Mill Creek - Mendocino National Forest
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 33 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $5From, per site
- Sites
- 41 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices
In the agency’s own words
This location is available on a first-come, first-served basis only. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a site. Once on-site, you are able to pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app, and the Scan and Pay feature. In order to utilize Scan & Pay on site, you will need to first download the free Recreation.gov mobile app https://www.recreation.gov/mobile-app prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service. Keep reading
Recreation
River and stream fishing is popular in the winter and early spring when the stream is in full flow. The Forest Service in cooperation with the State of California Off-Highway Vehicle Fund, (Green Sticker), has developed roads, trails, and facilities for further enjoyment of the OHV user. Remember, these are your facilities and OHV funds are being used to develop and maintain them. Forest Service roads open to Off-Highway Vehicles are considered public roads. All motorcycle riders on public lands in the State of California must wear a safety helmet meeting the standards adopted by the US Department of Transportation. State law requires all vehicles, including motorcycles to be registered. You must have a current Green or Red Sticker, or Highway License. Highway licensed vehicles must meet all standards for operating on a public highway and be operated in accordance with California state law. Your vehicle must be equipped with a properly installed Forest Service approved spark arrester in good working condition. For your safety and the safety of others, Off-Highway Vehicles must never be operated in a manner likely to endanger any person or property. Driving at excessive speeds, careless and reckless driving, racing and "wheelies" are not only prohibited, but also dangerous on forest roads and camping areas. State and Federal law prohibit operating any vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This applies equally to the operation on Off-Highway vehicles, including those statutes prohibiting drinking while driving (CVC 23220), and drinking in a motor vehicle (CVC 23221). Motorcycles and ATVs must meet state sound requirement of 96 dba or lower. Unlicensed juveniles operating motorcycles and ATVs must be under the supervision of a licensed adult. The Stonyford Work Center (530) 963-3128 is available to provide Trail Conditions and closure information for the Grindstone District area. Stonyford Area Motor Vehicle Opportunity Guide Facilities Roadside campground that has 6 campsites with picnic tables and fire rings.
Natural Features
General vegetation in the area is chaparral. A stream flows through the campground and is best in winter and early spring. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (530) 963-3128.
Nearby Attractions
Nail Track OHV Play Area is located near by.
What the agency tells you
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.
All ATV riders must wear a helmet. OHV's must have a U.S. Forest Service Approved Spark Arrestor in good working order in place at all times.
There is a hefty fine for going off trail, it is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000.00 for an individual or $10,000.00 for an organization, or imprisonment for no more than six months, or both.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 4
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Fishing
- Off Highway Vehicle Trails
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:35 UTC
recreation.gov lists 1 of the 4 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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.
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.
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, $5 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
recreation.gov availability, read 15:35 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
4 sites · the site map
All 4 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 4 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. 1 of the 4 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
Gray Pine Group CampgroundMendocino National Forest · 0.1 mi
FoutsMendocino National Forest · 0.3 mi
South Fork Campground - Mendocino National ForestMendocino National Forest · 0.4 mi
Davis FlatMendocino National Forest · 0.5 mi
North Fork - Mendocino National ForestMendocino National Forest · 1.6 miLocated 8 miles west of Stonyford on Mill Creek on Road #18N01 off of the M10.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Stonyford, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 79°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 32°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Mill Creek - Mendocino National Forest 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.