Island Park

We had reservations starting on Christmas Eve (12/24/24) for 6 nights. We drove several hours, and upon arrival at about 3:30 p.m., the gate to the campground was locked. There were no rangers or any postings explaining why the gate was locked. After calling the phone number that was posted several times, no one answered. We chose this location because it is close to Sequoia. We called recreation.gov, and they had no answers either. So, we drove another two hours to another campground and arrived after dark. On Thursday, December 26, we received a phone call from Isaac apologizing. He said someone forgot to unlock the gate. This unacceptable lack of responsibility cost us a lot of extra time and money.

Pine Flat lake is beautiful. However, during this visit, the ranger office's phone system was down. Two men were in the back of my campsite looking in my camper on Friday and on Saturday night, someone stoled my nice picnic table set up. The rangers couldn't be reached on the phone. In addition, ranger presence was very thin. It did not feel safe, even with the volunteers next door.

Always a great experience coming to island park. I'm from Orange County and drive all the way down for the fishing and camping. Amazing place to go.

Easy application, excellent space, and friendly ranger.

We've made this campground a regular destination. The last two camping trips were perfect, weather and all.

We were very happy with our stay, the view of the lake was stellar, the weather was perfect, the park ranger was so kind and friendly. The only thing is the spaces are very unlevel and require a lot of blocks to level the RV. We used everything we had and were fine, had we not brought so many blocks we would be taking a trip to Fresno to buy some more. The bathrooms and showers leave alot to be desired, cool water in shower with low water flow, cleanliness is not the best, and some are closed. This campground needs alot of upkeep and then it would be a well sought after place to camp.

Great place to camp as a first timer. Definitely recommend booking the spots right on the lake for a better view. The spot I got was not so much leveled but did not have any inconvenience in parking my pop up trailer. Did not use the restrooms so can’t comment on it. The only thing I kind of noticed was odd is that we saw a couple of campers moving from their spots as soon as other families arrived. We never got checked in by no one, did not have to show our reservations receipts so I assumed these people didn’t make any and were just using the spots that were available, and then had to move once the ones who paid for the spot arrived.
Other than that, we liked the campground. Easy to get there as well.

Pine Flat Lake is a beautiful campground with a handful of electric sites for 24 feet or larger RVs. There are many non-electric sites closer to the lake in the campground for large RVs and at overflow area. Getting in and out of the campground may be challenging for large RVs due to a steep winding road prior to the campground and the small sharp left turn ramp exiting . The vehicle parking spot for campsite #41 is more suited for a 20-foot length RV or less, and probably best for tent camping. The actual campsite is down the hill next to the entrance, so not idea for privacy or quietness. The vehicle parking spot for #41 is slightly unlevel, so you may need leveling blocks for an RV. The restrooms near #41 are closed during the off season. Plus, it was crowded when I visited in early November, when the campground is normally quiet during the off season. As such, the breaking of USACE camping guidelines was compounded.

It was nice and quiet end of September (off season). #49 was shaded most of the day. However, there was a significant slant down hill on the left side of the driveway (facing the lifejacket hangers). Leveling blocks would be needed. And the #47/48 double site was very close.

This is a beautiful location. It was extremely clean and quiet. The water pressure in the shower was 0. It barely dribbled out of the shower head and it was cold. The price was right and the space was very open.