Horse Creek
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 19 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 15:08 UTC
- A night
- $20–$40Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 8480 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Horse Creek Campground is located on the Kaweah River in the foothills of central California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Terminus Dam on Kaweah Lake is three miles east of Lemon Cove, CA. Keep reading
Recreation
Kaweah Lake offers boating, water skiing and sailing. Horse and walking trails are available during low water. Anglers can fish for largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish and rainbow trout.
Facilities
The campground contains 80 sites without hookups. Amenities include flush toilets, showers and a dump station. Weekend programs are held May through September in the campground's amphitheater.
Natural Features
The campground is settled on the river in a broad, arid valley with few trees. Shade is limited.
Nearby Attractions
The Horse Creek campground is 11 miles from Sequoia National Park's southern entrance station. Visitors enjoy viewing the inspiring Giant Forest Grove and mighty General Sherman Tree - the world's largest tree in volume. It is one hour more past the entrance station to reach 5,000' and the mightly Sequoias. Note: Vehicles over 22' will not be allowed up Highway 198 through Sequoia National Park. It is a 1930s, two lane, switch back, road on the side of a mountain. Larger vehicles need to use the northern route on Hwy 180 thorugh Sequoia National Forest to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. In this area you can view America's Christmas Tree, The General Grant Tree and access the other areas. The Visitor Center is shared with the Forest Service and National Park Service.
What the agency tells you
Park Hours:
- Peak Season: 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. (Memorial Day through Labor Day). Gate closes at 10 pm.
- Non-Peak Season: 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. Gate closes at 9 pm.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Access to the shoreline may vary from month to month
After hours, the entrance is closed to inbound traffic
Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Quiet Hours: 10:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m.
Be campfire safe. Do not leave the campfire unattended. The campfire should be completely cold / put out upon departure.
Lake Kaweah Park Rules and Regulations are posted at the information board.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 84 · 4 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Paved pads
- 78 of 84
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed at 83 of 84 sites
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 23 of 36 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Portable Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 78 of 84 campsite records / PORTABLE TOILETS on 20 of 84 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- SHOWERS on 79 of 84 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 76 of 84 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 1 of 84 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 55 of 84 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Information Site
- Swimming
- Visitor center
- Night sky · 1001st darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 15:08 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 15:08 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 51 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 76 are free on Wed, Oct 21. read 15:08 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.
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 · 37
What you actually pay
“There is a $5.00 fee for an extra vehicle or a visitor vehicle.” · the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s own fee record
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $20–$40 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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 1
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 15:08 UTC
- TuleSuccess Lake · 22 mi · 51 of 92 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:08 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
84 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 80 mapped sitesAll 84 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 84 of the 84 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. 80 of the 84 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| CORRAL | 81 | equestrian nonelectric | 50 ft | 86 ft | 207 ft | 2,324 ft | $20–$40 | |
| CORRAL | 82 | equestrian nonelectric | 50 ft | 103 ft | 165 ft | 2,407 ft | $20–$40 | |
| CORRAL | 83 | equestrian nonelectric | 50 ft | 126 ft | 110 ft | 2,422 ft | $20–$40 | |
| CORRAL | 84 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 86 ft | 288 ft | 2,266 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LIVE | 11 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 56 ft | 760 ft | 258 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 12 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 103 ft | 880 ft | 83 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 13 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 103 ft | 779 ft | 162 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 14 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 103 ft | 783 ft | 134 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 15 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 63 ft | 868 ft | 102 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 16 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 63 ft | 857 ft | 165 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 17 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 60 ft | 796 ft | 240 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 18 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 79 ft | 880 ft | 237 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 19 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 71 ft | 769 ft | 397 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 20 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 47 ft | 843 ft | 371 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 21 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 47 ft | 881 ft | 346 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 22 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 98 ft | 864 ft | 486 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 23 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 63 ft | 806 ft | 480 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 25 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 88 ft | 769 ft | 596 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 26 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 64 ft | 735 ft | 542 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 27 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 64 ft | 686 ft | 506 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 28 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 63 ft | 745 ft | 466 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 29 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 75 ft | 663 ft | 442 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 30 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 78 ft | 671 ft | 342 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 31 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 60 ft | 748 ft | 292 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 32 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 82 ft | 636 ft | 295 ft | $20–$30 | |
| LIVE | 33 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 82 ft | 627 ft | 287 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 34 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 98 ft | 615 ft | 325 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 35 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 56 ft | 706 ft | 276 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 36 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 100 ft | 659 ft | 426 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 37 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 85 ft | 566 ft | 442 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 38 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 85 ft | 535 ft | 526 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 39 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 151 ft | 577 ft | 575 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 40 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 155 ft | 574 ft | 695 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 41 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 147 ft | 513 ft | 848 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 42 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 80 ft | 424 ft | 1,039 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 43 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 128 ft | 296 ft | 1,101 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 44 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 119 ft | 380 ft | 1,182 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 45 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 80 ft | 472 ft | 1,089 ft | $20–$30 | |
