U.S. Forest Service · Inyo National Forest · CA

Old Shady Rest Campground

1Heads up1 fire 42 mi away
Wildfire
Wildfire Training fire · 42 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026
Reservable, and full this SaturdayEvery one of the 45 sites on offer is taken this Saturday, and the record lists no site held back for a walk-up. read 15:09 UTC

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 8 of the next 8 nights; a database flag says not open read 15:09 UTC
A night
$32From, per site
Sites
45All of them booked ahead
58 ftLongest rig
7,800 ftElevation
1.0 miWater · Mammoth Creek
In townMammoth Lakes, CA
45%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices

In the agency’s own words

Old Shady Rest Campground is a large facility convenient to numerous outdoor activities and attractions in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, and within walking distance of the full-service community of Mammoth Lakes. The campground is popular for hiking, mountain biking, sightseeing and hitting the town for shopping and dining. The facility best accommodates tents and small to medium-sized RVs. Keep reading

Recreation

The Mammoth Lakes area has much to keep campers busy. The majestic scenery and challenging trails are an obvious draw for hikers, mountain bikers and off-road vehicle enthusiasts. Skiing is a major winter pastime in this area. The eastern Sierras are known for their exceptional trout fishing, and several creeks and lakes are within a short drive from the campground. Families enjoy learning more at the visitor center down the street, or taking a paved walking and biking trail to two nearby campgrounds, a town park with a playing field and skate park, or Mammoth Lakes.

Facilities

The campground is organized into one large loop, adjacent to New Shady Rest and Pine Glen Campgrounds and a short walk to Mammoth Lakes. Several amenities are provided, including restrooms with flush toilets, campfire rings and picnic tables, and many more are within a few miles. Showers are not located in the campground but are nearby. Bear-proof lockers are available for food storage, and firewood can be purchased on-site.

Natural Features

The campsites are located under the shady canopy of a mature Jeffery pine forest at an elevation of 7,800 feet. Many species of wildlife call the mountains home, such as black bear, mountain lions, mule deer, pine marten, pika and numerous fish and birds.

Nearby Attractions

For campers interested in local events, the Mammoth Jazz Jubilee is hosted in Mammoth in mid-July. Several other events and amenities are available in town. Many great day trips for sightseers are available in the area, such as Yosemite National Park, Mono Basin and Devils Postpile National Monument.

Charges & Cancellations

As you make travel plans that include reservations on Recreation.gov , there are standard policies that apply to most locations of which you should be aware. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many exceptions, so it is best to review reservation information listed on individual facility pages for those policies and procedures that pertain to your specific locations. Any location or activity requiring a permit or lottery will have unique requirements and policies. Please check individual facility pages for pertinent information for those sites. Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping 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. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Tours: A tour or ticket no-show is one who does not cancel a ticket before arrival and does not arrive for the tour. Tour no-shows are not entitled to a refund. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as " Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July

What the agency tells you

Rule

Reserved Sites will be held until checkout time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of the second day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Please call the office at 760-934-5795 if you need to inform the campground of an arrival time greater than 24 hours after your arrival date, or if you will not use your reservation whatsoever.

Rule

$10 charge for use of the dump station

Rule

This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations

Everything else this campground posts · 8
Rule

Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating; always keep a clean camp and do not feed any wild animals

Rule

Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.

Rule

Fire Restrictions: 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.

Rule

Only 2 pets per site allowed.

Rule

Please Note: One RV with tow per single site or one vehicle per tent site. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. In accordance with standard industry practices, Inyo Recreation will assess an additional $10.00 extra vehicle fee per day for the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered one vehicle, and the third and fourth motorcycle are also considered one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles. Extra vehicles must fit on the parking spur.

Rule

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.

Rule

Click here for more information about Inyo National Forest

Rule

PASS DISCOUNTS: You must provide your pass and photo identification upon check in. If you received a pass discount for which you were not eligible, you must pay the difference in price upon arrival.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
45
Hookups
None
Longest rig
58 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Flush Toilets
“…amenities are provided, including restrooms with flush toilets, campfire rings and picnic tables, and many more…”
Dump station
Yes
recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Firewood
Sold here
Camp host
On site
recreation.gov lists “Host”
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Creek
Backpacking
Biking
Boat Rental
Boating
Canoeing
Climbing
Cultural Activities
Fishing
Golf
Gondola Rides
Hiking
Horseback riding
Kayaking
Mountain biking
Night sky · 887th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Bortle 4
Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 11 km away
Peak color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (11 km) · Oct 4, 2026

Full this Saturdayread 15:09 UTC

How full the weekend is nationally.

OpenBooked

Every one of the 45 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 41 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 15:09 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t

Booking windowThrough October 24Bookable now through October 24, 2026, the end of the reservable season. On November 7, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 7, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Max stay14 nightsthe facility record
A night$32plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$72DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
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’ll write once, when the season that starts Fri, May 7 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov ↗

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 13

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night$32
Standard Nonelectric$32
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 1, 2026 to Oct 24, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What this campground addsits own record
Extra vehicle$10

“In accordance with standard industry practices, Inyo Recreation will assess an additional $10.00 extra vehicle fee per day for the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice

What a stay costs
One nightDerived$40
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$72

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $32 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.

