By:
Submission
One of 4 lovely campgrounds at Medicine Lake, Headquarters is the smallest with only 16 campsites. It is located on the west side of the lake and away from the other 3 campgrounds. It will not accommodate motor homes, campers or trailers over 18 feet and is most appropriate for tent camping.
From McCloud go east on US Hwy 89 south for 16 miles to Forest Service Road 15/Harris Spring Rd. Turn left on Road 15 and go 4.4 miles to Forest Service Road 49/Medicine Lake Road. Follow the signs 27.5 miles to Medicine Lake. Map to Medicine Lake.
We've been coming here for years. It's a great spot for fishing or summer water play. Be watchful for snakes and critters in the summer. The best part is: 1- This spot is open year round allowing us to visit multiple times a year, 2- right around the corner is the River Kern store that's got a little bit of everything including delicious tri-tip sandwiches that we always splurge on, once per visit.
Love this camp ground...had a big flood last year but they are working on getting it back ...just a beautiful spot on the Kern River
I stayed there in June 2023 (less than a week ago as I write this review).
The pros: the campsites tend to have lots of spots for tents, which we used. We were a group of 17 in 3 campsites. The bathrooms, which are vault toilets were very clean and smelled good?? which I didn't expect. The water wasn't in the campsites but wasn't too far. It was quiet at night, and it is so close to the Kern River that it muffles a lot of noise. The bear boxes were in good shape, but we didn't have any problems with animals.
The cons: Some of the best campsites were damaged by the high river and are not repaired, just roped off. Lots of the remaining sites are quite sunny. There were no "safe pools" of the Kern nearby, so we stayed out of the river. There were plenty of mosquitos at twilight, so bug spray is highly recommended.
We camped here on October 7th and 8th. The site host was very friendly. They don't have many sites that fit an RV. However, ours did fit perfectly. The total length with the car is about 30 feet, and we had no room to spare. I think something longer would not even be able to navigate the campsite road (tight narrowish turns). We were told there was other parking for the car if it didn't all fit. The website doesn't note generator hours, so I'll note here that the host told us we could use it outside of quiet hours (10pm-6am). This is mostly a tent campsite, and we were the only RV outside of the host. The campsite we used was 43, and the website was accurate about the back row of sites not having much shade. However, the sites were pretty large, which might make up for it. The back row of sites is also right off the road,however, headlights from cars going by while we were around the campfire was a little annoying. My only big complaint is that there weren't really any good places to even go down and look at the Kern River that we were able to find. Most entrance areas were out of someone else's campsite. I was pleasantly surprised that the mosquitoes were not bad at all. Overall, those were minor inconveniences, and we enjoyed our stay. This campsite was pricier than what I usually see, IMO, but that might be due to its closeness to Kernville. It's like an 8 minute drive.
Tmobile: little to no service
Verizon: little to service maybe 1 bar if you're lucky
But when you drive back into town, you'll get service. Just be aware. The stars are amazing at night! The river is also close by and has some rainbow trout
