Wild Plum
3Heads up3 fires, nearest 18 mi
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $24–$48Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 47All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 20 – October 15Open May 20 through October 15
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Wild Plum Campground is located on Haypress Creek in the North Yuba River area. Visitors enjoy a wide variety of recreational activities in the area, including hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, and gold panning. this facility is operated and maintained by the Tahoe National Forest. Keep reading
Recreation
Wild Plum Loop Trail can be accessed from the campground. The 2.5-mile trail is open to hiking and horseback riding and provides access to the Pacific Crest Trail and Haypress Trail. The scenic and historic town of Sierra City is just two miles from the campground. A variety of lodging and dining options are available.
Facilities
The campground offers several single-family sites, many of which are designated for tent camping only. Each site has a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. The campground's two smaller loops have paved roads and parking spurs; the larger upper loop has a gravel road and spurs.
Natural Features
The campground is situated on the banks of Haypress Creek. A forest of hardwood and pine trees covers the area, offering pleasant shade. Many rocks, from early gold dredging activity, cover the forest floor. Several sites overlook the creek. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.
Nearby Attractions
Wild Plum Campground is located about 1 mile east of historic Sierra City which is on the Yuba Donner Scenic Byway (Highway 49) near many gold rush era historical sites and scenic mountain vistas. Gold Lakes Basin offers boating, fishing, biking, and hiking. Boating, fishing, and swimming are available at nearby Sardine Lakes, about 7 miles north of the campground. Sardine Lakes Resort offers boat rentals. Anglers will find rainbow and brook trout in many of the lakes, streams, and rivers throughout the basin. Over 30 miles of maintained trails for hiking, mountain biking, and motorcycle singletrack branch out across the area and the Pacific Crest Trail can be accessed from with in the campground as well as at a few spots in the Lakes Basin area. The historic town of Sierra City offers historic and cultural attractions, restaurants, shops, churches, and vistor information.
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
In accordance with standard industry practices, we will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee on the 'second vehicle' in each single family campsite, and on the 'third and fourth vehicle' in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered to be one vehicle and the third and fourth are also considered to be one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles.
Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers
Utility hookups and showers are not available
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Click here for more information on the Tahoe National Forest
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 Yuba River Ranger District (530) 288-3231(voice), (530) 288-3656 (TDD).
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.
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
- 47 · 23 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 43 ft
- Paved pads
- 20 of 47
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…has a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. The campground's…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. The campground's two smaller loops…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Backpacking
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Kayaking
- Mountain biking
- Scenic drives
- Swimming
- Water access
- Night sky · 537th 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 · 18
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, we will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee on the 'second vehicle' in each single family campsite, and on the 'third and fourth vehicle' in any double family camps…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
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 · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
47 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 46 mapped sitesAll 47 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 46 of the 47 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. 47 of the 47 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA WILD PLUM | 001 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 72 ft | 107 ft | 546 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 002 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 69 ft | 170 ft | 520 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 003 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 43 ft | 160 ft | 574 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 43 ft | 185 ft | 583 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 34 ft | 78 ft | 204 ft | 627 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 006 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 55 ft | 162 ft | 693 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 007 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 55 ft | 214 ft | 655 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 008 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 70 ft | 277 ft | 585 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 009 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 59 ft | 272 ft | 540 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 010 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 59 ft | 264 ft | 496 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 011 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 73 ft | 308 ft | 423 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 012 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | 51 ft | 140 ft | 427 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 013 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 51 ft | 125 ft | 417 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 014 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 63 ft | 135 ft | 366 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 015 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 63 ft | 196 ft | 323 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 016 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 69 ft | 143 ft | 312 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 017 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 63 ft | 212 ft | 264 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 018 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 90 ft | 170 ft | 210 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 019 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 90 ft | 88 ft | 246 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 020 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 93 ft | 413 ft | 64 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 021 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 73 ft | 357 ft | 102 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 022 | tent only nonelectric | 19 ft | 73 ft | 425 ft | 146 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 023 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 38 ft | 377 ft | 201 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 024 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 46 ft | 334 ft | 169 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 025 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 47 ft | 407 ft | 234 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 026 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 38 ft | 362 ft | 188 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 027 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 50 ft | 388 ft | 228 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 028 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 61 ft | 358 ft | 229 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 029 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 51 ft | 308 ft | 168 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 030 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 60 ft | 270 ft | 177 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 031 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 45 ft | 169 ft | 470 ft | $24–$48 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 032 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 45 ft | 128 ft | 476 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 033 | tent only nonelectric | $24 | ||||
| AREA WILD PLUM | 034 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 58 ft | 147 ft | 359 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 035 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 58 ft | 90 ft | 371 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 036 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 68 ft | 108 ft | 304 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 037 | tent only nonelectric | 24 ft | 68 ft | 96 ft | 176 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 038 | tent only nonelectric | 30 ft | 59 ft | 105 ft | 102 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 039 | tent only nonelectric | 30 ft | 59 ft | 148 ft | 117 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 040 | tent only nonelectric | 41 ft | 71 ft | 136 ft | 41 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 041 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 76 ft | 162 ft | 99 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 042 | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 76 ft | 237 ft | 132 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 043 | tent only nonelectric | 26 ft | 54 ft | 207 ft | 150 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 044 | tent only nonelectric | 29 ft | 54 ft | 252 ft | 109 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 045 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 76 ft | 302 ft | 72 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 046 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 55 ft | 324 ft | 52 ft | $24 |
| AREA WILD PLUM | 047 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 55 ft | 363 ft | 79 ft | $24 |
25 of 47 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
LoganvilleTahoe National Forest · 3.1 miSardine CampgroundTahoe National Forest · 3.7 mi
Sardine LakeTahoe National Forest · 3.7 mi
Salmon CreekTahoe National Forest · 3.9 mi
PacksaddleTahoe National Forest · 4.7 mi
BergerTahoe National Forest · 4.8 miFrom Sierra City travel north (east) on Highway 49 for about a half a mile, turn right onto Wild Plum Rd and continue for another 1.5 miles. You will arrive at Wild Plum Campground after crossing the Haypress Creek bridge.
Fromk Sierraville travel south (west) on Highway 49 for 21 miles, turn right onto Wild Plum Rd and continue for another 1.5 miles. You will arrive at Wild Plum Campground after crossing the Haypress Creek bridge.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sierra City, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 66°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 30°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 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
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Wild Plum 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 →