Medicine Lake Recreation Area

First time coming, one if the most beautiful areas I have ever had the pleasure to camp at. We're definitely making this an annual trip.

The area is gorgeous. Not one bad thing can be said about the natural beauty. Unfortunately the 2 sites we reserved months in advance had been given away by the time we got there, which was at check in.
Apparently the annual pow wow was extended without warning and as a result several campsite reservations were cancelled. Our reservation was *not one of them*, but the local campground management decided to give away our reserved sites to disgruntled campers who's reservation was cancelled.
We had specifically avoided the week of the pow wow so this was incredibly disappointing. Thankfully we did manage to find one available campsite for our large party, but the stress was completely unnecessary and left us very unsatisfied.

Ranger staff was very helpful and present.
there was confusion on the "reserved" spots as some spots did not have reserved signs and some had the wrong dates. We had to get the Ranger to help sort it out between a couple of different campsites.

We love Medicine Lake though ! Thanks

Fortunately I was able to reserve a site. For most people in our party that was not the case. Walk-in spaces were few and far between. There was no campground host and so we had to rely on Forests Service personnel to come in sporadically to check things out.
But the campground was very clean, the site I was in was close to the lake (just across the campground road) with no other camp sites impeding access to the lake, even though the camp was full there was no problem with noise from other campers.
This was definitely dry camping. What faucets there were, were few and far between.
It is a very family oriented and family friendly campground. Overall, a very pleasant experience.

It was such a beautiful campground! We really loved our huge spot and the fact that there was nearly nobody there -apparently there had been a large group filling the campground just a day before our arrival. We marveled at all the little frogs apparently migrating along the shore clockwise around the lake. We also were really happy for the free wood we collected and it was easy to get to and plentiful. The weather was perfect and after four days in Lassen at the Lake Manzanita campground, we were seeking solitude. The hike toward the glass mountain lava flow was right across the street and we could have hiked further but it was getting dark. We went to the Lava Beds and hope to go there again in the future. I read complaints regarding the campground near the Lava Beds not having much shade and I absolutely recommend Medicine Lake instead! We plan to return with kayaks and to select a campsite closer to the water next time so we can more fully enjoy the beauty of Medicine Lake and to go to Glass Mountain and do the hike there.

It was such a beautiful campground! We really loved our huge spot and the fact that there was nearly nobody there -apparently there had been a large group filling the campground just a day before our arrival. We marveled at all the little frogs apparently migrating along the shore clockwise around the lake. We also were really happy for the free wood we collected and it was easy to get to and plentiful. The weather was perfect and after four days in Lassen at the Lake Manzanita campground, we were seeking solitude. The hike toward the glass mountain lava flow was right across the street and we could have hiked further but it was getting dark. We went to the Lava Beds and hope to go there again in the future. I read complaints regarding the campground near the Lava Beds not having much shade and I absolutely recommend Medicine Lake instead! We plan to return with kayaks and to select a campsite closer to the water next time so we can more fully enjoy the beauty of Medicine Lake and to go to Glass Mountain and do the hike there.

Love this camping spot. Close to the lava beds not far from home. Beautiful lake!

Love this camping spot. Close to the lava beds not far from home. Beautiful lake!

They supposedly have a rule about keeping your dog on a leash at all times. It's on posted three different signs coming into the camp grounds. That being said most every one let their dogs run wild. Dogs barking 24-7, running in and out of our camp , once even eating some of our food. In the ten days we stayed a ranger came through camp once. When I told him about the dogs he said that other people had complained and said he would see about it. Nothing ever happened about it. Don't get me wrong I love dogs , I have one myself but I would never let my dog run amuck and ruin somebody's trip. If I hadn't paid in advance I would have left. Please be considerate of others. It's not all about you. KEEP YOUR DOGS UNDER CONTROL.

Northern California is beautiful!