CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Forest Service · Giant Sequoia National Monument · CA

Princess

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 9 mi

Wildfire

Land fire · 9.4 mi away · 20 acres · updated Oct 11, 2026

Wildfire

Wildfire Training fire · 22 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026

Fires: NIFC/IRWIN via MTJP wildfire tracker · Oct 15, 2026

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 28 opens May 28.

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book

Right now: Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
A night: $36–$71Across the site types the agency prices
Sites: 8982 on recreation.gov

Photos · U.S. Forest Service

50 ftLongest rig

5,860 ftElevation

1,174 ftWater · Indian Creek

10.1 miNE of Squaw Valley, CA

45%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices

In the agency’s own words

Princess Campground sits next to a large meadow at an elevation of 5,900 feet in the Indian Basin Grove. The campsite is just 3 miles northwest of Hume Lake. The 87-acre lake was built to support a one-time commercial logging operation, and is part of the Kings River Watershed, a region of the Sierra Nevada mountains replete with vast stands of timber. The lake now provides countless recreational opportunities for visitors. Keep reading

Recreation

The Indian Basin Grove Interpretive Trail offers an accessible, paved half-mile loop, and an additional half-mile extension loop through the grove and meadow area. The trailhead is right outside the camp entrance. At nearby Hume Lake, visitors can enjoy fishing, non-motorized boating, hiking, mountain biking and off-road exploring. For hikers of all levels, the 2.6-mile Hume Lake Loop at the lake and features interpretive signs and benches.

Facilities

This 88-site park consists of several loops, among them 19 tent-only sites. An amphitheater makes for a convivial gathering place. Camp next to giant Sequoia tree stumps from an ancient Sequoia grove or near a lush meadow full of wildflowers. Sites are shaded, parking stands are dirt and gravel. This facility is operated by ExplorUS and comments are welcome; comment forms are available from campground hosts or online.

Natural Features

The Sequoia National Forest, located at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada in central California, takes its name from the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree, which grows in more than 30 groves on the Forest's lower slopes. The Forest comprises about 1.1 million acres, and elevations range from about 1,000 to 12,000 feet, creating precipitous canyons and mountain streams with spectacular waterfalls such as Salmon Creek Falls and Grizzly Falls. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.

Nearby Attractions

The campground provides a great base for day trips to Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Boyden Caverns and General Grant Grove.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

This is black bear country; Special food storage regulations in effect and must be followed

Rule

Only non-motorized boats are allowed on Hume Lake

Rule

Off-road vehicles are not permitted in the campground

Everything else this campground posts · 5

Rule

Click here to learn more about Sequoia National Forest

Rule

Camping fee does not include Park Entrance Fee

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

This campground has a dump station onsite, fee is $20.00.

Rule

Overnight camping fee includes 1 car or RV/Trailer with tow vehicle. There is an additional fee $8.00 for each vehicle per night of stay. If you have an extra vehicle, it must fit on the site parking spur.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 89 · 18 tent-only
Hookups: None
Longest rig: 50 ft
Paved pads: 9 of 89
Accessible sites: None listed
Pets: Allowed at 2 of 89 sites
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: Every site

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: recreation.gov facility record · Sep 9, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek, Meadow; Backpacking; Birding; Hiking; Historic site; Mountain biking; Off Road Vehicle Trails; Stargazing; Wildlife viewing
Night sky · 748th darkest of 1,201 in CA: Bortle 3

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

recreation.gov lists 82 of the 89 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.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 28, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 28, 2027.recreation.gov Add to calendar (.ics)

Max stay14 nightsthe facility record

A night$36–$71plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$80–$150DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itRocky Mountain Recreation CompanyA private concessionaire under permit from U.S. Forest Service (parent: ExplorUS)the operator link

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.

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.

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 · 14

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service

A night, per site$36–$71

Standard Nonelectric$36

Tent Only Nonelectric$36

Standard Nonelectric-Double$71

These are next season’s rates, May 28, 2027 to Sep 25, 2027. The campground is between seasons now.

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 a stay costs

One nightDerived$44–$79

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$80–$150

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $36–$71 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

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 · 5

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Oct 1, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

89 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 81 mapped sites

73 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most roomLoop MORN 012 147 ftLoop MORN 013 110 ftLoop SHIN 049 110 ftLoop SHIN 035 108 ftLoop SHIN 036 108 ft

Least roomLoop YELL 064 45 ftLoop YELL 065 45 ftLoop MORN 025 45 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 89 sites

88 of 89 sites located

Standard63Tent only18Type not stated7

001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030 031 032 033 034 035 036 037 039 040 041 042 043 044 045 046 047 048 049 050 051 052 054 055 056 057 058 059 060 061 062 063 064 065 066 067 068 069 070 071 072 073 074 075 076 077 078 079 080 081 082 083 084 085 086 087 088 089 090

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 82 of the 89 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.