| SHOR | 46 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 107 ft | 515 ft | 1,185 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 01 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 194 ft | 854 ft | 1,694 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 59 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 67 ft | 542 ft | 1,903 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 60 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 59 ft | 459 ft | 2,046 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 61 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 166 ft | 393 ft | 2,251 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 62 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 468 ft | 2,090 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 63 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 58 ft | 529 ft | 2,071 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 64 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 58 ft | 551 ft | 2,016 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 65 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 59 ft | 518 ft | 1,996 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 66 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 65 ft | 561 ft | 1,932 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 67 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 90 ft | 651 ft | 1,859 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 68 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 45 ft | 602 ft | 1,854 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 69 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 45 ft | 647 ft | 1,814 ft | $20–$30 | |
| TERM | 70 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 73 ft | 719 ft | 1,743 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 02 | type not stated | 38 ft | 50 amp | 934 ft | 1,585 ft | ||
| YOKU | 03 | type not stated | 40 ft | 50 amp | 962 ft | 1,490 ft | ||
| YOKU | 04a | type not stated | 38 ft | 50 amp | 1,026 ft | 1,414 ft | ||
| YOKU | 04b | type not stated | 36 ft | 50 amp | 1,055 ft | 1,397 ft | ||
| YOKU | 05 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 156 ft | 954 ft | 1,311 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 06 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 39 ft | 769 ft | 1,321 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 07 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 156 ft | 819 ft | 1,191 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 08 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 87 ft | 663 ft | 1,223 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 09 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 114 ft | 580 ft | 1,023 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 10 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 114 ft | 607 ft | 909 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 47 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 87 ft | 656 ft | 1,304 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 48 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 70 ft | 655 ft | 1,387 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 49 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 71 ft | 516 ft | 1,347 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 50 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 101 ft | 450 ft | 1,285 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 51 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 107 ft | 365 ft | 1,341 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 52 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 71 ft | 445 ft | 1,384 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 53 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 65 ft | 340 ft | 1,485 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 54 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 39 ft | 350 ft | 1,537 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 55 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 39 ft | 349 ft | 1,573 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 56 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 143 ft | 284 ft | 1,713 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 57 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 101 ft | 488 ft | 1,793 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 58 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 88 ft | 592 ft | 1,839 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 71 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 39 ft | 737 ft | 1,350 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 72 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 70 ft | 653 ft | 1,455 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 73 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 80 ft | 694 ft | 1,535 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 74 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 80 ft | 598 ft | 1,553 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 75 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 60 ft | 678 ft | 1,614 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 76 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 44 ft | 625 ft | 1,645 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 77 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 64 ft | 558 ft | 1,626 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 78 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 65 ft | 501 ft | 1,665 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 79 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 44 ft | 592 ft | 1,677 ft | $20–$30 | |
| YOKU | 80 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 101 ft | 387 ft | 1,791 ft | $20–$30 |
25 of 84 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Grouse Valley CabinsGiant Sequoia National Monument · 10 mi
South Fork CampgroundSequoia National Park · 11 miAuxiliary DamSequoia National Park · 12 miChamise Flat Dispersed CampgroundSequoia National Park · 12 miOld Goldledge CampgroundSequoia National Park · 12 miSouth Fork RecSequoia National Park · 12 miFrom Visalia, CA, take HWY 198 for 20 miles east. Follow signs to Horse Creek Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Three Rivers, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 51°F, day 83°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 37°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 · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Horse Creek 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 Horse Creek, California
Dear Vince Fong, I’m a constituent in California’s 20th district. I tried to camp at Horse Creek, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 80 of the 84 campsites the agency files at Horse Creek, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 51 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Horse Creek keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Horse Creek. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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 Horse Creek (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 Horse Creek, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Horse Creek, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 80 of the 84 campsites the agency files at Horse Creek, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 51 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Horse Creek keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Horse Creek. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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 Horse Creek (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 Horse Creek, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Horse Creek, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 80 of the 84 campsites the agency files at Horse Creek, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 51 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Horse Creek keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Horse Creek. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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 Horse Creek (California) via campanac.com