Mt. Pinos Campground
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 0 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights; a database flag says not open read 16:54 UTC
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 19All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 18 notices
In the agency’s own words
Mount Pinos or in the Native American Chumash language, "Iwihinmu," was considered to be the center of the world, the point where everything was in balance. At 7,800 feet, the campground, bursting with views of mountains and valleys, is an ideal base for several biking and hiking trails. The dark and clear night skies make this a picture-perfect stargazing setting. Keep reading
Recreation
Ride your bicycle to the top of Mount Pinos or hike the Mount Pinos Trail, McGill exploration trail, or enjoy the views of the valleys below from your campsite. Mount Pinos is considered to be one of the best star gazing locations in California due to its dark skies, extremely low light pollution and frequently clear skies. It is a favorite place for amateur astronomers. On a clear day, you can see the entire San Joaquin Valley and the surrounding mountain ranges.
Facilities
This seasonal campground is open daily, May through November. There are 19 single campsites that include picnic tables and fire rings. Fires are allowed only in designated fire rings. RVs over 22 ft. and trailers are not recommended. There are two vault toilets. You should plan to be completely self-sustainable for the duration of your trip. There is no potable water (drinking water) or electricity onsite. There is also no dump station.
Natural Features
Along with views of the Lockwood Valley and Frazier Mountain, Mt. Pinos Campground is best appreciated by camping enthusiasts who prefer being nestled within the shaded enclave of Jeffery pines that dominate the scenery.
Nearby Attractions
Hiking trails, biking, fishing and swimming are all within 30 minutes of the campground. Restaurants, gas and shopping are within 15 miles at Pine Mountain Club or 19 miles in Frazier Park. Lake of the Woods and Frazier Park are about 10 miles to the east. Lockwood Valley and Cuddy Valley are located at the base of Mt. Pinos.
What the agency tells you
In order to contact our offices, please use the email: customerservice@pmcparks.com or view our website: CampOne.Com for answers to frequently asked questions.
Camping fee includes 1 vehicle and 1 tent, trailer or RV site. $10 fee for each extra vehicle.
No drinking water is available.
Everything else this campground posts · 15
Pets are allowed.
No public showers in the region.
Quiet hours are 10 p.m. - 8 a.m.
This facility is 'Pack it in. Pack it out.'
Fireworks are prohibited at all times.
The nearest stores and gas are 19 miles in Frazier Park.
Some cell service can be found in the campground.
Mt Pinos Campground is at 7,800 elevation. Even in the summer the nights can be cold.
The road through the campground is narrow in places and it is not recommended for trailers or vehicles over 22' in length.
Very limited parking inside the facility for extra vehicles.
Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating.
2 night minimum stay on weekends.
3 night minimum stay on holidays.
Click here for more information on Los Padres National Forest
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
- 19
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…are not recommended. There are two vault toilets. You should plan to be completely self-sustainable…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…for the duration of your trip. There is no potable water (drinking water) or electricity onsite. There is…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Biking
- Night sky · 976th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:54 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 15 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 15 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:54 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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 · 14
What you actually pay
“$10 fee for each extra vehicle.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $30 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking, plus the agency’s published $2 weekend rate on Friday and Saturday. 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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:54 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
19 sites
All 19 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. 19 of the 19 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Loop 1 | 01 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 02 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 03 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 04 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 05 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 06 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 07 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 08 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 09 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 10 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 11 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 12 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 13 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 14 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 15 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 16 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 17 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 18 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | $30 |
| Loop 1 | 19 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | $30 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
McGill Campground and Group CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 0.3 miChula Vista Walk-in CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 1.2 mi
Campo Alto CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 6.0 mi
Chuchupate CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 6.0 miToad Springs CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 7.9 miMarian CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 7.9 miTake I-5 north to Frazier Mountain Park Road exit. Go west on Frazier Mountain Park Road for 7 miles to the intersection of Lockwood Valley Rd. Keep right and proceed on Cuddy Valley Road. Continue 5 miles to the "Y" in the road and veer left. Proceed 7 more miles past the first snow and second snow gate past McGill Campground.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Pine Mountain Club, CA
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Mt. Pinos Campground 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 →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyVince FongU.S. Representative · California’s 20th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAdam B. SchiffU.S. Senator · California
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAlex PadillaU.S. Senator · California
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Mt. Pinos Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California
Dear Vince Fong, I’m a constituent in California’s 20th district. I tried to camp at Mt. Pinos Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 19 sites at Mt. Pinos Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 15 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Mt. Pinos Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Mt. Pinos Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Mt. Pinos Campground (Los Padres National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Mt. Pinos Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Mt. Pinos Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 19 sites at Mt. Pinos Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 15 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Mt. Pinos Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Mt. Pinos Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Mt. Pinos Campground (Los Padres National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Mt. Pinos Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Mt. Pinos Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 19 sites at Mt. Pinos Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 15 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Mt. Pinos Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Mt. Pinos Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Mt. Pinos Campground (Los Padres National Forest, California) via campanac.com