Madrone Cove Boat-in Campground
1Heads up1 fire 27 mi away
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 15:22 UTC
- A night
- $24When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 10In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bullards Bar Reservoir is located on the North Yuba River at an elevation of 2000 feet. It is located approximately 21 miles north of Nevada City, California. It has a maximum surface area of 4,760 acres and a length of over 16 miles and shoreline of more than 60 miles. Keep reading
Recreation
Activities include wildlife viewing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, fishing, boating, water skiing, and other water sports. Swimming opportunities are limited because of the steep slopes; however boaters will find numerous opportunities for swimming in various locations around the reservoir. The reservoir provides yearlong fishing opportunities for both warm and cold water fish species. Supplies are available at the marina as well as the nearby communities of Camptonville, North San Juan, and Dobbins.
Facilities
Public access for boating and recreation is limited to 2 developed and 1 undeveloped boat launches: the Cottage Creek Boat Launch ramp at Emerald Cove Marina (aprox. 6 miles from campground by boat), the Dark Day Boat Launch ramp (aprox. 5 miles from campground by boat), and the undeveloped site at the end of Moran Road. The area includes 5 campgrounds, 2 picnic areas, 2 boat launch ramps, 1 marina, 1 overlook, 1 day use area and several developed hiking trails.
Natural Features
The sides of the reservoir are generally steep and public access for boating and recreation is limited. The reservoir is surrounded by both conifer and hardwood forests with numerous brush species. There is plenty of shade at the campsites Nearby Attractions There is a beautiful non- motorized trail system in the area, with 5 different trails to choose from. Bullards Bar Trailhead is 14 miles, 7 Ball Trial is 1 mile, 8 Ball Trail is 3.8 miles, Rebel Ridge Trail is 1.6 miles and Schoolhouse Trail is 0.7 miles. Maps are available at the North Yuba Ranger Station just a couple miles east of the reservoir on Marysville Road. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
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
Utility hookups and showers are not available
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). 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.
There is no water at this facility
Everything else this campground posts · 1
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
- 10 · 10 boat-in
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 10 of 10 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, River, Creek, Beach
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Paddling
- Water Skiing
- Water sports
Nothing to book until it reopensread 15:22 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
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.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 10
What you actually pay
“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 · 5
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Madrone Cove Boat-in Campground closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Giant GapTahoe National Forest · 30 mi · 30 sites
- Shirttail CreekTahoe National Forest · 30 mi · 39 sites
- Salmon CreekTahoe National Forest · 31 mi · 32 sites
- Chapman Creek CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 35 mi · walk-up
recreation.gov availability, read 15:22 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
10 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 10 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. 10 of the 10 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 1 | boat in | 83 ft | 158 ft | $24 |
| A | 10 | boat in | 92 ft | 199 ft | $24 |
| A | 2 | boat in | 83 ft | 237 ft | $24 |
| A | 3 | boat in | 57 ft | 226 ft | $24 |
| A | 4 | boat in | 57 ft | 282 ft | $24 |
| A | 5 | boat in | 63 ft | 340 ft | $24 |
| A | 6 | boat in | 63 ft | 377 ft | $24 |
| A | 7 | boat in | 34 ft | 329 ft | $24 |
| A | 8 | boat in | 34 ft | 295 ft | $24 |
| A | 9 | boat in | 92 ft | 213 ft | $24 |
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
Garden Point Boat-in CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 3.3 mi
Dark Day CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.1 mi
Schoolhouse Campground (CA)Tahoe National Forest · 4.2 mi
Hornswoggle Group CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.4 mi
Cottage Creek Campground (CA)Plumas National Forest · 5.0 miFrom Nevada City, travel approximately 20 miles on Highway 49 to Marysville Road. Turn left onto Marysville Road travel approximately 3 miles to the Dark Day Boat Launch ramp for launching or travel approximately 7 miles to Emerald Cove Marina and launch at the boat ramp there.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Challenge-Brownsville, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 78°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 34°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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Madrone Cove Boat-in Campground 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 →