$147 / night

Camper submitted image from Camp Three Campground - 1

Camper submitted image from Camp Three Campground - 2

Nature

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Water

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Roads

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Animals

Established Camping

Camp Three Campground

6 Reviews

About

National Forest

Sequoia National Forest

Overview

Camp Three Campground is set amidst oak and locust trees at an elevation of 2,800 feet on the Upper Kern River, offering countless recreational opportunities for visitors.

Recreation

Hiking, fishing, kayaking and rafting are popular activities in the Upper Kern River area.

Facilities

The campground consists of 52 paved sites and a group camp that accommodates up to 30 people for friends or family gatherings. Drinking water, vault toilets, and campfire rings are all provided.This facility is operated by Rocky Mountain Recreation Company, a division of ExplorUS and comments are welcome; comment forms are available from campground hosts or online.

Natural Features

The Sequoia National Forest, located at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada in central California, takes its name from the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree, which grows in more than 30 groves on the Forest's lower slopes. The Forest comprises about 1.1 million acres, and elevations range from about 1,000 to 12,000 feet, creating precipitous canyons and mountain streams with spectacular waterfalls, such as Salmon Creek Falls near Fairview and Grizzly Falls on the Kings River. Gray pines, scrub oaks, grass and dry climate shrubs cling to steep, canyon walls while cottonwoods and willows line the river's edge.

Nearby Attractions

The Cannell Meadow National Recreation Trailhead is just north of Kernville. Day trips include the Sequoia National Park, Trail of a Hundred Giants, and numerous sequoia groves in the Sequoia National Monument. The Giant Sequoia Mercantile offers a wide variety of books, maps, gifts, local art, camping supplies and other merchandise.

contact_info

For facility specific information, please call (760) 376-1269.

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Location

Camp Three Campground is located in California

Directions

From Highway 99 in Bakersfield, California, take Highway 178 east to Lake Isabella. From Lake Isabella take Highway 155 around the west side of the lake to the town of Kernville. Turn north on Sierra Way/Mountain 99 and continue 5 miles to the campground.

Address

PO BOX 1640
Kernville, CA 93238

Coordinates

35.809269 N
118.453606 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Boat-In
Sites accessible by watercraft.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Unknown
AT&T
Unknown
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group
Yurts

Features

For Campers

Trash
Picnic Table
Phone Service
Drinking Water
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Water Hookups
Big Rig Friendly

SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE

$147

/ night

First Come - First Served

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Contact

General Info

Reservations

(877) 444-6777

Kim

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 30, 2021

Decent facilities, stellar location

While our first impressions were terrible (we did not love our originally reserved site - #33), once we moved to another available spot and started exploring, we ended up having the time of our lives.

The campground itself left a lot to be desired (lots of trash, half the sites are extremely rocky / sandy with little shade, some sites have rotting or broken picnic benches and very little privacy, and there is only one place for trash upon exit), but every site has a beautiful view of the mountainside and the stars, and if you get one of the good sites along the river, you're a few steps from the best part during the summer: swimming in the Kern River.

We stayed at site #29, where (like sites #25, #27, #28 & #30), there were nice, flat, soft surfaces to pitch your tent under the trees just beyond where you park your vehicles for privacy and shade. From these gems, the river is just a short, 1 or 2 minute walk to the River. Though nice to be near the water spouts and bathrooms, we would not recommend sites (#3-19, #22, #24, #26) Further down the river, we noticed that sites opened up a bit more and had much more space and shade, AND that the river was a lot closer - all great for larger groups and especially those with children. If we were to come back, we'd probably choose site #47 which had two shaded, flat places right near the site and was only a few steps from the river - which had a nice shaded space for chairs along it. Only downside for being on the end is that you're next to the Day Use entry point from the road.

Site#29

Month of VisitAugust

(20) View All

Paul N.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 27, 2020

Great campground.

Best sites are right next to the river. Spacious with a good amount of privacy depending on the site you get. Easy to float to if you go up river. Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes during the summer months Mx

Mike N.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 5, 2020

Great Seclusion

This is a great primitive campground if you truly want to disconnect for a few days. No cell reception, no WiFi, there are restrooms but no showers. Take a 3 minute walk through the woods to get to Kern River and you have a little oasis away from it all. Bring everything you need with you. Currently no fires permitted. Great place to unplug and decompress.

(4) View All

Tyler F.

Scout

Reviewed Sep. 3, 2020

Excellent site, bad air quality.

This was a first family camping trip, and we were happy with our site. It had plenty of shade, was large enough to fit our huge cabin tent and still have extra space, and was a 2 minute walk to the stream where there was a nice little walled off spot safe for children to swim in. We did not have anyone in the neighboring sites, but if we did we would have hardly noticed them. The only downside was the very poor air quality that is typical of Sequoia and Kings during the summer. The pollution was visible and had an unpleasant smell to it that lingered throughout the day. The worst part of that was it blocked any view of the stars we might have had at night, one of the main reasons we were looking forward to while camping. We may not return until it somehow improves, which is unfortunate because the site had just about everything we were looking for.

Site34

Month of VisitSeptember

Hayley K.

Legend

Reviewed Feb. 18, 2020

Party Time

Camp 3 is a good location if you can book it quickly outside of the Summer months. We usually always camp here in May and since that is right before Memorial day when the campgrounds all open for the season it is usually pretty nice to be able to be in a quiet spot to hit the river and far enough away from town to be barely out of cell service but still close enough to hit up the brewery when you want.

There are pit toilets that are well maintained, the camp hosts work really hard to accommodate all people. This is one of the more covered campgrounds going up the river so if you want shade then this is the site for you.

The River next to the campground is also easily accessed and great for all levels of play.

There is group camping as well here. It is a bit more open and not as well shaded. There is also easy access to climbing routes on rock formations nearby and access to trails nearby.