Salmon Creek
1Heads up1 fire 39 mi away
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:39 UTC
- A night
- $24When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 32In the agency’s record
- Season
- May 21 – October 29Open May 21 through October 29
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Salmon Creek Campground is located in the North Yuba River area. Visitors enjoy a wide variety of recreational activities in the area, including hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, and gold panning. This facility is operated and maintained by the Tahoe National Forest. Keep reading
Recreation
A large network of trails is available in the area, including Tamarack Lake and Deer Lake Trails and the Pacific Crest Trail. Boating, fishing and swimming are available at nearby Sardine Lakes, which is a short drive from the campground. Sardine Lakes Resort offers boat rentals.
Facilities
The campground offers 31 single-family sites, including some tent-only sites. Each site has a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
The campground stretches along the banks of Salmon Creek. A forest of cottonwood, lodgepole pine and cedar offers shade. The surrounding area contains an abundance of beautiful high mountain lakes, rugged peaks, and scenic views. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
Nearby Attractions
Lakes Basin offers many opportunities for boating, fishing and hiking. Boating, fishing and swimming are available at nearby Sardine Lakes, about a mile to the west. Sardine Lakes Resort offers boat rentals, lodging, and a restaurant. Anglers will find rainbow and brook trout in many of the lakes, streams, and rivers throughout the basin. A more developed boat ramp is located at Gold Lake and accomodates launching of larger boats. Over 30 miles of maintained trails for hiking, mountain biking, and motorcycle singletrack branch out across the area and the Pacific Crest Trail can be accessed at a few spots in the Lakes Basin area. The historic towns of Sierra City and Downieville offer historic and cultural attractions, restaurants, shops, churches, and vistor information.
Charges & Cancellations
No Show Policy A 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 (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival). * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees. There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference. Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.
What the agency tells you
In accordance with standard industry practices, we will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee on the 'second vehicle' in each single family campsite, and on the 'third and fourth vehicle' 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.
Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers
Utility hookups and showers are not available at the campground
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Click here for more information on the Tahoe National Forest
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. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the Yuba River Ranger District (530) 288-3231(voice) or, (530) 288-3656 (TDD).
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.
No Show Policy A 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 (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival). * No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. * It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees. There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference. Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 32 · 5 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…has a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hotel/Lodge/Resort Privately Owned
- Hunting
- Mountain biking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Scenic drives
- Swimming
- Night sky · 511th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:39 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, we will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee on the 'second vehicle' in each single family campsite, and on the 'third and fourth vehicle' in any double family camps…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
“Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility.” · 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 · 6
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Salmon Creek closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Chapman Creek CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 3.7 mi · walk-up
- Lookout CampgroundToiyabe National Forest · 29 mi · 18 sites
- Prosser Ranch GroupTahoe National Forest · 30 mi · 2 sites
- Shirttail CreekTahoe National Forest · 35 mi · 39 sites
recreation.gov availability, read 16:39 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
32 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 28 mapped sitesAll 32 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 16 of the 32 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. 29 of the 32 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 001 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 99 ft | 294 ft | 3,118 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 23 ft | 100 ft | 252 ft | 3,125 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 23 ft | 99 ft | 331 ft | 3,180 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 42 ft | 211 ft | 3,119 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 23 ft | 42 ft | 171 ft | 3,085 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 006 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 101 ft | 192 ft | 3,139 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 007 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 78 ft | 112 ft | 3,010 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 008 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 78 ft | 102 ft | 2,973 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 009 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 120 ft | 140 ft | 2,970 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 010 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 88 ft | 175 ft | 3,015 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 011 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 86 ft | 160 ft | 3,034 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 012 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 50 ft | 172 ft | 3,078 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 013 | type not stated | 36 ft | ||||
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 014 | type not stated | 36 ft | ||||
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 015 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 50 ft | 221 ft | 3,124 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 016 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 51 ft | 225 ft | 3,202 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 017 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 51 ft | 190 ft | 3,172 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 018 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 102 ft | 230 ft | 3,219 ft | $24 |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 019 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 36 ft | 320 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 020 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 36 ft | 298 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 021 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 42 ft | 312 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 022 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 107 ft | 546 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 023 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 87 ft | 662 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 024 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 87 ft | 575 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 025 | type not stated | 25 ft | 747 ft | |||
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 026 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 97 ft | 769 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 027 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 97 ft | 677 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 028 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 100 ft | 770 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 029 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 100 ft | 679 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 030 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 225 ft | 872 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 031 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 249 ft | 641 ft | $24 | |
| AREA SALMON CREEK | 033 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | $24 |
25 of 32 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Sardine LakeTahoe National Forest · 0.4 mi
DiabloTahoe National Forest · 1.5 mi
BergerTahoe National Forest · 1.7 mi
PacksaddleTahoe National Forest · 2.0 mi
SierraTahoe National Forest · 3.0 miFrom Sierraville, travel south on Highway 49 for 18 miles to Bassetts. Turn right and continue two miles to the campground, which is on the left side of the highway.
From Sierra City, travel north on Highway 49 for 5 miles. Turn left at Bassett Station on Gold Lake Highway and continue just over a mile, campground is on the left just past Packer Lake Road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sierra City, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 66°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 30°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 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.
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
Salmon Creek 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 →