MORN	001	type not stated	30 ft		1,966 ft
MORN	002	standard nonelectric	43 ft	56 ft	2,008 ft	$36–$71
MORN	003	standard nonelectric	43 ft	63 ft	1,913 ft	$36–$71
MORN	004	tent only nonelectric	25 ft	56 ft	1,962 ft	$36
MORN	005	tent only nonelectric	25 ft	84 ft	1,894 ft	$36
MORN	006	standard nonelectric	40 ft	86 ft	1,805 ft	$36–$71
MORN	007	standard nonelectric	45 ft	88 ft	1,819 ft	$36–$71
MORN	008	standard nonelectric	40 ft	86 ft	1,745 ft	$36–$71
MORN	009	standard nonelectric	30 ft	77 ft	1,639 ft	$36–$71
MORN	010	standard nonelectric	35 ft	104 ft	1,520 ft	$36–$71
MORN	011	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	77 ft	1,623 ft	$36
MORN	012	standard nonelectric	30 ft	147 ft	1,519 ft	$36–$71
MORN	013	standard nonelectric	34 ft	110 ft	1,678 ft	$36–$71
MORN	014	standard nonelectric	35 ft	104 ft	1,686 ft	$36–$71
MORN	015	standard nonelectric	35 ft	53 ft	1,780 ft	$36–$71
MORN	016	standard nonelectric	45 ft	53 ft	1,790 ft	$36–$71
MORN	017	standard nonelectric	40 ft	73 ft	1,946 ft	$36–$71
MORN	018	standard nonelectric	30 ft	85 ft	1,865 ft	$36–$71
MORN	019	standard nonelectric	40 ft	73 ft	1,902 ft	$36–$71
MORN	020	standard nonelectric	50 ft	96 ft	1,784 ft	$36–$71
MORN	021	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	90 ft	1,851 ft	$36
MORN	022	standard nonelectric	40 ft	82 ft	2,063 ft	$36–$71
MORN	023	standard nonelectric	45 ft	94 ft	2,128 ft	$36–$71
MORN	024	type not stated	10 ft		2,070 ft
MORN	025	standard nonelectric	35 ft	45 ft	2,139 ft	$36–$71
MORN	026	standard nonelectric	30 ft	62 ft	2,052 ft	$36–$71
MORN	027	standard nonelectric	45 ft	45 ft	2,120 ft	$36–$71
MORN	028	standard nonelectric	35 ft	64 ft	2,079 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	029	standard nonelectric	35 ft	62 ft	2,371 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	030	standard nonelectric	35 ft	51 ft	2,429 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	031	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	55 ft	2,432 ft	$36
SHIN	032	tent only nonelectric	20 ft	51 ft	2,480 ft	$36
SHIN	033	standard nonelectric	40 ft	63 ft	2,506 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	034	type not stated	25 ft		2,557 ft
SHIN	035	standard nonelectric	35 ft	108 ft	2,639 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	036	standard nonelectric	45 ft	108 ft	2,650 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	037	standard nonelectric	35 ft	99 ft	2,620 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	039	standard nonelectric	35 ft	67 ft	2,538 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	040	tent only nonelectric	20 ft	59 ft	2,461 ft	$36
SHIN	041	standard nonelectric	40 ft	67 ft	2,486 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	042	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	59 ft	2,417 ft	$36
SHIN	043	standard nonelectric	35 ft	66 ft	2,361 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	044	standard nonelectric	30 ft	73 ft	2,433 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	045	tent only nonelectric	35 ft	66 ft	2,327 ft	$36
SHIN	046	standard nonelectric	35 ft	92 ft	2,407 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	047	standard nonelectric	40 ft	76 ft	2,338 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	048	tent only nonelectric	25 ft	76 ft	2,277 ft	$36
SHIN	049	standard nonelectric	30 ft	109 ft	2,199 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	050	standard nonelectric	30 ft	76 ft	2,091 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	051	standard nonelectric	30 ft	76 ft	2,080 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	052	tent only nonelectric	25 ft	94 ft	2,172 ft	$36
SHIN	053	standard nonelectric	25 ft			$36–$71
SHIN	054	type not stated	40 ft		2,207 ft
SHIN	055	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	96 ft	2,175 ft	$36
SHIN	056	type not stated	45 ft		2,240 ft
SHIN	057	standard nonelectric	40 ft	85 ft	2,269 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	058	standard nonelectric	35 ft	60 ft	2,334 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	059	standard nonelectric	30 ft	60 ft	2,298 ft	$36–$71
SHIN	060	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	75 ft	2,381 ft	$36
YELL	061	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	58 ft	2,113 ft	$36
YELL	062	standard nonelectric	30 ft	51 ft	2,164 ft	$36–$71
YELL	063	standard nonelectric	30 ft	76 ft	2,058 ft	$36–$71
YELL	064	standard nonelectric	20 ft	45 ft	2,136 ft	$36–$71
YELL	065	tent only nonelectric	30 ft	45 ft	2,158 ft	$36
YELL	066	standard nonelectric	35 ft	53 ft	2,076 ft	$36–$71
YELL	067	standard nonelectric	40 ft	89 ft	2,149 ft	$36–$71
YELL	068	standard nonelectric	40 ft	53 ft	2,053 ft	$36–$71
YELL	069	standard nonelectric	40 ft	67 ft	2,065 ft	$36–$71
YELL	070	standard nonelectric	35 ft	91 ft	2,149 ft	$36–$71
YELL	071	standard nonelectric	30 ft	66 ft	2,280 ft	$36–$71
YELL	072	standard nonelectric	35 ft	66 ft	2,304 ft	$36–$71
YELL	073	standard nonelectric	25 ft	63 ft	2,391 ft	$36–$71
YELL	074	standard nonelectric	35 ft	63 ft	2,395 ft	$36–$71
YELL	075	standard nonelectric	35 ft	66 ft	2,464 ft	$36–$71
YELL	076	standard nonelectric	25 ft	62 ft	2,476 ft	$36–$71
YELL	077	tent only nonelectric	20 ft	62 ft	2,518 ft	$36
YELL	078	standard nonelectric	35 ft	72 ft	2,553 ft	$36–$71
YELL	079	type not stated	25 ft		2,645 ft
YELL	080	type not stated	40 ft		2,688 ft
YELL	081	standard nonelectric	35 ft	69 ft	2,696 ft	$36–$71
YELL	082	tent only nonelectric	20 ft	72 ft	2,590 ft	$36
YELL	083	standard nonelectric	35 ft	69 ft	2,652 ft	$36–$71
YELL	084	standard nonelectric	35 ft	89 ft	2,516 ft	$36–$71
YELL	085	standard nonelectric	30 ft	89 ft	2,481 ft	$36–$71
YELL	086	standard nonelectric	30 ft	87 ft	2,289 ft	$36–$71
YELL	087	standard nonelectric	40 ft	77 ft	2,361 ft	$36–$71
YELL	088	tent only nonelectric	25 ft	74 ft	2,227 ft	$36
YELL	089	standard nonelectric	35 ft	77 ft	2,316 ft	$36–$71
YELL	090	standard nonelectric	30 ft	82 ft	2,263 ft	$36–$71

