Indian Valley
1Heads up1 fire 27 mi away
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $24–$48Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 1716 on recreation.gov
- Season
- April 17 – October 15Open April 17 through October 15
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Indian Valley Campground is located alongside the North Yuba River just off Highway 49, about 11 miles west of Downieville. Visitors enjoy a wide variety of recreational activities in the area, including hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, white water boating, and gold panning. This facility is operated and maintained by the Tahoe National Forest. Keep reading
Recreation
The North Yuba River offers swimming, wading, and rainbow trout fishing. Seasonal rafting, kayaking and tubing are also popular water activities. A network of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and motorcycle singeltrack criss-crosses the surrounding area including the Yuba River, Halls Ranch, and Butcher Ranch trails and the Downieville Downhill.
Facilities
The campground offers both single and double family campsites. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
The campground sits on the north bank of the North Yuba River. Tumbled rock piles from early gold dredging activity are scattered around the campground. A forest of oak, fir, pine and madrone trees provides ample shade. Many sites have views of the river. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
Nearby Attractions
Indian Valley Campground is located on the Yuba Donner Scenic Byway (Highway 49) near many gold rush era historical sites and old mining towns such as Camptonville, Goodyears Bar, and Downieville. Many points of interest lie along Highway 49 and are part of the 49 miles of Highway 49 driving tour; look for interpretive signs and other historical sites along this tour route. Other attractions include the North Yuba River, Indian Valley Outpost, New Bullards Bar Reservoir, Downieville, and a network of miles of motorcycle singletrack.
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
One vehicle (or two motorcycles) included with reservation. Additional vehicle fee cost is $5/each per night for all untowed vehicles. Please pay extra vehicle fee at the self-serve fee tube located near campground entrance.
Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers
Click here for more information on the Tahoe National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 4
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 or 478-6253 (voice), (530) 288-3656 (TDD)
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.
Flatten the Curve Maintaining social distance of 6ft or more when walking, hiking, jogging or biking. • Stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arms’ length) from other people. • Do not gather in groups. • Stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings. Remember to bring soap & hand sanitizer. • Clean your hands often. • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. • If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub your hands together until they feel dry. STAY HOME IF YOU’RE SICK. Wear a cloth face covering in public. Cover coughs and sneezes. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces. Before traveling please check for local advisories: http://www.sierracounty.ca.gov/ For more information on Corona Virus visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
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
- 17
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 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 and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground sits…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, River
- Auto Touring
- Biking
- Cultural Activities
- Fishing
- Mountain biking
- Rafting
- Scenic drives
- Swimming
- Tubing
- Night sky · 589th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:41 UTC
recreation.gov lists 16 of the 17 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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
“Additional vehicle fee cost is $5/each per night for all untowed vehicles.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $24–$48 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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:41 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
17 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 16 mapped sitesAll 17 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 16 of the 17 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 001 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 58 ft | 297 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 002 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 58 ft | 320 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 003 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 69 ft | 215 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 004 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 69 ft | 151 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 005 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 76 ft | 132 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 006 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 73 ft | 202 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 007 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 77 ft | 218 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 008 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 71 ft | 250 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 009 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 71 ft | 226 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 010 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 75 ft | 193 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 011 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 98 ft | 119 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 012 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 127 ft | 193 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 013 | type not stated | 30 ft | 272 ft | ||
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 74 ft | 280 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 015 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 74 ft | 295 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 016 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 74 ft | 325 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA INDIAN VALLEY | 017 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 58 ft | 377 ft | $24–$48 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Rocky RestTahoe National Forest · 0.3 mi
Fiddle CreekTahoe National Forest · 0.6 mi
CAL-IDATahoe National Forest · 0.8 mi
CarltonTahoe National Forest · 0.9 mi
RamshornTahoe National Forest · 4.2 miStrawberry CampgroundPlumas National Forest · 7.3 miFrom Downieville, take Highway 49 south for about 11 miles. The campground is on the left side of the highway.
From Nevada City, take Highway 49 north for just over 30 miles. The campground is on the right side of the highway.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Pike, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 72°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical April night 36°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

Indian Valley 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 →