Available sites
52 total sitesAbout Camp Three Campground
Activities & Attractions
Nearby
Hiking
Year-round
Hiking
Seasonal information
2026 Season availability
Campground Amenities
Most popular amenities
Water and Hygiene
- Potable Water
- Restrooms
Cooking and Fire
- Picnic Table
- BBQ
- Fire Pit
Parking and Transport
- Parking
On Site Services
- Fish Cleaning Station
Water Access
- River Access
- Boat Ramp / Launch
Pets and Policies
- Pet friendly
Rates, Sites & Availability
52 Sites Available
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Site Details
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52 Sites Available
No available sites
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Reviews (160)
What Guests Are Saying
Camp Three Campground offers a beautiful location along the river with clean facilities and friendly, attentive camp hosts who maintain the area well. The spacious campsites provide ample room for tents, though many lack shade, making hot weather challenging. Overall, visitors appreciate the cleanliness, helpfulness of the host, and the enjoyable atmosphere, with many expressing a desire to return despite some minor drawbacks like limited river access from certain sites.
What Guests Are Saying
Camp Three Campground offers a beautiful location along the river with clean facilities and friendly, attentive camp hosts who maintain the area well. The spacious campsites provide ample room for tents, though many lack shade, making hot weather challenging. Overall, visitors appreciate the cleanliness, helpfulness of the host, and the enjoyable atmosphere, with many expressing a desire to return despite some minor drawbacks like limited river access from certain sites.
Review Summary
Taylor I
VerifiedAugust 18, 2020 • Stayed at: 025, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
Site 25 was fantastic, very spacious and good evening shade as well as fairly easy access to both the river and the toilets. Would love to come back and stay at the same site.
JOHN B
VerifiedAugust 16, 2020 • Stayed at: 029, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
This site has a table and fire ring near the campsite parking area in direct sunlight. But a short way past the table is a great shaded area with plenty of room for a tent and a large screen tent that I think is essential for cooking to keep what I call grease bees at bay. Water faucet is close and the management group that runs the campground does a nice job maintaining the restroom. I've been coming to the upper Kern for 50 + years my recommendation is stay away from the place on weekends as it becomes party central for the younger crowd who have little regard for anyone but themselves. Weekdays are generally quiet and stress free.
Also in the past 3 years the skunk population has exploded and they really aren't bothered to much by us humans. They're annoying more than anything but can carry diseases such as plague and rabies.
Lily O
VerifiedAugust 14, 2020 • Stayed at: 033, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
It’s a nice location, we were fortunate to have a few trees around us, helped with August heat. River is a bit difficult to get to from our spot. Hiking a bit. It could be a bit difficult for older folks or anyone with a physical disability. River was great, fun as ever. Not crowded, we went during the week. Bathrooms are vault toilets, about as good as vault toilets get. Cleaned every morning, but still a vault toilet.
Jodi B
VerifiedAugust 8, 2020 • Stayed at: 051, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
Unfortunately it was very hot and I was disappointed we could not use the fire pit. The spot we had was very rocky and virtually no trees for shade. The staff onsite were friendly and accomodating!
Jorge G
VerifiedAugust 7, 2020 • Stayed at: 014, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
Nice clean place near the river. Parking spots are not all the same size so beware taking a trailer and a vehicle .
Annika K
VerifiedJuly 29, 2020 • Stayed at: 052, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
The campsite overall is a decent one, if very hot in the summer.
I don't, however, recommend staying at site 52, which is right next to the main dumpster for the whole camp (the dumpster is not listed on the campsite map). Apparently, there's no trash pickup over the weekend and by Friday, when we arrived, the dumpster was already full, and the trash smell would waft through our site when the wind blew the right way. The camp manager asked us to make sure other campers weren't leaving trash on top of the closed (or full) dumpster, leading to a confrontation with another guest. We were very careful with our own food, and didn't see any signs of bears at our site, though we did see coyotes digging through the dumpster one night.
Joshua S
VerifiedJuly 23, 2020 • Stayed at: 041, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
Camp hosts were fantastic, but unfortunately the campground was overrun with people. We had 15+ Non invited visitors walk through our campsite in 24 hours, none wore masks and none asked if they could walk through our camp. The Kern River by our campsite was filled with drunken floaters by 10 am on Saturday swearing up a storm and leaving trash to float down the river. I saw a few questionable brown floaties that looked like human feces. The bathrooms were clean when we arrived on Friday but were trashed by Sunday morning. The campsite had lots of trash all over including small and large bits of glass. The location is beautiful and the stars at night were stunning. Overall, the campground and Kern River could be lovely but I wouldn’t come back again during the summer of Covid 2020. Think Spring break Covid Party on the Kern River rather than calm outdoor experience...
Willie R
VerifiedJuly 20, 2020 • Stayed at: 020, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
Linda was awesome at helping us with a propane grill, since the charcoal and fire was not allowed. Her hospitality was incredible, and I will be back as I love this campground.
Thanks Linda for being so awesome
javier l
VerifiedJuly 13, 2020 • Stayed at: 031, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
very good place to go camping
Deziree P
VerifiedJune 27, 2020 • Stayed at: 032, Loop: AREA CAMP THREE CAMPGROUND
Need more trees. Could do fires. Right on kern river.
Location & Directions for Camp Three Campground
Po Box 1640, Kernville, CA 93238 United States
Elevation: 868 ft
Getting There
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 mi to the campgr...
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 mi to the campground.
Highway access
Camp Three Campground is accessible via Highway 99 and Highway 178. From Highway 99 in Bakersfield, take Highway 178 east to reach the campground.
Policies & Rules
General
- There are no electric hookups
- Swimming in the river is dangerous due to strong currents and other hazards.
- Click here for more info about the Sequoia National Forest
- Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the Kern River Ranger District (760) 376-3781.
- Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
- Glass containers are prohibited in Kern Canyon and Isabella Lake Glass Container Prohibition Area
- There is an extra vehicle fee of $8.00/night on the 2nd vehicle in each single campsite and on the 3rd & 4th vehicle in any double campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the 1st vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the 1st and 2nd are considered to be one vehicle and the 3rd and 4th are also considered to be one vehicle. So the fee would be a single $8.00/night of stay for the 3rd/4th motorcycle.
- Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times. Owners must keep their dogs under control at all times or they may be asked to vacate the premise.
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Last updated: October 18, 2026