Kirch Flat Group Campground
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 13 mi
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
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
At approximately 1,000 feet in elevation, Kirch Flat Campground resides on a large flat area on the river’s edge of the scenic Kings River and is surrounded by rolling, oak-covered foothills and spectacular river canyon and mountain views of the Sierra Nevada. Though it can be very hot in the summer months, Kirch Flat Group Campground is a great place to camp during the spring and fall months and is popular with San Joaquin Valley residents, fisherman, day users, and whitewater enthusiasts who come to enjoy many challenging rapids and beautiful canyon scenery of the King’s River. Keep reading
A good amount of shade is provided by oak and pine trees throughout the area; however, there is no running water or cell service at the campground. Campers are encouraged to bring their own garbage bags, always keep a clean campsite, and keep trash and food packed up so wildlife is not tempted. The nearest services are in Sanger, a decently sized town about 45 miles (1 hour 20 min.) away, with all essential services (i.e., gas, supplies, groceries, restaurants, etc.). Although there is no cell phone coverage at the campground, there is a location with cell phone reception approximately 10 minutes away or the nearest pay phone is at Balch Camp, a PG & E community about a 10-minute drive. Watch out for rattlesnakes and poison oak. Poison Oak abounds in this area. Please avoid plants with three leaf clusters: "Leaves of three, let it be!" Recreation The Kings River offers an enjoyable ten-mile rafting run with Class III and IV rapids. Rafting season is usually from late April to mid-July depending on river runoff. No permit is required to raft the river. The Kings River is a 1 1/2 hour drive east of Fresno towards Pine Flat Reservoir via the Trimmer Springs Road. Put ins are available at Winfrey Mine and Garnet Dike up river from Kirch Flat Group Campground. There are several commercial outfitters that are permitted with the Sierra National Forest, for commercial trips on the Kings River. Please contact the High Sierra Ranger District for more information. A short walk from the Group Campground puts you on the edge of the Kings River, cooling off from the heat or working the water's edge fishing are popular activities. Please always use caution as the rivers current can be stronger than realized. There are several hikes available in the area, including hiking up the Kings River to the wild and scenic portion of the river. To get the trail head, continue driving upriver from the campground past Garnet Dike put in, shortly after the vault toilet there the road ends at the trailhead.
Facilities
Area Amenities: Tent camping recommended - RV's 30' of less fit, picnic tables, toilets, parking, fire rings, pedestal grills Fees: Currently in the fee proposal process. Reservation fee is $8, with a site fee pending as it goes through the process. Open Season: Year round Usage: Light Maximum length of stay = 14 days Maximum vehicle length = 30' Maximum group size = 50 Water: No Restroom: Vault Toilet Operated By: Sierra National Forest Information Center: High Sierra Ranger District 29688 Auberry Rd P.O. Box 559 Prather, CA 93651 (559) 855-5355 Hearing Impaired California Relay Service 711 Open: Monday-Friday Hours: 8:00am-4:30pm Natural Features The Kings River as it pours out of Kings Canyon and into the foothills is the big draw to this area. Upriver from the campgrounds and developed recreation sites, the river is designated by congress as wild and scenic. At the campground, the river is just about to enter Pine Flat reservoir, however there is no motorized boat access from the reservoir. The Sierra Nevada foothills are incredibly beautiful in the spring as the grasses green up and the native orange California poppies paint the hill sides, along with other wildflowers. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (559) 855-5355.
What the agency tells you
Tent camping recommended. Site can accomodate up to 30' RV
Maximum occupancy is 50 people and no more than 14 vehicles.
Sierra National Forest Order- Camping Restrictions: prohibits camping in one place for more than 14 days within any 30- day period.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Watch out for rattlesnakes and poison oak.
Dogs must be on a 6' leash at all times.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…length = 30' Maximum group size = 50 Water: No Restroom: Vault Toilet Operated By: Sierra National…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, River
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Water access
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- None
Full this Saturdayread 15:34 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
3 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:17 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
The one site on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 1 is free on Mon, Oct 19. read 15:34 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 · 11
What you actually pay
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 · 4
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 3
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:17 UTC
- Trimmer CampgroundPine Flat Lake · 8.2 mi · 5 of 20 site-nights open
- Island ParkPine Flat Lake · 9.3 mi · 42 of 68 site-nights open
- Dinkey CreekSierra National Forest · 13 mi · 56 of 119 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:34 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites
All 1 sites
| Group | Kirch Flat Group Campground | group standard area nonelectric |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Camp Four and Half CabinSequoia National Forest · 1.9 miGravel Flat Camping AreaSierra National Forest · 2.2 miCamp 4 CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 2.8 miMill Flat CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 3.3 miBear Wallow Camping AreaSierra National Forest · 3.5 miTake Belmont Avenue east from Fresno. Follow Belmont Avenue until it turns into Trimmer Springs Road. Continue on Trimmer Springs Road past the community of Piedra and all the way around Pine Flat Reservoir. Campground is located at the extreme east end of the lake where the Kings River merges into Pine Flat Reservior (dependent on water level). Driving time from Fresno is approximately 1 1/2 hours.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Squaw Valley, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 50°F, day 80°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
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
Kirch Flat Group Campground 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 Kirch Flat Group Campground, Sierra National Forest, California
Dear Vince Fong, I’m a constituent in California’s 20th district. I tried to camp at Kirch Flat Group Campground, Sierra National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Kirch Flat Group Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Kirch Flat Group Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Kirch Flat Group Campground. 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 Kirch Flat Group Campground (Sierra 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 Kirch Flat Group Campground, Sierra National Forest, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Kirch Flat Group Campground, Sierra National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Kirch Flat Group Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Kirch Flat Group Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Kirch Flat Group Campground. 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 Kirch Flat Group Campground (Sierra 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 Kirch Flat Group Campground, Sierra National Forest, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Kirch Flat Group Campground, Sierra National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Kirch Flat Group Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Kirch Flat Group Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Kirch Flat Group Campground. 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 Kirch Flat Group Campground (Sierra National Forest, California) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…the area; however, there is no running water or cell service at the campground. Campers are encouraged to bring…”