Packsaddle
1Heads up1 fire 38 mi away
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $24From, per site
- Sites
- 1816 on recreation.gov
- Season
- June 13 – October 15Open June 13 through October 15
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Packsaddle Campground is located in the Packer Lake area near the Sierra Buttes, north of the Yuba River. Visitors enjoy a wide variety of recreational activities in the area, including hiking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, canoeing and gold panning. This facility is operated and maintained by the Tahoe National Forest. Keep reading
Recreation
A large network of trails is available in the area, including Deer Lake Trail. This 2.9-mile trail is open to hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. The Pacific Crest Trail can easily be accessed nearby. Many lakes in the area offer fishing. Canoeing and paddeling is available on nearby Packer Lake.
Facilities
The campground offers single-family campsites and two equestrian sites for campers with horses. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. The equestrian sites share a corral and have ample space for stock trailers. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
The campground is split into two loops. The first is more open but is shaded by towering Jeffrey pine and fir trees. The second is located on a forested hillside above the first loop. Some sites have views of the open, wildflower-dotted meadow, while others overlook a ravine and mountain peaks beyond it.
Nearby Attractions
Lakes Basin offers many opportunities for boating, fishing and hiking. Boating, fishing and swimming are available at nearby Packer Lake less than a mile to the west and Sardine Lakes, about three miles south of the campground. Sardine Lakes Resort offers boat rentals. Anglers will find rainbow and brook trout in many of the lakes, streams, and rivers throughout the basin. A more developed boat ramp is located at Gold Lake and accomodates launching of larger boats. Over 30 miles of maintained trails for hiking, mountain biking, and motorcycle singletrack branch out across the area and the Pacific Crest Trail can be accessed at a few spots in the Lakes Basin area. The historic towns of Sierra City and Downieville offer historic and cultural attractions, restaurants, shops, churches, and vistor information. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
Charges & Cancellations
No Show Policy A 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 (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival). * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees. There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference. Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.
What the agency tells you
In accordance with standard industry practices, we will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee on 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 to be one vehicle and the third and fourth are also considered to be one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles.
Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers
Utility hookups and showers are not available
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Click here for more information on the Tahoe National Forest
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. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the Yuba River Ranger District (530) 288-3231(voice), (530) 288-3656 (TDD).
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.
No Show Policy A 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 (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival). * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees. There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference. Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 18
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 100 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…and have ample space for stock trailers. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…for stock trailers. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground is…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Backpacking
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Mountain biking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Scenic drives
- Swimming
- Night sky · 495th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 16 of the 18 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, we will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee on the 'second vehicle' in each single family campsite, and on the 'third and fourth vehicle' in any double family camps…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $24 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.
“Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility.” · 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
18 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 16 mapped sitesAll 18 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 16 of the 18 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. 16 of the 18 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA PACKSADDLE | FT1-15 | type not stated | 15 ft | ||||
| AREA PACKSADDLE | FT1-15N | type not stated | 15 ft | ||||
| PACKSADDLE | 001 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 123 ft | 617 ft | 247 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 002 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 81 ft | 680 ft | 150 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 003 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 81 ft | 731 ft | 128 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 004 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 91 ft | 762 ft | 142 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 005 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 82 ft | 487 ft | 157 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 006 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 85 ft | 407 ft | 241 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 007 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 113 ft | 385 ft | 242 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 008 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 113 ft | 271 ft | 355 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 009 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 110 ft | 163 ft | 469 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 010 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 47 ft | 94 ft | 532 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 011 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 47 ft | 98 ft | 530 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 012 | standard nonelectric | 31 ft | 65 ft | 123 ft | 530 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 013 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 132 ft | 285 ft | 371 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 014 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 157 ft | 461 ft | 301 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 015 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 114 ft | 669 ft | 140 ft | $24 |
| PACKSADDLE | 016 | standard nonelectric | 100 ft | 82 ft | 554 ft | 148 ft | $24 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
BergerTahoe National Forest · 0.3 mi
DiabloTahoe National Forest · 0.9 mi
Sardine LakeTahoe National Forest · 1.8 miSardine CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 1.9 mi
Salmon CreekTahoe National Forest · 2.0 mi
Lakes BasinPlumas National Forest · 2.9 miFrom Sierra City, travel north (east) on Highway 49 for 5 miles. Turn left at Bassett Station on Gold Lake Highway and continue just over a mile to Packer Lake Road and turn left. Go less than a mile and turn right on Packer Lake Road. Continue for about 2.5 miles and turn left into the campground.
From Sierraville, travel south (west) on Highway 49 for about 17 miles. Turn left at Bassett Station on Gold Lake Highway and continue just over a mile to Packer Lake Road and turn left. Go less than a mile and turn right on Packer Lake Road. Continue for about 2.5 miles and turn left into the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sierra City, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 48°F, day 63°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
Packsaddle 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 →