Schoolhouse Campground (CA)
1Heads up1 fire 22 mi away
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $24–$48Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 5655 on recreation.gov
- Season
- April 15 – October 15Open April 15 through October 15
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bullards Bar Reservoir is located on the North Yuba River at an elevation of 2000 feet. It is located approximately 21 miles north of Nevada City, California. It has a maximum surface area of 4,760 acres and a length of over 16 miles and shoreline of more than 60 miles. Keep reading
Recreation
Activities include wildlife viewing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, fishing, boating, water skiing, and other water sports. Swimming opportunities are limited because of the steep slopes; however boaters will find numerous opportunities for swimming in various locations around the reservoir. The reservoir provides yearlong fishing opportunities for both warm and cold water fish species. Supplies are available at the marina as well as the nearby communities of Camptonville, North San Juan, and Dobbins.
Facilities
Public access for boating and recreation is limited to 2 developed and 1 undeveloped boat launches: the Cottage Creek Boat Launch ramp at Emerald Cove Marina, the Dark Day Boat Launch ramp, and the undeveloped site at the end of Moran Road. The area includes 5 campgrounds, 2 picnic areas, 2 boat launch ramps, 1 marina, 1 overlook, 1 day use area and several developed hiking trails.
Natural Features
The sides of the reservoir are generally steep and public access for boating and recreation is limited. The reservoir is surrounded by both conifer and hardwood forests with numerous brush species. There is plenty of shade at the campsites Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
Nearby Attractions
There is a beautiful non- motorized trail system in the area, with 5 different trails to choose from. Bullards Bar Trailhead is 14 miles, 7 Ball Trial is 1 mile, 8 Ball Trail is 3.8 miles, Rebel Ridge Trail is 1.6 miles and Schoolhouse Trail is 0.7 miles. Maps are available at the North Yuba Ranger Station just a couple miles east of the reservoir on Marysville Road.
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
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.
Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers
Utility hookups and showers are not available
Everything else this campground posts · 2
There is not a dump station at this facility
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
- 56
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 92 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, River, Creek, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Mountain biking
- Paddling
- Picnicking
- Ranger Station
- Swimming
- Water Skiing
- Water sports
- Night sky · 840th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- Yes
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 55 of the 56 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.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $24–$48 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.
“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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
56 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 55 mapped sitesAll 56 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. 55 of the 56 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| 10 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 58 ft | 1,566 ft | $24–$48 |
| 11 | standard nonelectric | 78 ft | 58 ft | 1,624 ft | $24–$48 |
| 12 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 37 ft | 1,775 ft | $24–$48 |
| 13 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 37 ft | 1,766 ft | $24–$48 |
| 14D | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 136 ft | 1,761 ft | $24–$48 |
| 15 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 109 ft | 1,625 ft | $24–$48 |
| 16 | standard nonelectric | 80 ft | 113 ft | 1,596 ft | $24–$48 |
| 17 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 140 ft | 1,497 ft | $24–$48 |
| 18 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 70 ft | 1,371 ft | $24–$48 |
| 19D | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 117 ft | 1,255 ft | $24–$48 |
| 1D | type not stated | 39 ft | 1,891 ft | ||
| 20 | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 86 ft | 1,093 ft | $24–$48 |
| 21 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 68 ft | 1,047 ft | $24–$48 |
| 22 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 68 ft | 1,024 ft | $24–$48 |
| 23 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 107 ft | 968 ft | $24–$48 |
| 24 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 179 ft | 807 ft | $24–$48 |
| 25 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 95 ft | 977 ft | $24–$48 |
| 26D | standard nonelectric | 92 ft | 107 ft | 1,192 ft | $24–$48 |
| 27 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 66 ft | 1,304 ft | $24–$48 |
| 28D | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 66 ft | 1,322 ft | $24–$48 |
| 29 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 107 ft | 1,204 ft | $24–$48 |
| 2D | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 106 ft | 1,725 ft | $24–$48 |
| 3 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 125 ft | 1,801 ft | $24–$48 |
| 30 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 89 ft | 1,235 ft | $24–$48 |
| 31 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 77 ft | 1,116 ft | $24–$48 |
| 32 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 86 ft | 1,186 ft | $24–$48 |
| 33 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 77 ft | 1,065 ft | $24–$48 |
| 34 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 118 ft | 1,108 ft | $24–$48 |
| 35 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 76 ft | 1,220 ft | $24–$48 |
| 36 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 76 ft | 1,208 ft | $24–$48 |
| 37 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 98 ft | 1,085 ft | $24–$48 |
| 38 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | 81 ft | 1,117 ft | $24–$48 |
| 39D | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 116 ft | 993 ft | $24–$48 |
| 4 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 123 ft | 1,719 ft | $24–$48 |
| 40D | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 120 ft | 1,007 ft | $24–$48 |
| 41 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | 81 ft | 1,102 ft | $24–$48 |
| 42 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 126 ft | 1,139 ft | $24–$48 |
| 43 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 85 ft | 1,185 ft | $24–$48 |
| 44D | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 85 ft | 1,221 ft | $24–$48 |
| 45 | standard nonelectric | 69 ft | 92 ft | 1,322 ft | $24–$48 |
| 46 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 92 ft | 1,391 ft | $24–$48 |
| 47 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 93 ft | 1,293 ft | $24–$48 |
| 48 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | 61 ft | 1,422 ft | $24–$48 |
| 49 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 89 ft | 1,313 ft | $24–$48 |
| 5 | standard nonelectric | 31 ft | 57 ft | 1,530 ft | $24–$48 |
| 50 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 68 ft | 1,385 ft | $24–$48 |
| 51D | standard nonelectric | 86 ft | 99 ft | 1,370 ft | $24–$48 |
| 52 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 86 ft | 1,270 ft | $24–$48 |
| 53 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 106 ft | 1,361 ft | $24–$48 |
| 54 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 57 ft | 1,474 ft | $24–$48 |
| 55 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 83 ft | 1,379 ft | $24–$48 |
| 56 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 74 ft | 1,518 ft | $24–$48 |
| 6D | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 82 ft | 1,624 ft | $24–$48 |
| 7 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 65 ft | 1,539 ft | $24–$48 |
| 8 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 94 ft | 1,467 ft | $24–$48 |
| 9D | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 61 ft | 1,478 ft | $24–$48 |
25 of 56 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Hornswoggle Group CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 0.2 mi
Dark Day CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 1.0 mi
Garden Point Boat-in CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 1.1 mi
Cottage Creek Campground (CA)Plumas National Forest · 2.0 miFrenchy Point CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 3.2 mi
Madrone Cove Boat-in CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 4.2 miFrom Nevada City, California, travel approximately 20 miles on Highway 49 to Marysville Road, turn left onto Marysville Road and travel approximately 4 miles to Schoolhouse Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for North San Juan, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 78°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical April night 40°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Schoolhouse Campground (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 →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“the agency's own site records list "CELL PHONE SERVICE" on 56 of 56 campsites here”