Eshom Campground

Beautiful place, first time there, but not well managed. We arrived on a Sunday to find the plastic, non-bear proof garbage cans overflowing with garbage at both locations in the campground. Animals had already begun to spread it around and on the last morning a bear rummaged through it. There was no camp host. The only other campers in the campground were adjacent to us and played nightclub music after dark. We were able to relocate to the other end of the campground. Water spigot only worked at the first location. Bathrooms were a mess and ran out of TP. The drain at the water spigot needs more drain rock to prevent a lake, and even then it flows down the concrete apron and road. One of the culverts under the road is blocked by logs and rootballs and will wash out the road if not cleared. Cattle were in the camp. The garbage had not been picked up as of our departure on Tuesday. Forest Service staff showed up Tuesday morning for other reasons and photographed the garbage to send it up the chain, explaining there is a new concessionaire. Note to campers: If the garbage cans are full, don't pile it higher - pack it out! Note to Forest Service: Are you not obligated to provide bear-proof garbage cans? Bear boxes? Beautiful place, though.

The new company that was supposed to maintain Eshom Campground failed in all categories for my stay at the campground! Here is my list of the failures....1. No host present the entire time 2. No toilet paper provided in any of the restrooms 3. Drinking water was only available in one of the three loops 4. Trash cans overflowed with trash. 5. Restrooms were never cleaned through my entire stay 6. Campsites were not raked and field grass a foot tall covered every campsite right up to the fire rings.
Eshom Campground used to be one of the most beautiful and well maintained campgrounds in all of Sequoia National Forest and Kings Canyon National Park. I saw a lot of people leave early. I do not blame them!

You need bear boxes and near campgrounds 3-6, there was trash strewn all over. Saw someone from the waste management contractor drive by, but the mess wasn't cleaned up. Come on. It was gross.

You need bear boxes and near campgrounds 3-6, there was trash strewn all over. Saw someone from the waste management contractor drive by, but the mess wasn't cleaned up. Come on. It was gross.

First time we were here and we love it. If you're looking for a place where everything is very quiet, this is the perfect spot. Make sure you packed all you need because there is nothing near the campground unless you want to drive about 45 min to the nearest town. Also, we were reading some reviews about an off roading path that leads to the campground and we didn't take it, there is another route and any vehicle that is not lowered will make it. It's a beautiful spot to stay couple nights. We didn't saw or hear any bears which was good, but try to keep your food in the car. Also, campgrounds spots 2-5 need maintenance due to a lot of grass and leaves covered fire pit and table; and the open spaces for tents are not that good. The best places aee #13, #10, #12, and #7 to my opinion. We stayed on #7. These are the single sites; there are double sites which are enormous and clean with Brad new fire pits.

First time we were here and we love it. If you're looking for a place where everything is very quiet, this is the perfect spot. Make sure you packed all you need because there is nothing near the campground unless you want to drive about 45 min to the nearest town. Also, we were reading some reviews about an off roading path that leads to the campground and we didn't take it, there is another route and any vehicle that is not lowered will make it. It's a beautiful spot to stay couple nights. We didn't saw or hear any bears which was good, but try to keep your food in the car. Also, campgrounds spots 2-5 need maintenance due to a lot of grass and leaves covered fire pit and table; and the open spaces for tents are not that good. The best places aee #13, #10, #12, and #7 to my opinion. We stayed on #7. These are the single sites; there are double sites which are enormous and clean with Brad new fire pits.

Great place to stay. No running water there at the moment.

Great place to stay. No running water there at the moment.

First, we stopped at the nearest Ranger Station to Eshom CG because there was confusion between recreation.gov and USFS website whether the CG had in fact opened for the year. We were told by the Ranger that the CG WAS NOT open and would be opening the NEXT day. There was no mention that the USFS was conducting a prescribed burn in the area. We got to Eshom CG and the USFS was conducting a prescribed burn in Sequoia NF which included active burns in Eshom Campground. Our site alone had 3 active burns, plus what was occurring in the other campsites, the communal areas of the campground, and the surrounding forest. Needless to say, we did not stay the first night which left us scrambling for a campsite and managed to reserve the LAST campsite in the area. The 3 active burns at our site were out and we decided to stay the night even though there were still some active burns and the air was very heavy with smoke (we spoke with a Supervisor who was driving though monitoring the burn and he said it was safe to camp) and we were forced to stay because there were no other available campsites in the area. The car was covered in soot the next morning and we had to stop at a car wash in Visalia to clean the car. Everything smelled like the inside of a BBQ pit ad there was a fine layer of ashed inside the car.

Our campsite was right beside a creek and large. I was surprised that the campgrounds had trash about considering the CG opened late 'to clean up from winter storms'...

I'm giving Eshom two stars instead of only one star because our CG Host was super nice.

First, we stopped at the nearest Ranger Station to Eshom CG because there was confusion between recreation.gov and USFS website whether the CG had in fact opened for the year. We were told by the Ranger that the CG WAS NOT open and would be opening the NEXT day. There was no mention that the USFS was conducting a prescribed burn in the area. We got to Eshom CG and the USFS was conducting a prescribed burn in Sequoia NF which included active burns in Eshom Campground. Our site alone had 3 active burns, plus what was occurring in the other campsites, the communal areas of the campground, and the surrounding forest. Needless to say, we did not stay the first night which left us scrambling for a campsite and managed to reserve the LAST campsite in the area. The 3 active burns at our site were out and we decided to stay the night even though there were still some active burns and the air was very heavy with smoke (we spoke with a Supervisor who was driving though monitoring the burn and he said it was safe to camp) and we were forced to stay because there were no other available campsites in the area. The car was covered in soot the next morning and we had to stop at a car wash in Visalia to clean the car. Everything smelled like the inside of a BBQ pit ad there was a fine layer of ashed inside the car.

Our campsite was right beside a creek and large. I was surprised that the campgrounds had trash about considering the CG opened late 'to clean up from winter storms'...

I'm giving Eshom two stars instead of only one star because our CG Host was super nice.