Indian Springs
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 25 mi
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $24From, per site
- Sites
- 3634 on recreation.gov
- Season
- May 21 – October 15Open May 21 through October 15
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Indian Springs Campground is located in the Tahoe National Forest along Interstate 80 the South Yuba River. It is about three miles west of Big Bend and 23 miles west of Truckee. Visitors enjoy the area for its swimming, fishing, and trail opportunities, as well as its historic significance along the California Emigrant Trail. Keep reading
Recreation
The South Yuba River offers rainbow trout fishing and a popular swimming hole is located alongside the campground in the South Yuba River. The Indian Springs OHV Staging Area is adjacent to the campground and offers access to many OHV trails including the popular Fordyce 4x4 jeep trail. The historic California Emigrant Trail passes nearby. Many additional hiking, biking and off-road vehicle trails are in the surrounding area, including the Indian Springs OHV Trailhead.
Facilities
The campground offers single-family campsites, a few of which are designated as walk-to sites for tent camping only. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided.
Natural Features
The campground is situated on the north bank of the South Yuba River in a scenic forest of mature cedar and pine trees, which offer ample shade. The elevation is 5,600 feet. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
Nearby Attractions
Donner Lake is located 19 miles east via Interstate 80 and historic Route 40, which is also known as the Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental highway. Many points of interest lie along Route 40, including China Wall, Rainbow Bridge, Sugar Bowl, Lake Van Norden and Ice Lakes. Other attractions include Donner Summit PCT, Loch Leven, and Castle Peak Trailheads, Alpha and Omega Scenic Overlook and Interpretive Trail, Chalk Bluff OHV trails, and Grouse Ridge Non-Motorized Area.
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
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 Yuba River Ranger District (530) 288-3231 (voice), (530) 288-3656 (TDD).
In accordance with standard industry practices, Tahoe National Forest will assess an additional $5 vehicle fee per day for 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. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered one vehicle, and the third and fourth motorcycle are also considered one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles.
Freeway noise can be heard from campground
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Click here for more information on the Tahoe 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.
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
- 36 · 7 walk-in
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided.…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided. Natural Features…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Educational Programs
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic Sites
- Swimming
- Water access
- Night sky · 808th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 38 km away
- Patchy color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 34 of the 36 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, Tahoe National Forest will assess an additional $5 vehicle fee per day for the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $24 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 · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
36 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 34 mapped sitesAll 36 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 35 of the 36 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. 36 of the 36 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| LOWER | 01 | type not stated | 35 ft | 402 ft | 502 ft | $24 | |
| LOWER | 02 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 57 ft | 354 ft | 452 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 03 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 30 ft | 304 ft | 435 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 04 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 30 ft | 282 ft | 419 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 05 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 32 ft | 278 ft | 458 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 06 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 36 ft | 246 ft | 453 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 07 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 34 ft | 280 ft | 489 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 08 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 59 ft | 331 ft | 538 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 09 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 35 ft | 366 ft | 594 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 10 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 36 ft | 385 ft | 562 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 11 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 33 ft | 397 ft | 605 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 12 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 33 ft | 428 ft | 590 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 13 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 33 ft | 451 ft | 566 ft | $24 |
| LOWER | 14 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 27 ft | 300 ft | 388 ft | $24 |
| S&P | Single S&P | type not stated | 35 ft | $24 | |||
| UPPER | 15 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 35 ft | 337 ft | 394 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 16 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 27 ft | 300 ft | 361 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 17 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 28 ft | 327 ft | 360 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 18 | standard nonelectric | 31 ft | 39 ft | 322 ft | 207 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 19 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 45 ft | 321 ft | 152 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 20 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 45 ft | 366 ft | 165 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 21 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 43 ft | 448 ft | 261 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 22 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 43 ft | 405 ft | 244 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 23 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 40 ft | 474 ft | 372 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 24 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 40 ft | 438 ft | 340 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 25 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 48 ft | 471 ft | 426 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 26 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 48 ft | 432 ft | 384 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 27 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 43 ft | 449 ft | 486 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 28 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 43 ft | 425 ft | 451 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 29 | walk to | 20 ft | 20 ft | 290 ft | 325 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 30 | walk to | 20 ft | 20 ft | 287 ft | 305 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 31 | walk to | 20 ft | 20 ft | 283 ft | 280 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 32 | walk to | 20 ft | 20 ft | 282 ft | 261 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 33 | walk to | 20 ft | 20 ft | 280 ft | 241 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 34 | walk to | 20 ft | 19 ft | 274 ft | 222 ft | $24 |
| UPPER | 35 | walk to | 20 ft | 19 ft | 283 ft | 204 ft | $24 |
25 of 36 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Big Bend Group (Yuba River)Tahoe National Forest · 3.1 mi
Hampshire RocksTahoe National Forest · 3.9 miSterling Lake CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.4 miGrouse Ridge CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.7 miRucker Lake CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.8 miFrom either east bound or west bound Interstate 80, take exit 164 for Eagle Lakes Road. Turn north onto Eagle Lakes Road. Follow the road as it turns west and turn left into the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Kingvale, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 48°F, day 63°F.
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
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
Indian Springs 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 →