CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Forest Service · Sequoia National Forest · CA

Live Oak South

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 2 mi

Wildfire

Cyrus fire · 2.4 mi away · 543 acres · 95% contained · updated Oct 16, 2026

Wildfire

Carrier fire · 37 mi away · updated Oct 17, 2026

Fires: NIFC/IRWIN via MTJP wildfire tracker · Oct 17, 2026

ReservableBooking 6 months out; today unlocks April 17. Season not published.

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book

Right now: Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
Sites: 90All of them booked ahead

Photos · U.S. Forest Service

10 ftLongest rig

2,670 ftElevation

2,101 ftWater · Isabella Lake

In townWofford Heights, CA

0%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices

In the agency’s own words

Reservations not being accepted. Live Oak South Campground is located across the road from Lake Isabella, a popular destination for boating, windsurfing, fishing and swimming. Lake Isabella sits within Sequoia National Forest, just 6 miles from the town of Lake Isabella. Keep reading

Recreation

Water activities at Lake Isabella are popular and include swimming, water skiing, windsurfing and fishing. The lake is known for its trout fishing during the colder months. Other species include black and white crappie, bluegill, catfish and largemouth bass.

Facilities

The campground offers sites for tent camping only. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided.

Natural Features

The campground is situated in a grove of scenic oak trees at an approximate elevation of 2,500 feet. Lake Isabella sits at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada range. The 11,000-acre lake marks the division between the Upper Kern River and the Lower Kern River. Sequoia National Forest is named for the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree, which grows in more than 30 groves on the forest's lower slopes. The forest comprises about 1.1 million acres. Elevations range from 1,000 to 12,000 feet, creating precipitous canyons and mountain streams with spectacular waterfalls such as Salmon Creek Falls and Grizzly Falls.

Nearby Attractions

Live Oak South provides a good base for day trips to Sequoia National Park. The Trail of a Hundred Giants and numerous sequoia groves can be found nearby within Giant Sequoia National Monument. The Giant Sequoia Mercantile is just 5 miles away in Kernville, and offers a wide variety of books, maps, gifts and camping equipment.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

No hookups available

Rule

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 Kern River Ranger District (760) 376-3781.- 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.

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 90 · 90 tent-only
Hookups: None
Longest rig: 10 ft
Paved pads: All
Accessible sites: None listed
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Not allowed

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets: Flush Toilets; “…with a picnic table and campfire ring. Flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. Natural…”
Drinking water: Yes; “…ring. Flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground is…”
Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek
Night sky · 870th darkest of 1,201 in CA: Bortle 4

Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking window6 months outBooking opens 6 months ahead; today unlocks arrivals through April 17, 2027. The agency publishes no reservable season in the record we hold, so the window may close earlier than that.recreation.gov

Max stay14 nightsthe facility record

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record

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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 9

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

What a stay costs

The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

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

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

90 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 30 mapped sites

79 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most room081 1043 ft049 237 ft046 209 ft041 148 ft040 141 ft

Least room027 27 ft028 27 ft020 52 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 90 sites

30 of 90 sites located

Tent only30

019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030 031 032 033 034 035 036 037 038 039 040 041 042 044 046 047 048 049 081

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

Sleeps


AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	001	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	002	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	003	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	004	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	005	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	006	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	007	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	008	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	009	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	010	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	011	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	012	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	013	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	014	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	015	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	016	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	017	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	018	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	019	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	60 ft	2,013 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	020	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	53 ft	2,073 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	021	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	53 ft	2,073 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	022	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	64 ft	2,136 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	023	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	59 ft	2,203 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	024	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	87 ft	2,335 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	025	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	95 ft	2,304 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	026	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	87 ft	2,406 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	027	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	27 ft	2,492 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	028	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	27 ft	2,515 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	029	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	64 ft	2,642 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	030	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	53 ft	2,641 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	031	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	53 ft	2,601 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	032	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	74 ft	2,503 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	033	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	83 ft	2,522 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	034	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	108 ft	2,391 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	035	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	75 ft	2,294 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	036	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	66 ft	2,219 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	037	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	53 ft	2,193 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	038	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	53 ft	2,150 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	039	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	85 ft	2,022 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	040	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	141 ft	2,370 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	041	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	148 ft	2,541 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	042	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	124 ft	2,707 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	043	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	044	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	119 ft	2,628 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	045	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	046	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	209 ft	2,134 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	047	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	105 ft	2,313 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	048	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	105 ft	2,390 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	049	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	237 ft	2,644 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	050	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	051	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	052	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	053	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	054	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	055	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	056	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	057	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	058	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	059	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	060	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	061	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	062	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	063	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	064	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	065	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	066	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	067	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	068	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	069	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	070	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	071	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	072	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	073	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	074	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	075	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	076	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	077	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	078	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	079	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	080	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	081	tent only nonelectric	10 ft	1043 ft	980 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	082	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	083	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	084	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	085	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	086	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	087	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	088	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	089	tent only nonelectric	10 ft
AREA LIVE OAK SOUTH	090	tent only nonelectric	10 ft

25 of 90 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate35.70215, -118.46066

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone760-376-1815

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Live OakSequoia National Forest · 0.0 mi Live Oak North CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 0.0 mi

Tillie CreekSequoia National Forest · 0.1 mi

Camp 91.8 mi Camp 9 Lakeside Group Campgrounds2.1 mi Camp 9 Recreation Area Campground2.1 mi

Getting there

From Bakersfield, take Highway 178 east to the town of Lake Isabella. From Lake Isabella, take Highway 155 north approximately 6 miles to Live Oak South campground.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today82°Sunny2% rain

Tonight53°Mostly Clear2% rain

Sunday81°Sunny

Sunday Night52°Clear

NWS forecast for Wofford Heights, CA

Source: National Weather Service, HNX forecast office · Oct 17, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 46°F, day 81°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 31°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

110°32°20°

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.

Measured at: KERN RIVER PH 3, CA (USC00044523), 6 miles away and 33 ft higher

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Watch

Giant Sequoia National Monumentclimate, logging · 25 mi

Roadless

Channell45,429 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Oct 9, 2026

Who answers for this land

Live Oak South 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate: the number below is the only way to be sure.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026 and November 2026. It names 90 of the 90 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 14, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 30 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 0.32 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 1,201 rated federal campgrounds in California · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026