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Oct 1, 2026

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.

25 of 89 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate36.80278, -118.93808

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone559-335-2232

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Hume LakeGiant Sequoia National Monument · 1.8 mi

Aspen Hollow Group (Sequoia National Forest, CA)Giant Sequoia National Monument · 2.4 mi

Logger Flat GroupGiant Sequoia National Monument · 3.0 mi

LandslideGiant Sequoia National Monument · 4.1 mi

Ten Mile Campground (CA)Giant Sequoia National Monument · 4.2 mi

Crystal Springs Campground (CA)Kings Canyon National Park · 4.2 mi

Getting there

From Fresno, California, go east on Highway 180 to Grants Grove, continuing approximately 12 miles to Princess Campground on the right.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today68°Sunny

Tonight51°Clear

Saturday64°Sunny

Saturday Night47°Clear

NWS forecast for Wilsonia, CA

Source: National Weather Service, HNX forecast office · Oct 16, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 39°F, day 63°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical February night 25°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°20°

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.

Measured at: GRANT GROVE, CA (USC00043551), 5 miles away and 720 ft higher

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Watch

Giant Sequoia National Monumentclimate, logging

Roadless

Kings River52,999 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area

Roadless

Agnew9,561 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

Roadless

Monarch697 acres · 10 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Oct 9, 2026

Who answers for this land

Princess is in California’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Tom McClintock (R), 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.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: U.S. Forest Service’s own recreation database flags it not open and publishes no reason and no date. That’s a flag, not a notice: the number below is the only way to be sure.

Listed not open: USFS EDW Recreation Opportunities, openstatus field: a not-open flag in a database, with no reason and no date published; read there since Sep 9, 2026. A flag, not a notice, so this page doesn’t call it a closure. · Oct 16, 2026

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 82 of the 89 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 88 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 0.21 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 1,201 rated federal campgrounds in California · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

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: Wilsonia, CA, 4.5 mi NNE (a census designated place). Straight line.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026