Medicine Lake Recreation Area
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 75All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
The popular Medicine Lake Recreation Area and adjacent Medicine Lake are located in the Medicine Lake Highlands in northeastern California. The Recreation Area is located in the Modoc National Forest at an elevation of 6,770 feet. Keep reading
Recreation
The Medicine Lake Recreation Area offers camping, boating, fishing and swimming. The adjacent Day Use Areas accommodate boating with a concrete boat ramp and dock. Swimming is available in a designated swimming area next to the Picnic Area. Hiking and mountain biking are available on trails originating in the Recreation Area. The longest of these trails is the trail up Little Mt Hoffman.
Facilities
The Medicine Lake Recreation Area is comprised of five campgrounds; Medicine, A.H. Hogue, Hemlock, Headquarters, and Schonchin Springs Campgrounds. Nearby the campgrounds are Picnic Area and Boat Launch sites. Campsites vary between somewhat rugged with limited parking space to larger areas suitable for recreation vehicles. Facilities include vault toilets, water hydrants and garbage dumpsters. Campsites include a picnic table, fire ring and a barbeque grill. There are a total of 86 campsites throughout the five campgrounds. Fifteen of these sites are available for advanced reservations and located within the Medicine and A.H. Hogue Campgrounds. Schonchin Springs is the only campground without water.
Natural Features
Medicine Lake Recreation Area is nestled along Medicine Lake and mostly sheltered by mature lodgepole pine trees but can be windy at times. The Recreation Area lies adjacent to the Medicine Lake Lava Flow which is accessible by a short hike. The Glass Mtn. and Burnt Lava Flow Geologic Areas are located within a 15-minute drive.
Nearby Attractions
Nearby are a few other federal sites with interesting features. The Lava Beds National Monument is located within a half-hour drive and includes lava caves and tubes. The Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge is located within an hour's drive where many types of migratory waterfowl can be viewed.
What the agency tells you
Trash collection, vault toilets and drinking water available all season.
Maximum of two vehicles and 10 people allowed per site.
Cell phone reception is limited and is not available in the vicinity of Medicine Lake Recreation Area.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Click Here for more information on the Modoc National Forest.
Each summer there is a Special Use Permit allowing a tribal gathering in the Medicine Campground Loop. This occurs during the 3rd weekend of each July for 5-6 days. The sites within this campground will not be available for reservation or walk in use during this time. The A.H. Hogue Campground Loop will remain open during this time and will be completely available for reservations and walk in use.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 75
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 75 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…recreation vehicles. Facilities include vault toilets, water hydrants and garbage dumpsters. Campsites…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…Facilities include vault toilets, water hydrants and garbage dumpsters. Campsites include a picnic…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Boating
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 29th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 2
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.
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 · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 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
75 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 75 mapped sitesAll 75 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. 75 of the 75 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 033 | standard nonelectric | 103 ft | 656 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 034 | standard nonelectric | 61 ft | 592 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 035 | standard nonelectric | 61 ft | 552 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 036 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | 445 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 037 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | 427 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 038 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 110 ft | 320 ft | $15 |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 039 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 117 ft | 203 ft | $15 |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 040 | standard nonelectric | 87 ft | 211 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 041 | standard nonelectric | 86 ft | 141 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 042 | standard nonelectric | 75 ft | 86 ft | 213 ft | $15 |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 043 | standard nonelectric | 113 ft | 89 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 044 | standard nonelectric | 113 ft | 147 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 045 | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 116 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 046 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 177 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 047 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 55 ft | 171 ft | $15 |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 048 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 64 ft | 178 ft | $15 |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 049 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 135 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 050 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 102 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 051 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 59 ft | 85 ft | $15 |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 052 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 54 ft | 155 ft | $15 |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 053 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 103 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 054 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 207 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 055 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 257 ft | $15 | |
| A.H. Hogue Campground | 056 | standard nonelectric | 75 ft | 60 ft | 307 ft | $15 |
| Headquarters Campground | 001 | standard nonelectric | 93 ft | 552 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 002 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 669 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 003 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 601 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 004 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 711 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 005 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 670 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 006 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 709 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 007 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 709 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 008 | standard nonelectric | 83 ft | 635 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 009 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 467 ft | $15 | |
| Headquarters Campground | 010 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 522 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 057 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 267 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 058 | standard nonelectric | 68 ft | 291 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 059 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 223 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 060 | standard nonelectric | 85 ft | 315 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 061 | standard nonelectric | 73 ft | 192 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 062 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 173 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 063 | standard nonelectric | 63 ft | 111 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 064 | standard nonelectric | 73 ft | 122 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 065 | standard nonelectric | 83 ft | 122 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 066 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 112 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 067 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 184 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 068 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 295 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 069 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 231 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 070 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 343 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 071 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 282 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 072 | standard nonelectric | 71 ft | 356 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 073 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 387 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 074 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 442 ft | $15 | |
| Hemlock Campground | 075 | standard nonelectric | 117 ft | 420 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 011 | standard nonelectric | 163 ft | 470 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 012 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 98 ft | 509 ft | $15 |
| Medicine Campground | 013 | standard nonelectric | 112 ft | 363 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 014 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 91 ft | 284 ft | $15 |
| Medicine Campground | 015 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 91 ft | 248 ft | $15 |
| Medicine Campground | 016 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 221 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 017 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 276 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 018 | standard nonelectric | 61 ft | 247 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 019 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 61 ft | 300 ft | $15 |
| Medicine Campground | 020 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 126 ft | 423 ft | $15 |
| Medicine Campground | 021 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | 549 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 022 | standard nonelectric | 88 ft | 602 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 023 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | 556 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 024 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 79 ft | 478 ft | $15 |
| Medicine Campground | 025 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 468 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 026 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 67 ft | 404 ft | $15 |
| Medicine Campground | 027 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 356 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 028 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 423 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 029 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 438 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 030 | standard nonelectric | 86 ft | 518 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 031 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | 603 ft | $15 | |
| Medicine Campground | 032 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | 641 ft | $15 |
25 of 75 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Little Mt. Hoffman LookoutShasta National Forest · 3.9 mi
Group CampsiteLava Beds National Monument · 10 mi
Indian Well CampgroundLava Beds National Monument · 10 miFrom McCloud go east on US Hwy 89 south for 16 miles to Forest Service Road 15/Harris Spring Rd. Turn left on Road 15 and go 4.4 miles to Forest Service Road 49/Medicine Lake Road. Follow the signs 27.5 miles to Medicine Lake. From Tulelake take US Hwy 139 south for 21 miles to Forest Service Road 97. Turn right on Road 97 and go 24 miles turning right on Road 49. Drive 2 more miles turning left into the entrance of Medicine Lake Recreation Area. Follow the signs to your final campground destination.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Tennant, CA
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
Medicine Lake Recreation Area is in California’s 1st congressional district. Whoever holds it votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. See how its representative votes on public lands →
Our roster still carries Doug LaMalfa for this district and the current federal record doesn’t list them as sitting, so we’re not naming a representative here until the two agree.