U.S. Forest Service · Tahoe National Forest · CA

Silver Creek-Truckee

3Heads up3 fires, nearest 2 mi
Wildfire
Peak fire · 1.5 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026
Wildfire
Spaulding fire · 25 mi away · 2 acres · updated Oct 16, 2026
Wildfire
Old fire · 41 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 16, 2026
ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 21 opens May 21.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
A night
$20From, per site
Sites
3628 on recreation.gov
Season
May 27 – October 10Open May 27 through October 10
30 ftLongest rig
6,070 ftElevation
546 ftWater · Truckee River
4.1 miNW of Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA
34%Tree cover
Open May 27 through October 10Today

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices

In the agency’s own words

Silver Creek Campground is located on the Truckee River, off of Highway 89, between Truckee and Tahoe City. Visitors enjoy the area for its fishing and hiking opportunities, as well as its proximity to Lake Tahoe and Olympic Valley. This facility is operated and maintained by Lake Tahoe Hospitality LLC for the Tahoe National Forest. Keep reading

Recreation

Fly-fishing for rainbow trout in the Truckee River is a popular activity. Campers also enjoy swimming and tubing. The surrounding area offers abundamt hiking and biking trails, including the Western States Trail, Five Lakes Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail.

Facilities

The campground offers single-family sites, seven of which are designated for tent-camping only. Each site is equipped with a picnic table, campfire ring with grill. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided.

Natural Features

The campground is situated on the banks of the Truckee River. A few sites overlook the river. A scenic forest of lodgepole pine and fir covers the area. Contact Info This location has limited staffing. Please call (530) 606-3978 for general information.

Nearby Attractions

Silver Creek Campground is centrally located between Prosser, Boca and Stampede Reservoirs to the north and Lake Tahoe and Olympic Valley to the south. A variety of outdoor recreational activities is available at each location. Truckee, 10 minutes north, offers all the amenities of a year round recreational mountain town including interstate highway connectivity, top notch restaurants, resorts and hotels, grocery stores, gas stations, shopping, and historic sites. Lake Tahoe is located 10 minutes south and offers excellent boating, kayaking, fishing, hiking and scenic driving opportunities, as well as dining, shopping and lodging options. Other recreational opportunities include Donner Camp Interpretive Trail, Overland Emigrant Commemorative Trail, Stampede Reservoir Recreation Area, Prosser Pits OHV area, and numerous hiking, mountain biking, and OHV trails.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers. Bear lockers dimensions are 48' wide x 28' deep x 35' tall. Please plan food storage containers accordingly.

Rule

Limited turnaround space restricts RVs longer than 24 feet

Rule

Off-highway vehicles must be trailered to and from designated OHV routes. Recreational riding is not allowed in the campground

Everything else this campground posts · 8
Rule

Click here for more information on the Tahoe National Forest

Rule

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 Truckee Ranger District (530) 587-3558 (voice), (530) 587-6907 (TDD).

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

Firewood available from the campground host (subject to availability).

Rule

One vehicle included with reservation. Additional vehicle fee cost is $10/each per night for all vehicles. All operable, highway legal vehicles must pay extra vehicle fee, excluding the single vehicle included with the reservation. Please pay extra vehicle fee at the self-serve fee tube located near campground entrance if not paid online.

Rule

Campsite check-out time is 12:00pm. Check-in time is 2:00pm.

Rule

6 people and 2 dogs maximum per site. Dogs shall always be kept on leash no longer than six feet or otherwise confined. Violation notices WILL be issued for non-compliance.

Rule

Modifications for this campground must be made PRIOR to your reservation start date. Customers and contact center agents cannot modify reservations on or after the check-in date.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
36 · 5 tent-only, 15 walk-in
Hookups
None
Longest rig
30 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…picnic table, campfire ring with grill. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
Drinking water
Yes
“…ring with grill. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground is…”
Camp host
On site
recreation.gov lists “Host”
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Around the campground

On the water
Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek
Biking
Fishing
Hiking
Mountain biking
Swimming
Water access
Night sky · 950th darkest of 1,201 in CA
Bortle 4
Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 7.9 km away
Patchy color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (7.9 km) · Oct 6, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

recreation.gov lists 28 of the 36 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 21, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 21, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Max stay14 nightsthe facility record
A night$20plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$48DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Fri, May 21 2027 is open for booking.

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$20
Standard Nonelectric$20
Tent Only Nonelectric$20
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 22, 2026 to Oct 3, 2026.
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 this campground addsits own record
Extra vehicle$10

“Additional vehicle fee cost is $10/each per night for all vehicles.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice

What a stay costs
One nightDerived$28
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$48

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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 · 6

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

36 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 27 mapped sites
72 ftbetween you and the next site, typically
Least room019 51 ft020 51 ft009 51 ft

All 36 sites

27 of 36 sites located
Standard15Tent only5Walk, hike or boat in7
SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 27 of the 36 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. 36 of the 36 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE001standard nonelectric30 ft65 ft480 ft238 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE002standard nonelectric30 ft103 ft413 ft252 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE003standard nonelectric30 ft103 ft354 ft149 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE004standard nonelectric30 ft85 ft259 ft163 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE005standard nonelectric30 ft85 ft213 ft111 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE006standard nonelectric30 ft67 ft342 ft75 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE007standard nonelectric30 ft67 ft404 ft139 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE008standard nonelectric30 ft65 ft479 ft212 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE009tent only nonelectric25 ft51 ft317 ft142 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE010tent only nonelectric25 ft51 ft321 ft100 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE011standard nonelectric30 ft67 ft244 ft180 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE013standard nonelectric30 ft86 ft338 ft122 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE014standard nonelectric30 ft67 ft240 ft219 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE015standard nonelectric20 ft80 ft324 ft150 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE016standard nonelectric30 ft91 ft233 ft236 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE017standard nonelectric30 ft67 ft326 ft189 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE018standard nonelectric30 ft67 ft362 ft217 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE019tent only nonelectric30 ft50 ft281 ft359 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE020tent only nonelectric25 ft50 ft236 ft365 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE021tent only nonelectric30 ft85 ft212 ft320 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE022walk to20 ft99 ft106 ft466 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE023walk to20 ft99 ft87 ft424 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE024walk to20 ft103 ft84 ft387 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE025walk to15 ft103 ft117 ft322 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE026walk to15 ft72 ft123 ft224 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE027walk to15 ft72 ft106 ft187 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEE028walk to15 ft87 ft109 ft158 ft$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-25walk to$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-251walk to$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-252walk to$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-253walk to$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-254walk to$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-255walk to$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-256walk to$20
AREA SILVER CREEK-TRUCKEEFS1-257walk to$20
S&PSingle S&Ptype not stated30 ft$20

25 of 36 listed

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate39.22326, -120.20260
The phone(530)587-3558. FOR RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CALL: 1 (877) 444-67
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today68°Sunny
Tonight35°Clear
Saturday70°Sunny
Saturday Night29°Clear

NWS forecast for Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 33°F, day 59°F.

Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.

90°32°10°

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.

Measured at: TAHOE CITY, CA (USC00048758), 5 miles away and 160 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Granite Chief6,546 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Granite Chief N593 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Granite Chief S567 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Who answers for this land

Kevin Kiley, official portrait

Silver Creek-Truckee 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: The agency lists it out of season. The season it publishes is the bar below.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (7.9 km) · Oct 6, 2026
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.