French Meadows

Clean and beautiful sites

The campsite was clean, the bathrooms were cleaner than most and the views were beautiful. I’d highly recommend.

Clean, quiet and beautiful. The lake is low, but its serene still

Campsite hosts were terrific. Windy late morning but nice fish caught earlier off kayaks. Lake was warm enough to swim. Camp sites and restrooms meticulously maintained

My stay at French Meadows was excellent. The new camp ground was really nice, clean and peaceful. Bathrooms were clean and campsite were well maintained. Most sites had a good view of the lake. It was also nice that they now have a dump station. Only bad thing is the road to get there.

The place overall was cool but the wasps specifically at our site were UNMANAGEABLE. If you want to eat, you might as well do it in the car or in your tent, or else you’re gonna be swarmed.

Great!

Be aware there is no firewood sold here this season!

There is a bold notice not to move firewood, and we have gotten in the habit of buying it from the host if the campground has one. Apparently we could infer from the mention of buying firewood in Foresthill or using downed wood that they don’t have any for sale, but a plain warning would be helpful.

This is our lesson that we can’t expect USFS campgrounds to have firewood for sale even if they have a host, we need to verify ahead of time.

Plan to buy firewood in Foresthill or Georgetown. Call Worton’s Market in Foresthill or MarVal in Georgetown to make sure they have it.
Otherwise you can probably find it in Auburn or Cool.

Site 46 and the lakefront sites next to it have pretty views of the lake but are the windiest sites, since the wind comes off the water in the afternoon.

Lewis Campground across the lake has more wind-protected sites but doesn’t have the lake views. Lewis doesn’t have wood either, nor do they currently have a host.

With the stage 2 fire restrictions you need to have a California Fire permit even in the campground and even for a portable gas stove.

Had a wonderful time camping over Labor Day weekend. Our site was just the right size for two tents with quick & easy access to the reservoir. Other campers were respectful & the campsite host was kind and gave directions to nearby trails. Facilities were clean and well stocked throughout our visit. It was our first time camping here & we will definitely be back in the future!

So peaceful and beautiful.