If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

“Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount.” · 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 · 7

recreation.gov availability, read 15:09 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

45 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 45 mapped sites
122 ftbetween you and the next site, typically
Least room050 76 ft051 76 ft029 81 ft

All 45 sites

45 of 45 sites located
Standard45
SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 26 of the 45 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. 45 of the 45 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND001standard nonelectric40 ft95 ft1.0 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND002standard nonelectric35 ft115 ft1.1 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND003standard nonelectric32 ft115 ft1.1 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND004standard nonelectric40 ft113 ft1.1 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND005standard nonelectric25 ft113 ft1.1 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND006standard nonelectric44 ft119 ft1.1 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND007standard nonelectric18 ft140 ft1.1 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND008standard nonelectric26 ft122 ft1.2 mi3,166 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND009standard nonelectric45 ft122 ft1.2 mi3,179 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND010standard nonelectric39 ft105 ft1.2 mi2,957 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND011standard nonelectric32 ft105 ft1.2 mi3,020 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND012standard nonelectric30 ft265 ft1.3 mi2,812 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND014standard nonelectric30 ft265 ft1.3 mi2,698 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND015standard nonelectric30 ft106 ft1.4 mi2,696 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND016standard nonelectric40 ft106 ft1.4 mi2,613 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND017standard nonelectric45 ft156 ft1.4 mi2,557 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND018standard nonelectric45 ft142 ft1.5 mi2,535 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND019standard nonelectric45 ft116 ft1.5 mi2,523 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND020standard nonelectric35 ft116 ft1.5 mi2,523 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND021standard nonelectric32 ft116 ft1.5 mi2,614 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND022standard nonelectric46 ft133 ft1.5 mi2,528 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND023standard nonelectric30 ft133 ft1.5 mi2,555 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND024standard nonelectric35 ft235 ft1.6 mi2,766 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND025standard nonelectric48 ft235 ft1.5 mi2,966 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND026standard nonelectric47 ft249 ft1.5 mi2,915 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND027standard nonelectric30 ft99 ft1.4 mi3,002 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND028standard nonelectric41 ft99 ft1.4 mi2,926 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND029standard nonelectric30 ft81 ft1.4 mi3,074 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND030standard nonelectric40 ft81 ft1.4 mi2,995 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND031standard nonelectric20 ft132 ft1.3 mi3,141 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND032standard nonelectric45 ft132 ft1.4 mi3,021 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND033standard nonelectric45 ft164 ft1.3 mi3,170 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND035standard nonelectric35 ft144 ft1.3 mi3,235 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND036standard nonelectric25 ft144 ft1.2 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND037standard nonelectric35 ft160 ft1.2 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND038standard nonelectric25 ft160 ft1.2 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND040standard nonelectric40 ft211 ft1.2 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND044standard nonelectric58 ft273 ft1.1 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND045standard nonelectric40 ft177 ft1.0 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND046standard nonelectric40 ft187 ft5,154 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND047standard nonelectric25 ft111 ft1.0 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND048standard nonelectric44 ft199 ft1.0 mi$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND049standard nonelectric35 ft90 ft5,251 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND050standard nonelectric25 ft76 ft5,277 ft$32
AREA OLD SHADY REST CAMPGROUND051standard nonelectric43 ft76 ft1.0 mi$32

25 of 45 listed

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Coordinate37.65059, -118.96139
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

Old Shady Rest is near Mammoth Lakes, California, 300 miles north of Los Angeles and 165 miles south of Reno, Nevada.

Take U.S. Highway 395 to State Route 203. Proceed west on 203 for 2.8 miles to Old Sawmill Road. Take a right, go 0.5 mile. The campground entrance is on the left.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon62°Sunny
Tonight36°Mostly Clear
Sunday64°Sunny
Sunday Night36°Clear

NWS forecast for Mammoth Lakes, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 37°F, day 58°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical February night 23°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

80°32°10°

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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: HUNTINGTON LAKE, CA (USC00044176), 33 miles away and 780 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Sherwin3,140 acres · 4 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
San Joaquin19,662 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Laurel Mcgee8,770 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Kevin Kiley, official portrait

Old Shady Rest 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Who can change it · 3
Write to somebody who can change it

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.

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.

To Kevin Kiley

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 Old Shady Rest Campground, Inyo National Forest, California

Dear Kevin Kiley,

I’m a constituent in California’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at Old Shady Rest Campground, Inyo National Forest, California, and couldn’t.

All 45 sites at Old Shady Rest Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 45 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. Old Shady Rest Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Old Shady Rest 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 Old Shady Rest Campground (Inyo National Forest, California) via campanac.com
To Adam B. Schiff

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 Old Shady Rest Campground, Inyo National Forest, California

Dear Adam B. Schiff,

I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Old Shady Rest Campground, Inyo National Forest, California, and couldn’t.

All 45 sites at Old Shady Rest Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 45 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. Old Shady Rest Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Old Shady Rest 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 Old Shady Rest Campground (Inyo National Forest, California) via campanac.com
To Alex Padilla

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 Old Shady Rest Campground, Inyo National Forest, California

Dear Alex Padilla,

I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Old Shady Rest Campground, Inyo National Forest, California, and couldn’t.

All 45 sites at Old Shady Rest Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 45 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. Old Shady Rest Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Old Shady Rest 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 Old Shady Rest Campground (Inyo National Forest, California) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
The figures in these drafts: Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report RS20643) · Updated December 4, 2025 · “The ship’s final procurement cost was $13,316.5 million (i.e., about $13.3 billion) in then-year dollars.”
The figures in these drafts: Salary Table 2026-GS, Incorporating the 1% General Schedule Increase, Effective January 2026 (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) · Effective January 2026 · “Grade 5, Step 1: $34,799 (annual rate, before locality pay).”
The figures in these drafts: Update to Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost Factor, Federal Pay Raise Assumptions, and Inflation Factors used in OMB Circular No. A-76 (OMB Memorandum M-08-13) · March 11, 2008 · “the civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor needs to be adjusted downward, from 36.45 percent to 36.25 percent”

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 8 of the next 8 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does. The U.S. Forest Service’s own database, though, flags it not open with no reason or date; the flag is named under How we know all this.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (11 km) · Oct 4, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.