White Oaks Campground
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 11 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 8All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Amid a grove of towering trees, eight campsites create a loop within White Oaks Campground, just off Tassajara Road. In the center of this loop, an enormous berry bush, shrubbery and trees reach up to the sky, creating the visual heart of this intimate setting. Red-tail deer and small animals can be seen eating berries around the middle of the campground, giving campers a memorable sight to see. Each campsite is shaded by the natural growth of the oak and pine trees, creating a sequestered and private atmosphere. Keep reading
Recreation
The White Oaks Campground is 2.7 miles from the Pine Ridge Trailhead. From the campground, follow the dirt road you drove in onward to China Camp. You are under the coverage of enormous pine trees and shady oaks with a view of hills as far as the eye can see. The Santa Lucia mountain range spreads out as valleys and hilltops that you never get tired of looking at. Once you reach the trailhead, you have 23 miles of trail to explore.
Facilities
Open daily, year-round. There are eight campsites located around a loop in the middle of the facility. While these campsites are mostly enjoyed by tent campers, RVs of 20 ft. or shorter could navigate into a campsite here as well. Each site includes a picnic table and fire ring. Fires are allowed only in designated fire rings. Pets are allowed. Two vault toilets are located near the campsites. You should plan to be completely self-sustainable for the duration of your trip. There is no potable water onsite. The campsites all have a good amount of space from one another and allow you to have the much-desired privacy and intimacy you want in a camping experience.
Natural Features
A wide variety of shrubbery and trees decorate this beautiful area. The Santa Lucia mountain range graces you with wondrous shades of green, orange and yellow. Canyons and valleys burst with color and the oak woodlands provide important scenic landscapes and wildlife habitats. More than 90 species of birds can be found in this bird watcher's paradise. Deer, bobcats and small animals of all kinds can be seen regularly in this area. Whether they are just passing by or looking for some food to nibble on, they provide an unforgettable experience that can only come from the outdoors.
Nearby Attractions
Hiking trails and mountain biking within 30 minutes. Day trips to the higher elevation and lengthy trails are about 2.7 miles from the campground.
What the agency tells you
In order to contact our offices, please use the email: customerservice@pmcparks.com or view our website: CampOne.Com for answers to frequently asked questions.
Camping fee includes one vehicle and one tent, trailer or RV.
$10 fee for each extra vehicle.
Everything else this campground posts · 12
No drinking water is available.
No public showers in the region.
Paved road turns to dirt three-quarters of the way there. Road not recommended for travel trailers.
Quiet hours are 10 pm to 6 am.
Fireworks are prohibited at all times.
The nearest stores and gas are 20 miles in Carmel Valley or 38 miles in Greenfield.
No cell service at the campground but a connection can be made in Carmel Valley or Greenfield.
Avoid hiking alone. Tell someone where you plan to go and then stick to your plans.
Avoid unnecessary risk - help for emergencies is miles away.
Bring gnat/mosquito repellent during spring/summer/fall.
Click here for more information on Los Padres National Forest
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…fire rings. Pets are allowed. Two vault toilets are located near the campsites. You should plan to…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…for the duration of your trip. There is no potable water onsite. The campsites all have a good amount of…”
Around the campground
- Biking
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 810th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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 · 14
What you actually pay
“$10 fee for each extra vehicle.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $30 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking, plus the agency’s published $2 weekend rate on Friday and Saturday. 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 · 6
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 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.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
China Camp CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 2.2 mi
Arroyo SecoLos Padres National Forest · 8.0 miArroyo Seco Group CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 8.2 miBottchers Gap CamproundLos Padres National Forest · 14 mi
Escondido CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 14 mi
Memorial CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 16 miThe paved road eventually turns into a dirt road; please drive slowly and carefully.
From Hwy. 101 North, take the exit for Arroyo Seco Road before the city of Greenfield. Continue down the road for 16.2 miles to the junction of Arroyo Seco Road and Carmel Valley Road then follow to the right. Take Carmel Valley Road 17.2 miles to the junction with Tassajara Road and turn left. Continue for 8 miles until you see the entrance to White Oaks on the left-hand side.
From Hwy. 101 South, take exit for Arroyo Seco Road then make your first, immediate left onto Elm Ave. Continue down Elm Ave. for 6 miles then take a left at the "T" onto Arroyo Seco Road. Follow the road for 6.5 miles to the junction of Carmel Valley road, then bear right. Take Carmel Valley for 17 miles to the junction of Tassajara Road, take a left and continue 8 miles until you see the entrance to White Oaks on the left-hand side.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Carmel Valley Village, CA
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
White Oaks Campground is in California’s 18th congressional district. Its representative, Zoe Lofgren (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →