Caples Lake Campground

Right across the road from beautiful Caples Lake, in the Carson Pass area of the Sierra, this little Forest Service campground is a great place to stay. Situated in a forest of pine and fir, there is lots of shade for summer camping. There are plenty of near-by hiking trails to remote wilderness lakes and peaks. The campground itself is surrounded by interesting huge domes of glaciated granite, so kids and rock scramblers will have fun. I saw lots of fishing folk at and on the lake so it appears to be well stocked. Directly across from the campground is the Caples Lake Resort store and boat rental office, handy for ice, treats and drinks. The campground has several sites for large rigs (might need to do some leveling) as well as some sweet walk-in tent ones. The sites aren’t crowded together, so it’s usually very peaceful and quiet. I’ve rarely seen this campground full, especially during the week, however weekends in the summer can get busy so get there early in the day to get a site (it’s ‘first come, first served’). Camp hosts are super nice. I could only get one bar of Verizon cell service (suitable for texting only) by climbing up on a rock outcrop on the east side of the campground by site numbers 8 and 9. Someone told me Verizon was better if you stood by the Caples Lake Resort’s store, but I didn’t try it. I did get 3 or 4 bars by driving to the Red Lake overlook just east of Carson Pass. The only cons about this campground, in my opinion, are the closeness of Highway 88 so there is some traffic noise (upper loop is farther away and therefore quieter), and water is trucked in to these large black plastic tanks.... which doesn’t seem appealing for drinking water so I always make sure I bring plenty of my own water.

Camped there several times a few years back. Different sites. The sites were of good size, clean, and quiet. Fishing was great and so were the crawdads! The restrooms were serviced daily. A lady named Marty was our camp host.

As of July 2022 there was no water available at this location. Beautiful Caples Lake area with lot of hiking and fishing nearby. Close to Kirkwood Inn for dining. Highly recommend a propane fire during summer fall for safety. No cell service with Verizon.

Arrived midweek in July. No problem finding a lovely site. Surrounded by boulders and trees. Very quiet. Easy access. Picnic table is ancient but adds to the ambience. Could not drink faucet water, heavily chlorinated.