Middle Meadows
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 20 mi
- Right now
- OpenInside the published season, our reading; a database flag says not open
- Sites
- 2All of them booked ahead
- Season
- June 1Opens June 1. No closing date published.
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Middle Meadows Campground offers a quiet place to camp, far from the hustle and bustle of city life. The campground is isolated from other campgrounds and offers a variety of recreational activities in its vicinity. Its scenic location also provides for beautiful sightseeing, birding and wildlife viewing. Keep reading
Recreation
Campers at Middle Meadows enjoy a forested setting and close access to a flowing creek, making it an ideal spot for family trips. Hell Hole Reservoir, located less than 5 miles from the campground, offers a variety of water-related recreation opportunities, including boating and fishing. There is a swimming hole that is located just west of Middle Meadows Group Campground about 0.25 miles.
Facilities
The campground offers two group campsites. The sites can accommodate up to 25 and 50 guests respectively. Each site is equipped with tables, campfire circles and grills. Vault and portable toilets are provided. Bear proof food containers and garbage receptacles are provided at each camp site. Currently, potable water is not available due to contamination problems. Please bring drinking water, containers or water filters. Potable water is available from faucets at Big Meadows Campground, which is located 2.5 miles northeast of Middle Meadows Group Campground.
Natural Features
Middle Meadows is located along the South Fork of Long Canyon Creek with a heavily wooded surrounding. Forests include large cedar, pine and fir trees and shrubs. Although the campground has a primitive, undiscovered feel to it, the serene mountain landscape is well worth the long drive from civilization.
Nearby Attractions
Middle Meadows is located adjacent to Long Canyon Creek for fishing and wading. Hell Hole Reservoir is a short drive north. A boat ramp is available at the reservoir.
What the agency tells you
Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers
Campfires may not be allowed during fire restrictions
Off-road vehicles are prohibited in the campground
Everything else this campground posts · 1
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 2 · 2 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 25 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets · Portable Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 2 campsite records / PORTABLE TOILETS on 1 of 2 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Bear boxes
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Creek, Meadow
- Boating
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 751st darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 26 km away
- Patchy color
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
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 Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 sites · the site map
All 2 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. 2 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
French MeadowsTahoe National Forest · 4.9 miPoppy CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 5.0 miMumford Bar CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 5.7 mi
LewisTahoe National Forest · 6.2 miFrom Sacramento, California, take Interstate 80 east to Auburn. Take the Elm Street exit and turn left at the stoplight. Follow Highway 49 down the canyon, across the American River, to Cool. Turn onto Highway 193 towards Georgetown. Turn left at the stop sign, then continue 22 miles to 11 Pines Road. Make a left and stay on this road (Forest Highway 2) for about 25 miles to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA
Typical weather
Typical June night 54°F, day 70°F.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
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
Middle Meadows 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 →