Headquarters
1Heads up1 fire 7.0 mi away
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $36–$108Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 41All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Headquarters Campground is situated along the Kern River, 6 miles north of the town of Kernville. Hiking, fishing, kayaking and rafting are popular activities. Keep reading
Recreation
Hiking, fishing, kayaking and rafting are popular activities in the Upper Kern River area. Click here to learn more about the area, including safety and permitting requirements and a listing of local outfitters.
Facilities
Headquarters Campground offers a mix of standard, RV and tent-only sites. Picnic tables and campfire rings are provided, as are vault toilets and drinking water.
Natural Features
The campground sits within Sequoia National Forest at an elevation of 2,800 feet in an open area overlooking the Kern Wild and Scenic River. Some sites overlook the river and lie in the shade of oak, juniper and cottonwood trees. Sites sitting further from the river are more open and have little to no shade. Sequoia National Forest, located at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada in central California, is named for the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree, which grows in more than 30 groves on the forest's lower slopes. The forest comprises about 1.1 million acres. Elevations range from about 1,000 to 12,000 feet, creating precipitous canyons and mountain streams with spectacular waterfalls such as Salmon Creek Falls and Grizzly Falls. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (760) 376-1269.
Nearby Attractions
The Cannell Meadow National Recreation Trail begins just north of Kernville. The trail stretches 11.5 miles as it climbs through mixed pine and fir forest to Cannell Meadow and a historic Forest Service cabin built between 1904 and 1909. Hikers are awarded beautiful views of the Kern River Valley along the trip. Visitors enjoy making day trips to Sequoia National Park and Giant Sequoia National Monument.
What the agency tells you
Six people per site including children
No hookups or showers available
Swimming in the river is not recommended due to strong currents
Everything else this campground posts · 5
No off-road vehicle use allowed in the campground
Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the Kern River Ranger District (760) 376-3781.
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.
Site length includes tow vehicle
Extra vehicle fee of $8.00 per night of stay on the second vehicle in each single family campsite and on the third and fourth vehicle in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. Extra vehicle must fit on the site parking spur.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 41 · 13 tent-only, 2 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed at 38 of 41 sites
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…and campfire rings are provided, as are vault toilets and drinking water. Natural Features The campground…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…are provided, as are vault toilets and drinking water. Natural Features The campground sits within…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, River, Creek, Meadow
- Boating
- Night sky · 763rd darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
Full this Saturdayread 16:08 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 29 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 37 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:08 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 · 17
What you actually pay
“Extra vehicle fee of $8.00 per night of stay on the second vehicle in each single family campsite and on the third and fourth vehicle in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $36–$108 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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:08 UTC · rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
42 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 39 mapped sitesAll 42 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 39 of the 42 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. 41 of the 42 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 001 | tent only nonelectric | $36–$108 | |||||
| A | 003 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 72 ft | 244 ft | 163 ft | $36 | |
| A | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 73 ft | 297 ft | 197 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| A | 005 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 70 ft | 261 ft | 301 ft | $36 | |
| A | 006 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 246 ft | 370 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| A | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 55 ft | 222 ft | 430 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| A | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 61 ft | 201 ft | 524 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| A | 019 | tent only nonelectric | 44 ft | 172 ft | 478 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| A | 020 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 44 ft | 130 ft | 493 ft | $36 | |
| A | 021 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 36 ft | 167 ft | 378 ft | $36 | |
| A | 022 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 28 ft | 131 ft | 404 ft | $36 |
| A | 023 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 28 ft | 122 ft | 389 ft | $36 | |
| A | 024 | tent only nonelectric | 45 ft | 140 ft | 338 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| A | 025 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 45 ft | 96 ft | 363 ft | $36 | |
| A | 026 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 50 ft | 125 ft | 301 ft | $36 | |
| A | 027 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 50 ft | 84 ft | 311 ft | $36 | |
| A | 028 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 58 ft | 124 ft | 253 ft | $36 | |
| A | 029 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 37 ft | 84 ft | 254 ft | $36 | |
| A | 030 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 37 ft | 119 ft | 219 ft | $36 | |
| A | 032 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | $36 | ||||
| A | 033 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 89 ft | 155 ft | 144 ft | $36 | |
| A | 034 - Host Site | host pad | 30 ft | $36 | ||||
| B | 035 | tent only nonelectric | 55 ft | 100 ft | 314 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| B | 036 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 53 ft | 110 ft | 247 ft | $36 | |
| B | 037 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 59 ft | 124 ft | 116 ft | $36 | |
| B | 038 | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 127 ft | 96 ft | $36 | ||
| B | 039 | tent only nonelectric | 77 ft | 110 ft | 163 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| B | 042 | tent only nonelectric | 59 ft | 169 ft | 123 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| B | 043 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 53 ft | 163 ft | 226 ft | $36 | |
| B | 044 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 146 ft | 262 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 009 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 54 ft | 181 ft | 624 ft | $36 | |
| C | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 61 ft | 195 ft | 701 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| C | 011 | tent only nonelectric | 86 ft | 214 ft | 791 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| C | 012 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 98 ft | 268 ft | 879 ft | $36 | |
| C | 013 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 88 ft | 188 ft | 954 ft | $36 | |
| C | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 48 ft | 172 ft | 876 ft | $36–$108 | ||
| C | 015 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 48 ft | 124 ft | 895 ft | $36 | |
| C | 016 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 61 ft | 135 ft | 717 ft | $36 | |
| C | 017 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 54 ft | 137 ft | 619 ft | $36 | |
| C | 018 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 61 ft | 140 ft | 558 ft | $36 | |
| Yurt | 002 | yurt | 20 ft | 72 ft | 271 ft | 91 ft | $111 | |
| Yurt | 031 | yurt | 20 ft | 68 ft | 104 ft | 202 ft | $111 |
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 42 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Camp Three CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 0.9 mi
Thunderbird Group CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 1.4 miChico Flat Dispersed CampingSequoia National Forest · 2.0 mi
Hospital FlatSequoia National Forest · 2.2 mi
Goldledge CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 5.4 miFrom Bakersfield, take Highway 178 East to Lake Isabella. From Lake Isabella, take Highway 155 around the west side of the lake to the town of Kernville. From Kernville, go 4 miles north on Sierra Way (Mountain 99) 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 Kernville, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 81°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 31°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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 · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Headquarters is in California’s 20th congressional district. Its representative, Vince Fong (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 moneyVince FongU.S. Representative · California’s 20th 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 Headquarters, Sequoia National Forest, California
Dear Vince Fong, I’m a constituent in California’s 20th district. I tried to camp at Headquarters, Sequoia National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 41 sites at Headquarters are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 29 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. Headquarters keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Headquarters. 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 Headquarters (Sequoia 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 Headquarters, Sequoia National Forest, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Headquarters, Sequoia National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 41 sites at Headquarters are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 29 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. Headquarters keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Headquarters. 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 Headquarters (Sequoia 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 Headquarters, Sequoia National Forest, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Headquarters, Sequoia National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 41 sites at Headquarters are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 29 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. Headquarters keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Headquarters. 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 Headquarters (Sequoia National Forest, California) via campanac.com