San Joaquin River Gorge Camping
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 6 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $25From, per site
- Sites
- 8All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices
In the agency’s own words
The scenic San Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area straddles the San Joaquin River just upstream from Millerton Lake State Recreation Area and includes lands in both Fresno and Madera Counties. Multiple campground and day-use sites are available for your enjoyment, as well as over 20 miles of outstanding multi-use trails. Day use and camping fees can be paid in person with cash, or via Scan & Pay. All camping is first-come, first-served, so advance payment for camping is not advised. Keep reading
Federal Interagency (America the Beautiful) Passes are also accepted for day use and can be purchased at our Visitor Center, which is open Friday - Sunday, 8 AM - 2 PM. Regardless of your visitation type or payment method, please fill out a pink recreation permit envelope with your information, then deposit it in the Iron Ranger at the trailhead or day use area. The 'receipt' from the permit should hang on your vehicle's rear-view mirror for the duration of your visit. The camping "receipt" from the permit should be placed on your campsite post, with the arrival and departure dates.
Recreation
The San Joaquin River Gorge trail system is our most popular recreation feature. The 20+ miles of trails are all multi use and non-motorized: open to hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrian use. Most of our trails are located at the main trailhead and campground Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh. There are 5 walk-in campsites located at Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh, and 3 campsites located at the Equestrian Campground, which is suited for trailers and car camping. Hunting is allowed in the recreation area, with an exclusion zone around the developed campground areas. Target shooting is not allowed in the recreation area.
Facilities
Each campsite has a picnic table and fire pit / grill. There is a double accessible vault toilet located at Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh, and a portable restroom at the Equestrian Campground. Each campground has potable water.
Natural Features
The San Joaquin River Gorge is located in the Sierra Nevada Foothills at approximately 1000' elevation. The area is primarily oak woodland, with some gray pines as well. On either side of the San Joaquin River, there is a scenic table mountain system.
Nearby Attractions
The San Joaquin River Gorge is located in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, just a short drive from the Sierra National Forest. The SJRG is also located approximately half way between Yosemite National Park and Sequoia / Kings Canyon National park, approximately 2 hours to each.
What the agency tells you
All camping is first come, first served only. Once you arrive, please fill out a permit envelope located at the Iron Ranger next to the kiosk. Attached to the permit envelope are two receipts: one part of the receipt goes on your dashboard or rear view mirror, and the other part of the receipt goes on your campsite post. The filled out envelope should be placed in the iron ranger. If paying with scan & pay, please write your receipt/ confirmation number on the envelope in lieu of cash.
Pay attention to posted first restrictions. If in fire restrictions, campfires and charcoal BBQs are not allowed. Camp / propane stoves are allowed with a valid california campfire permit. Campfire permits are located at https://www.readyforwildfire.org/permits/ , or at our visitor center Friday - Sunday.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8 · 5 walk-in, 3 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed at 7 of 8 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets · Portable Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 5 of 8 campsite records / PORTABLE TOILETS on 3 of 8 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 8 of 8 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 8 of 8 campsite records
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Biking
- Caving
- Climbing
- Hiking
- Horse Camping
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Mountain biking
- Picnicking
- Visitor center
- Water access
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:45 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $25 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
recreation.gov availability, read 15:45 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites
All 8 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 8 of the 8 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Equestrian Campground | Equestrian Campsite #1 | equestrian nonelectric | $25 |
| Equestrian Campground | Equestrian Campsite #2 | equestrian nonelectric | $25 |
| Equestrian Campground | Equestrian Campsite #3 | equestrian nonelectric | $25 |
| Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh Campground | Walk-in Campsite #1 | walk to | $10–$15 |
| Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh Campground | Walk-in Campsite #2 | walk to | $10–$15 |
| Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh Campground | Walk-in Campsite #3 | walk to | $10–$15 |
| Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh Campground | Walk-in Campsite #4 | walk to | $10–$15 |
| Ya-Gub-Weh-Tuh Campground | Walk-in Campsite #5 | walk to | $10–$15 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Oak Flat LookoutSequoia National Forest · 25 miBreckenridge CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 32 miEvans Flat CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 34 mi
Sandy FlatSequoia National Forest · 36 mi
Hobo CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 36 miSandy Flat CampgroundSequoia National Forest · 36 mi40060 Smalley Road, Auberry, California
The San Joaquin River Gorge Recreation Area is located approximately five (5) miles northwest of the town of Auberry. Google Maps accurately locates the visitor center.
From Fresno, take CA-168 north. One mile after the town of Prather, turn left onto Auberry Road. Follow Auberry Road 2.9 miles through the town of Auberry and turn left at the "Y" onto Powerhouse Road. After 1.8 miles, turn left onto Smalley Road and follow it down into the recreation area.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Shafter, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 47°F, day 80°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 34°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
San Joaquin River Gorge Camping is in California’s 22nd congressional district. Its representative, David Valadao (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →