Warner Valley Campground

Could not find the campsite crazy roadway with abandoned house

Campground is small and lacking much if any flat ground. With the surrounding burned out trees, the area is very exposed to wind. For a PCT hiker, it might seem a nice place to spend an evening on their trek. For people coming up to Lassen to spend the weekend, it’s a sad place. We didn’t want to spend any more time there than we had to. Pit toilets were clean, but still just pit toilets. The sites were all crammed together and parking areas were not clearly marked. The parking area for our site was so close to one of the other sites’ picnic tables that we could bang (and did) our car door on it when opening the car. I would honestly never go back to camp there. We were hoping to use the hot springs pool in nearby Drakesbad Guest Ranch. However, it washed away during the fires and they have no plans to rebuild it. The whole vibe in Drakesbad was not welcoming. We got super unfriendly vibes from the staff there when we inquired about local activities. Skip this place unless you are a thru-hiker looking for a picnic table, bear box and not having to dig a hole to use the bathroom for one night.

The forest has not recovered from the recent fires. The famous, historic Drakes Baths were destroyed and there are no plans to restore in the near future. Very sad

Very much out of the way, about 1.5 hours away from Lassen Peak, but it was nice and quiet (and dusty)! Good bathrooms! Really cool to see PCT backpackers every night!

This was our groups first camping trip in Lassen. The campground and hiking was wonderful! We had a blast on our group camping/hiking trip! It was amazing that there was drinking water near the sites and showers near by, which we did not expect!
I gave 3 stars instead of 5 because I’m not actually sure if you need to pay for a campsite itself? We reserved 2 sites months in advance and upon arrival both of our campsites were taken and did not have a “reserved” label on them like others, this left 8 of us trying to find other spots that were not being utilized or reserved by other campers. The “first come first serve” ones were taken as well. There was also nowhere to check in which is fine but confusing as there was a “check in time” on our confirmation reservation. Showers are located down past the lodge, they were very clean and warm! We all bought multiple showers in advance at the lodge expecting a key or code to access them however that was not the case. Nonrefundable $7 per shower is a lot especially when they are unlocked and open to everyone is a little odd. We were obviously happy to pay as we understood that the national park recently burned but we just felt a little scammed out of our first experience here with costs.
Overall…
The hiking and views were wonderful and the campers were all very nice, the staff we met in the lodge were nice as well. There just appears to be some kinks that need to be worked out. Overall we had a great time minus a couple questionable speed bumps! :)

PCT crossing the Warner Valley campground made it exciting - gave us an opportunity to meet a lot of happy PCT enthusiasts making a little more than halfway of their journey!

The devastation of the fires 5-year ago was very evident in the surrounding areas. We met park staff working on bringing back the trails to a decent state after the fires. Thank you.

Though the area has burned heavily the campground itself was fine. It is really tightly packed with very little vegetation, though, so no privacy. Other campers noise and campfire smoke is impossible to avoid. Access is really bad for trailers and motorhomes, though, which keeps it nicer overall.

Not all sites have great flat tent spots

Reserved space 10 for a Sunday night. Website showed all other sites reserved. Arrived to find 4 spaces occupied, all bunched together. Remaining campground empty. Moved over to space 12, giving others space and distance.
Pictures are not accurate due to fire burn in area. Sites may have been rearranged or compacted to add additional sites.
Overall, a beautiful campground. A hikers paradise, with a challenging road to navigate to the campground. No cell service at all.

The site was clean, water was readily available, and the location was perfect.