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

Potato Patch Campground

First come, first servedNo reservation, and none to be had: the sites go to whoever pulls in first.

This is how it should work.

Right now
OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
Season
April 1 – October 31Open April 1 through October 31
Drawn from the record · 3,440 ft · 66% tree cover · Deer Creek within reach · Bortle 2 sky
3,440 ftElevation
238 ftWater · Deer Creek
15.8 miSW of Chester, CA
66%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 276th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Open April 1 through October 31Today

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

Potato Patch Campground is shaded by towering pines and firs and conveniently located along Deer Creek . Potato Patch Campground is a very popular spot for getting away from the valley heat. A developed campground with 32 designated sites, there is a maximum of 8 people per site. Some sites equipped to accommodate RVs and/or are ADA accessible. Grills and tables are provided. Excellent trout fishing can be found all along Deer Creek.

Around the campground

On the water
Creek
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.

recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.

BookingNo reservationsNothing to book, and no release date to wait forthe agency’s record
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 3

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s no total to show.
How we know this receipt · 4

rules read Sep 7, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight50°Clear
Saturday76°Sunny
Saturday Night48°Mostly Clear
Sunday73°Sunny

NWS forecast for Butte Meadows, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 46°F, day 74°F.

Coldest night of the open season: typical April night 40°F. Bring the bag rated for it.

100°30°

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.

Measured at: DE SABLA, CA (USC00042402), 22 miles away and 730 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Cub Creek8,643 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Mill Creek7,587 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Butt Mtn.8,217 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Who answers for this land

Potato Patch Campground 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.

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: The agency lists it open right now. Its own recreation database, though, flags it not open with no reason or date; the flag is named under How we know all this.
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.
Nearest place of any size: Butte Meadows, CA, 6.1 mi N (a census designated place). Straight line.