Lakes Basin
1Heads up1 fire 41 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $36–$67Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 2211 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lakes Basin Campground (6,445 feet) is situated in the ruins of an old lodge, Lakes Center Lodge, built in 1912 and removed in the late 1970's. Some of the old stonework still exists, including steps leading into a deep pool of Gray Eagle Creek. This campground is within easy reach of many trailheads. The campground also offers a tent only group campsite by reservation only. Keep reading
Recreation
Gold Lakes Basin offers a variety of recreational activities including boating, fishing and hiking. A network of over 30 miles of maintained trails branch out across the area, and the Pacific Crest trail can be easily reached from the trail system. Many of the trails are open to hiking, biking and horseback riding, including the 1-mile Grassy Lakes Trail, accessible from the campground. At nearby Gold Lake, where a boat ramp is provided, visitors enjoy convenient access to boating and fishing. Once on the water, anglers won't have any trouble trolling for brown and rainbow trout and Mackinaws in the cool, clear waters.
Facilities
The single loop campground offers family campsites and one group tent-only site. One double-family site is also available. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided. All sites have fire rings with grills and picnic tables. Sites are as listed. SITE NUMBER, SITE LENGTH, SHADE, MAXIMUM VEHICLES, ALLOWABLE EQUIPMENT SIte #001 GROUP FULL #2 Site Lenght-42', Shade-SUN, Max Vehicles-2, Equipment-RV, TENT, TRAILER, VAN #4 Site Length-28', Shade-PARTIAL, Max Vehicles-2, Equipment- RV, TENT, TRAILER, VAN #6A,6B Site Lenght-MULTI 45', Shade-SUN, Max Vehicles-4, Equipment- RV, TENT, TRAILER, VAN #10 Site Lenght-26', Shade-FULL, Max Vehicles -1, Equipment- TENT, VAN #13 Site Lenght-41', Shade-FULL, Max Vehicles-2, Equipment- TENT, VAN, SMALL TRAILER #15 Site Length-40', Shade-FULL, Max Vehicles-2, Equipment- RV, TENT, TRAILER, VAN #18 Site Lenght-42', Shade-PARTIAL, Max Vehicles-2, Equipment- RV, TENT, TRAILER, VAN #20 Site Length-42', Shade-PARTIAL, Max Vehicles-2, Equipment-RV, TENT, TRAILER, VAN #21 Site Length-30', Shade-PARTIAL, Max Vehicles-2, Equipment- RV, TENT, TRAILER, VAN #22 Site Lenght-26", Shade-PARTIAL, Max Vehicles- 1, Equipment- TENT, VAN Natural Features The area was formed by glaciers and is characterized by breathtaking mountain scenery--most notably the craggy peaks of the Sierra Buttes and over 20 natural glacial lakes, most of which are accessible by well-maintained hiking trails. The campground sits among fir and aspen trees along Gray Eagle Creek. Mt. Elwell towers to the west. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (530) 836-2575.
Nearby Attractions
Visiting Plumas Eureka State Park is a worthy side trip. About 18 miles from the campground, this historic site offers a gift shop, visitor center, walking tour and information about local mining history. Mills Peak Fire Lookout provides a panoramic view of Sierra Peaks and Mohawk Valley. Visit the Red Fir Interpretive Trail along the way. Frazier Falls Trail is best viewed in the Spring. This is a 1 mile paved accessible trail to an overview across from the falls. The Sierra Buttes and its lookout overlook the southern end of Lakes Basin in Tahoe National Forest. Gold Lake Boat Launch Facility has a two lane ramp, loading dock and day use area. A hand launch gravel ramp suitable for launching small water craft is located at Gold Lake Dam Day Use Area.
What the agency tells you
About half the sites are available on first come first serve
Generally, campsites will accommodate 2 vehicles. The first vehicle is included in the site fee, the second vehicle fee will be collected onsite at the daily rate posted on the fee sign.
Caution: bears, raccoons, etc. frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers
Everything else this campground posts · 11
No RVs on sites 10, 13, 22 and site 1 (group site) Also, only one vehicle allowed in sites 10 and 22.
Water spigots are shared between sites.
Walk-in sites available year round (weather permitting).
After mid-September there is dry camping only.
Click here for more information on the Plumas National Forest
Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by using only local firewood. This wood is available for purchase from the camp host, or collecting in the national forest. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
Behaved pets are welcome. Dogs in the campground must be on leash.
Off road vehicles are not allowed on any campground road.
Firewood Bundles are available for purchase from a Campground Host.
Check- In is 2:00pm and Check-Out is Noon
Campground Map
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 22 · 4 tent-only, 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Paved pads
- 1 of 22
- Accessible sites
- 2
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…double-family site is also available. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided.…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…site is also available. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided. All sites have…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Birding
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Mountain biking
- Picnicking
- Swimming
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 11 of the 22 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 · 15
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $36–$67 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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
25 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 11 mapped sitesAll 25 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 24 of the 25 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. 22 of the 25 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 003 | type not stated | 58 ft | 483 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 005 | type not stated | 139 ft | 575 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 007 | type not stated | 165 ft | 560 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 008 | type not stated | 24 ft | 518 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 009 | type not stated | 173 ft | 469 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 011 | type not stated | 122 ft | 452 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 012 | type not stated | 25 ft | 501 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 014 | type not stated | 123 ft | 489 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 016 | type not stated | 96 ft | 565 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 017 | type not stated | 139 ft | 519 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | 019 | type not stated | 33 ft | 527 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | XXX | unnamed record | yes | $36 | |||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | XXX12 | unnamed record | 79 ft | 583 ft | $36 | ||
| AREA LAKES BASIN | XXX13 | unnamed record | 161 ft | 554 ft | $36 | ||
| FAM | 002 | standard nonelectric | 117 ft | 71 ft | 412 ft | $36–$67 | |
| FAM | 004 | standard nonelectric | yes | 62 ft | 136 ft | 416 ft | $36–$67 |
| FAM | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 28 ft | 169 ft | 528 ft | $36 | |
| FAM | 013 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | 30 ft | 518 ft | $36 | |
| FAM | 015 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 175 ft | 571 ft | $36–$67 | |
| FAM | 018 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 182 ft | 612 ft | $36–$67 | |
| FAM | 020 | standard nonelectric | 9 ft | 10 ft | 517 ft | $36–$67 | |
| FAM | 021 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 186 ft | 555 ft | $36–$67 | |
| FAM | 022 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 96 ft | 478 ft | $36 | |
| GROUP | 001 | group tent only area nonelectric | yes | 9 ft | 17 ft | 511 ft | $80 |
| MULT | 6A6B | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 47 ft | 562 ft | $36–$67 |
The agency files 3 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It types every one of them MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Gold Lake 4 X 4 CampgroundPlumas National Forest · 0.3 mi
Gold Lake Campground (CA)Plumas National Forest · 1.0 miGoose Lake CampgroundPlumas National Forest · 1.3 miSnag Lake CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 1.7 miLakes Basin CampgroundPlumas National Forest · 2.4 mi
DiabloTahoe National Forest · 2.6 miIn Graeagle, CA, at the intersection of State Rt. 89 and Forest Rt. 24 (Gold Lakes directional sign), turn onto Rt. 24 and go 6.9 miles to campground sign. Turn right onto the single-lane road and proceed 0.3 miles. The campground will be on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Graeagle, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 29°F, day 63°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 17°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
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
Lakes Basin 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 →