Pineknot
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 15 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 2 of the next 2 nights read 15:53 UTC
- A night
- $34From, per site
- Sites
- 47All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Pineknot Campground is located in the mountains of San Bernardino at Big Bear Lake. It is a popular destination for many outdoor enthusiasts looking for respite from the busy cities nearby. While the campground can accommodate RVs, it is best situated for tent camping. It is in a prime location for mountain biking. Keep reading
Recreation
Its location at the base of a ski mountain provides visitors with unlimited access to popular lift-served mountain biking trails. Hikers also enjoy the campground's proximity to a number of trails that vary in levels of difficulty. Big Bear Lake offers a variety of water-related recreation opportunities, including boating and fishing. A marina is located about five miles from the campground. The cold waters of the lake aren't too popular for swimming, but canoeing and sailing on the lake are viable options.
Facilities
The campground offers dozens of single-family sites for tent or RV camping. Each site is equipped with a table and campfire ring with grill. Firewood is available for purchase. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. No hookups are available. Trash collection bins are also available and a campground host is on-site. A dump station is available across the lake at Serrano Campground. Additional parking is available just outside of the campground.
Natural Features
The campground sits at the base of Snow Summit Ski Resort at an elevation of 6,900 feet. It is nestled in a dense forest of fir, pine and oak trees, which provide ample shade in the campground.
Nearby Attractions
The adjacent town of Big Bear Lake provides opportunities for shopping and dining.
Charges & Cancellations
Rules & Reservation Policies 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. Booking Window For most locations, you can reserve six months in advance of your stay for individual sites and 12 months in advance for group sites. There are some exceptions, so it is best to check with each facility. 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. Tours & Tickets: You may request changes to tour dates at no cost before the arrival date. If you cancel before your tour date, you may be eligible for a refund. Cancellation fees apply. Please check the tour facility description details page for cancellation policies. Permits: Varies by location. Please check the permit details for the permit location. 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
In accordance with standard industry practices, Mountain Top Recreation will be assessing a $8 additional vehicle fee per night on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicles 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. The fee will be collected at the campground if you did not pay for the Extra Vehicle Add On. Extra vehicles must fit on the parking spur at your site.
RV Length: Limited turnaround space restricts RVS longer than 25 feet.
Click here for more information on the San Bernardino National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 4
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.
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
Recent bear activity in this campground. You are rquired to put your food in the bear box we provide. Do not leave any food in your tent.
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR-36, 2.12) addresses audio disturbances and prohibits the following: radio, television sets, tape deck or musical instruments, in a manner that exceeds a noise level of 60 decibels measured on the A weighted scale at 50 feet. The use of amplified music or public address systems exceeding these noise levels are not allowed.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 47
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 26 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…Firewood is available for purchase. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. No hookups are…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…for purchase. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. No hookups are available. Trash…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Mountain biking
- Night sky · 1123rd darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 15:53 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
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 · 13
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, Mountain Top Recreation will be assessing a $8 additional vehicle fee per night on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $34 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.
“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 15:53 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
47 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 47 mapped sitesAll 47 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 47 of the 47 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. 47 of the 47 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| PINE | 001 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 36 ft | 1,223 ft | 167 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 002 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 36 ft | 1,238 ft | 191 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 003 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 39 ft | 1,359 ft | 300 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 004 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 39 ft | 1,376 ft | 317 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 005 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 41 ft | 1,492 ft | 202 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 006 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 41 ft | 1,473 ft | 231 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 007 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 90 ft | 1,589 ft | 121 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 008 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 90 ft | 1,667 ft | 31 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 009 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 98 ft | 1,776 ft | 87 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 010 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 51 ft | 1,874 ft | 185 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 011 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 51 ft | 1,901 ft | 217 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 012 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 46 ft | 1,966 ft | 281 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 013 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 46 ft | 1,983 ft | 304 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 014 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 44 ft | 2,058 ft | 233 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 015 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 44 ft | 2,052 ft | 236 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 016 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 76 ft | 2,136 ft | 162 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 017 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 50 ft | 2,181 ft | 184 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 018 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 50 ft | 2,198 ft | 136 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 019 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 85 ft | 2,262 ft | 179 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 020 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 82 ft | 2,216 ft | 88 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 021 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 28 ft | 2,152 ft | 174 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 022 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 28 ft | 2,172 ft | 173 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 023 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 49 ft | 2,048 ft | 301 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 024 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 49 ft | 2,098 ft | 265 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 025 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 41 ft | 1,912 ft | 241 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 026 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 62 ft | 2,014 ft | 342 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 027 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 78 ft | 1,840 ft | 164 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 028 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 41 ft | 1,926 ft | 237 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 029 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 99 ft | 1,748 ft | 74 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 030 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 98 ft | 1,634 ft | 81 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 031 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 147 ft | 1,457 ft | 253 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 033 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 141 ft | 1,148 ft | 104 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 034 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 63 ft | 944 ft | 120 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 035 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 63 ft | 961 ft | 109 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 036 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 53 ft | 2,297 ft | 63 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 037 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 45 ft | 2,230 ft | 232 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 038 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 52 ft | 2,296 ft | 115 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 039 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 52 ft | 2,298 ft | 167 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 040 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 62 ft | 2,201 ft | 292 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 041 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 45 ft | 2,273 ft | 240 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 042 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 81 ft | 2,090 ft | 384 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 043 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 81 ft | 2,020 ft | 310 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 044 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 73 ft | 1,937 ft | 229 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 045 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 73 ft | 1,884 ft | 187 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 046 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 63 ft | 1,761 ft | 87 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 047 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 89 ft | 1,664 ft | 127 ft | $34 |
| PINE | 048 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 63 ft | 1,704 ft | 40 ft | $34 |
25 of 47 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Buttercup Group CampSan Bernardino National Forest · 0.3 mi
Deer Group CampgroundSan Bernardino National Forest · 2.1 mi
SerranoSan Bernardino National Forest · 2.4 mi
Serrano Family CampgroundSan Bernardino National Forest · 2.5 mi
Boulder Group CampSan Bernardino National Forest · 3.5 miFrom I-10 in Redlands, take Highway 330 to Highway 18 in Running Springs. Continue east on Highway 18 at Big Bear Lake Dam, go straight at the dam and follow Highway 18. Turn onto Summit Boulevard and continue to a block wall. 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 Big Bear Lake, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 63°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 24°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 · 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
Pineknot is in California’s 23rd congressional district. Its representative, Jay Obernolte (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 moneyJay ObernolteU.S. Representative · California’s 23rd 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 Pineknot, San Bernardino National Forest, California
Dear Jay Obernolte, I’m a constituent in California’s 23rd district. I tried to camp at Pineknot, San Bernardino National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 47 sites at Pineknot are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 47 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Pineknot keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Pineknot. 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 Pineknot (San Bernardino 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 Pineknot, San Bernardino National Forest, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Pineknot, San Bernardino National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 47 sites at Pineknot are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 47 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Pineknot keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Pineknot. 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 Pineknot (San Bernardino 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 Pineknot, San Bernardino National Forest, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Pineknot, San Bernardino National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 47 sites at Pineknot are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 47 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Pineknot keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Pineknot. 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 Pineknot (San Bernardino National Forest, California) via campanac.com