Rock Creek Lake (Inyo National Forest, CA)
1Heads up1 fire 35 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $35From, per site
- Sites
- 26All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Recreation Rock Creek and other waterways in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains are known for exceptional trout fishing. A catch from the lake may include brook, brown, rainbow and stocked Alpers trout, while anglers may be treated to golden trout in the backcountry. Power boats on the lake are limited to electric motors only. The area's majestic scenery and challenging trails are a draw for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. The Tamarack Trail begins in the campground and wanders up to several high-elevation, glacially-carved alpine lakes and ponds. Keep reading
Facilities
The campsites are well-spaced along the lake shore, with several tent-only, walk-in sites overlooking the lake. Boat rentals, educational programs, groceries and showers are all nearby. Firewood is available on-site for a fee. Bears inhabit the area, so bear-proof lockers are provided for campers to store food.
Natural Features
The campsites at Rock Creek Lake sit on a low hill with scattered aspen and lodgepole pine trees overlooking the lake's crystal blue waters. At an elevation of 9,600 feet, the facility affords visitors excellent mountain views. The area is home to abundant wildlife, including black bear, mountain lions, mule deer, pine martin, pika and many species of fish and birds. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (760) 935-4121.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors have convenient access the magnificent John Muir Wilderness, which stretches for 100 miles along the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is a land of lofty snow-capped mountains, deep canyons and vast expanses of glacially-carved terrain, and offers extensive hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails.
What the agency tells you
This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations
Fires permitted only in fire rings provided
2 pets allowed on leash only. Active bear area. All food must be secured overnight and when not attended, bear boxes are provided and must be used (typical bear box size 48" x 30" x 36"). Always keep a clean camp and do not feed wildlife.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating; always keep a clean camp and do not feed any wild animals
Please Note: One RV with tow vehicle per single site or one vehicle per tent site. One vehicle per single site is included with your reservation. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. Extra vehicle will be charged a per night fee and collected at the campground if you did not pay for an Extra Vehicle Add On. Extra vehicles must fit on the parking spur at the site.
Fire Restrictions: 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. Campfires permitted only in fire rings provided.
Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).
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.
Click here for more information about the Inyo National Forest
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 26 · 13 tent-only, 6 walk-in
- Hookups
- None
- Paved pads
- 25 of 26
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Ranger programs
- Wildlife viewing
- Fall color · reported 14 days ago, 30 km away
- Peak color
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.
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $35 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.
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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
26 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 8 mapped sitesAll 26 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 8 of the 26 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. 26 of the 26 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 001 | walk to | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 002 | walk to | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 003 | walk to | 47 ft | 135 ft | 176 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 004 | walk to | 47 ft | 107 ft | 130 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 005 | walk to | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 006 | walk to | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 007 | standard nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 008 | standard nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 009 | standard nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 010 | standard nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 011 | standard nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 012 | standard nonelectric | 133 ft | 17 ft | 280 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 013 | standard nonelectric | 133 ft | 110 ft | 297 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 014 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 015 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 248 ft | 165 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 016 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 017 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 290 ft | 174 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 018 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 019 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 020 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 021 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 022 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 023 | tent only nonelectric | $35 | |||
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 024 | tent only nonelectric | 86 ft | 181 ftRock Creek | 187 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 025 | tent only nonelectric | 86 ft | 124 ftRock Creek | 187 ft | $35 |
| AREA ROCK CREEK LAKE | 026 | tent only nonelectric | $35 |
25 of 26 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Rock Creek Lake Group Camp (Inyo National Forest, CA)Inyo National Forest · 0.0 miPine Grove CampgroundInyo National Forest · 1.4 miMosquito Flat Backpacker CampgroundInyo National Forest · 1.4 mi
East Fork Campground – Inyo National Forest (CA)Inyo National Forest · 2.4 mi
Palisades Group CampgroundInyo National Forest · 2.4 miEast Fork CampgroundInyo National Forest · 2.9 miFrom Mammoth Lakes, California, drive south on Highway 395 for approximately 13 miles. Take the Tom's Place exit and proceed west up the canyon for about 10 miles. At the lake, follow the signs to the family campground.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Swall Meadows, CA
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
Rock Creek Lake (Inyo National Forest, CA) 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 →