Secluded camping! (Mid summer weekend, fire season)
Driving in:
The road is pretty narrow with turnouts. Hard dirt, dust, gravel, rocks, and ruts. Be prepared with a vehicle with enough clearance! I saw a Prius down there too!
I drive a 4x4 Tacoma, I used 2nd gear most the way down. Keep an eye ahead for cars coming up the hill.
Rule of thumb, if you’re coming down, you back up for cars coming up. Try to plan ahead by making mental notes of where the turn out are. Drive with your lights on!
Camping: (first come first serve - free)
The first campground is Lumsden. I pulled in at about 1pm and got the last spot in a Saturday. I checked out South Fork campground too but it’s further away from the river. More shade access at that campground too.
The campgrounds are decently dispersed from each other. It seems that each site has a trail near by that goes down to the water. I found a cool side river pool.
Bring fire wood and starter. There is a fire pit.
Each site has a bear cage for your food. My 45 gal ice chest and 21 gal tough tote both hit in here!
Bring trash bags; pack in- pack out!
There are vault toilets (2)
The landscape:
Dry, dusty, and hot! The are multiple fires happening in CA and with little wind, the smoke settled.
The water was pretty cold! Very clean and fresh.
I’ve heard that bears are in this area; be cautious to protect yourself and the wildlife by putting all food away!
I saw ducks, baby bats, lots of birds, ants, and yellow jackets.
Activities:
I saw other campers fishing, rafting, and riding dirt bikes. I enjoy, more simply, sitting on the rocks reading :)
I brought my dog with me and he really enjoyed this place too!