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The popular Medicine Lake Recreation Area and adjacent Medicine Lake are located in the Medicine Lake Highlands in northeastern California. The Recreation Area is located in the Modoc National Forest at an elevation of 6,770 feet. See also Little Medicine Lake Picnic Area Natural Features: Medicine Lake Recreation Area is nestled along Medicine Lake and mostly sheltered by mature lodgepole pine trees but can be windy at times. The Recreation Area lies adjacent to the Medicine Lake Lava Flow which is accessible by a short hike. The Glass Mtn. and Burnt Lava Flow Geologic Areas are located within a 15-minute drive. Recreation : The Medicine Lake Recreation Area offers camping, boating, fishing and swimming. The adjacent Day Use Areas accommodate boating with a concrete boat ramp and dock. Swimming is available in a designated swimming area next to the Picnic Area. Hiking and mountain biking are available on trails originating in the Recreation Area. The longest of these trails is the trail up Little Mt Hoffman. In summer a boat dock is available at the launch ramp. There is no fishing or swimming in the vacinity of the dock or ramp. Ample trailer parking is available. Medicine Lake has specific rules for skiing and use of power boats. Rules are subject to change depending on conditions. Please chek the rules posted on the bulletin board each time you boat on Medicine Lake. Facilities : The Medicine Lake Recreation Area is comprised of four campgrounds; Medicine, A.H. Hogue, Hemlock and Headquarters Campgrounds. Nearby the campgrounds are Picnic Area and Boat Launch sites. Campsites vary between somewhat rugged with limited parking space to larger areas suitable for recreation vehicles. Facilities include vault toilets, water hydrants and garbage dumpsters. Campsites include a picnic table, fire ring and a barbeque grill. There are a total of 75 campsites throughout the four campgrounds. Fifteen of these sites are available for advanced reservations and located within the Medicine and A.H. Hogue Campgrounds. Nearby Attractions : Nearby are a few other federal sites with interesting features. The Lava Beds National Monument is located within a half-hour drive and includes lava caves and tubes. The Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge is located within an hour's drive where many types of migratory waterfowl can be viewed
GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude): 41.58584, -121.58557 41°35'9"N, 121°35'8"W 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. From Tulelake take US Hwy 139 south for 21 miles to Forest Service Road 97. Turn right on Road 97 and go 24 miles turning right on Road 49. Drive 2 more miles turning left into the entrance of Medicine Lake Recreation Area. Follow the signs to your final campground destination.
Great place but cold in mid-October.
A high point was seeing the native American pow woo on the lake.
I had been to this campground six years ago for a week and thought it was one of the best campgrounds in the State of California. Sadly the Forest (dis)Service is continuing to take in a lot of money in camping fees but not using any of it to have the outhouses pumped, cleaned, restocked with toilet paper, etc. The money is going somewhere else.
The outhouses were nearly full to the brim and the only toilet paper to be had for several days would be used toilet paper just a foot below the toilet seat.
They are not calling the company in Redding that pumps these clean. That company has a long-term 48-hour response contract to pump these out when full. They are failing to call in a service request to have these full outhouses pumped.
There is no host this summer and no presence of law and order.
They started a reservation service this year but your reservation means nothing. Folks are squatting in the reserved sites and not cooperating in moving when those with reservations arrive from long away.
Squatters in two adjoining reservation sites included one who ran a construction-type loud generator endlessly for no known reason. Unnecessarily loud generators running all day for them to play computer games, or whatever, are not being addressed by the non-existent campground hosts, etc.
A large group arrived on the other side two campsites away that had at least 20 persons in it. The world then revolved around an excessively loud generator on one side and the large group on the other side.
We abandoned our site a day early on a Saturday morning and hoped to find something with some semblance of law and order and sanitary restroom facilities. Oh, the nearest water faucet had a notice to not drink the water! Now how can they sell reservations for such a remote site when they are not providing sanitation services and safe drinking water. I will not post a photo of the grossly unsanitary condition of the outhouses but will post a typical sign on the drinking water faucets that warns against drinking the water.
Oh, the pavement on the 16-mile road to the nearby Lava Beds National Monument changes to dusty and severe washboard surface the last 13 miles. We alternatively took the 37 mile marginally paved route back on the return trip. I would recommend against staying in this campground and simultaneously taking a day trip to the Lava Beds National Monument. The campground there is cheaper, clean, sanitary, has flush toilets, potable water, and is all first-come first-serve.
I see no reason to ever return to this extremely remote campground that has unsanitary conditions, contaminated drinking water, no semblance of law and order, no campground hosts, and a pathetic reservation service that fails to guarantee your site or let you know in advance of where it is even located. I will also post two maps that are not on the reservation service in case you still want to make a shaky reservation and want to know where your site is located.
Beautiful campground and lake, we swam, fished and hiked nearby at Glass Mountain and Lava Bed National Monument. We love this place!
Stayed in site 51 at AH Hogue campground in a 25 ft trailer. It was after labor day so the camp ground was quiet. There are plenty of bathrooms (pit) water fill areas, and dumpsters. There is also a dump station outside the park entrance.
Enjoyed the local walk, lots of firewood to gather.
Took a drive up to lava bed national monument. Unfortunately the area all burned so it was not as enjoyable as I hoped.
Would definitely stay again.
My son stayed out in the water all day. He had so much fun he didn't wanna get out.
Beautiful scenery! Didn't know what the gold-lookin stuff was in the water, turns out it was pollen, a whole bunch. But the kids didn't mind.
Also, not part of the campground, but the road 2 get there r horrible & need repair & maintainence!
