 84 ft | 1,358 ft | $25 |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS CAMPGROUND (CA) | 34 | equestrian nonelectric | 25 ft | 105 ft | 1,373 ft | $25 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 33 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Fry Creek CampgroundCleveland National Forest · 9.7 mi
Observatory CampgroundCleveland National Forest · 10 mi
Oak Grove CampgroundCleveland National Forest · 12 mi
Crestline Group CampgroundCleveland National Forest · 12 mi
Bobcat Meadow Campground18 mi
Corral Canyon Campground18 miCampground is 11 miles east of Temecula off of Highway 79.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sage, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 58°F, day 83°F.
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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
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
Dripping Springs Campground (CA) is in California’s 48th congressional district. Its representative, Darrell Issa (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyDarrell IssaU.S. Representative · California’s 48th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAdam B. SchiffU.S. Senator · California
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAlex PadillaU.S. Senator · California
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Dripping Springs Campground (CA), Cleveland National Forest, California
Dear Darrell Issa, I’m a constituent in California’s 48th district. I tried to camp at Dripping Springs Campground (CA), Cleveland National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 32 sites at Dripping Springs Campground (CA) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 17 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Dripping Springs Campground (CA) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dripping Springs Campground (CA). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Dripping Springs Campground (CA) (Cleveland National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Dripping Springs Campground (CA), Cleveland National Forest, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Dripping Springs Campground (CA), Cleveland National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 32 sites at Dripping Springs Campground (CA) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 17 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Dripping Springs Campground (CA) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dripping Springs Campground (CA). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Dripping Springs Campground (CA) (Cleveland National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Dripping Springs Campground (CA), Cleveland National Forest, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Dripping Springs Campground (CA), Cleveland National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 32 sites at Dripping Springs Campground (CA) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 17 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Dripping Springs Campground (CA) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dripping Springs Campground (CA). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Dripping Springs Campground (CA) (Cleveland National Forest, California) via campanac.com