Pines Group Site - Stony Gorge Reservoir
3Heads up3 fires, nearest 36 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Pines Group Site is conveniently located at the Stony Gorge Dam, just 18 miles downstream from East Park Dam and 5 miles west of Fruto in western Glenn county. Stony Gorge Dam, Orland Project, was completed in 1928 and is a concrete slab and buttress structure with a height of 139 feet and a crest length of 868 feet. The group campsite area is complete with views of the Stony Gorge Reservoir and the scenic hills beyond. There's plenty of open space to throw a ball around, stroll, and explore the area's wildflowers. Plus the warm-water fishery with an 18-mile shoreline is huge draw for avid fishermen. Keep reading
Recreation
All water sports are highly recommended at this campground. The area boasts excellent boating and shoreline accessibility. One boat ramp useable most of the summer, is dependent on water levels. Available bass species include largemouth and smallmouth bass of Texan strain that grow faster and mature earlier (10 to 12 pounds) and a thriving bluegill and crappie population (2 to 3 pounds). Catfishing is good year-round (up to 20 pounds). Swimming in the warm, refreshing waters is also popular.
Facilities
A boat launch is located 1 mile from the campsite, and the group area is ideal for swimming. Picnic tables are dispersed so that some are shaded by trees, while others capture the warm sun. The camping area has a stone fire pit and a large brick barbecue.
Natural Features
Pines Group Site is set on the northwest tip of the reservoir along 18 miles of lake shoreline. The area is part of the foothills beside the Mendocino National Forest, which straddles the Coastal Mountain Range. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (530) 685-8618.
Nearby Attractions
Hike the Red Mountain Trail for 360-degree views of Black Butte Lake, Lassen Peak, and Mount Shasta. Don't miss out on a scenic drive through the Mendocino Forest either.
What the agency tells you
No electricity or portable water available.
Boat access to Pine Group Camp is limited at low water levels.
There is no launch area in Pine Group Camp.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Vehicles can be operated only on designated roadways.
While at recreating at Stony Gorge Reservoir: CLEAN, DRAIN, DRY boats and any other recreational equipment that comes in contact with water. Never dump unwanted bait, worms, fish parts or other organisms into the water. For more information visit https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/ STOP THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES. REMOVE plants, seeds, animals and mud from boots, gear, pets, and vehicle. CLEAN your gear before entering and leaving the recreation site. STAY on designated roads and trails and use local firewood. For more information visit https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 11
What you actually pay
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 · 4
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| Pines Group Camp | 001 | group standard nonelectric | 292 ft |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Orland Buttes16 mi
North Fork - Mendocino National ForestMendocino National Forest · 16 miNorth Fork CampgroundMendocino National Forest · 16 mi
Deer Valley CampgroundMendocino National Forest · 17 miHoward Lake CampgroundMendocino National Forest · 17 miHoward Meadows CampgroundMendocino National Forest · 17 miIn Glenn County, located near Elk Creek, CA. Exit Interstate-5 at # 603 - Willows and proceed west on California Highway 162. Travel approximately 20 miles to the junction of County Road 304. Turn south on the roadway and continue over two cattle guards approximately 2.5 miles. Take the first right at Stony Gorge Resevior welcome sign and continue on the gravel surface to the end of the road (approximately 1/4 mile) at which a locked gate marks the entrance of the group camp. Welcome to Pines Group Camp.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Elk Creek, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 79°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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
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
Pines Group Site - Stony Gorge Reservoir 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.