Wailaki Campground
1Heads up1 fire 47 mi away
This is how it should work.
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $15From, per site
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
CAMPGROUND DETAILS • 13 campsites • Wheelchair accessible • Group site available on first come first serve basis • Fire rings, picnic tables, bear-proof trash cans, vault toilets •Trailhead for the Bear Creek Nature Trail which connects to Wailaki Campground • Trailhead alternative for the Chemise Mountain Trail No OHV access. NO HOOK-UPS. NO POTABLE WATER Wailaki Campground is located just off of Shelter Cove Road, a short drive from the town of Shelter Cove. Surrounded by old growth firs, brimming with native flora this is the ideal spot for those looking for solitude and relaxation. Keep reading
Bear Creek runs through the campground (treat any water source before drinking.) Provides access to the Southern Lost Coast Trail & Sinkyone Wilderness via the Chemise Mountain Trail. Be sure to check current weather conditions and be aware of low hanging branches or dead trees that can fall during high winds.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…picnic tables, bear-proof trash cans, vault toilets •Trailhead for the Bear Creek Nature Trail which…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…Trail No OHV access. NO HOOK-UPS. NO POTABLE WATER Wailaki Campground is located just off of Shelter…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek, Coast
Nothing to book, just show up
One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and a night costs $15 with nothing added. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.
recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.
Every line of the receipt · 5
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the lowest per-night amount the agency’s fee record states ($15), and no booking fee, because this campground takes no reservations. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 7, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the phone number
Where it is
Mattole CampgroundKing Range National Conservation Area · 26 miBailey Canyon CampgroundSix Rivers National Forest · 39 mi
Mad River CampgroundSix Rivers National Forest · 39 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Shelter Cove, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 76°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 32°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 more
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
Wailaki Campground is in California’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Jared Huffman (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →