Kern River Campground

Review isn’t for a specific campground. There are several locations so keep driving up river til you find the one you like. But it’s been my go-​to campground since childhood so I am biased on my review because this place holds great memories. This is not your fancy shmancy campground. Be ready to get down and dirty because that’s what camping is all about. Lake Isabella is so dry due to the California droubt, the river rapids have never been so low but I am still giving this place 5 stars for the calm serenity that it delivers. Let loose and have fun in the wilderness.

This is a terrible camp ground. When we came in around 9pm the website said we can pay in the morning. The camp host drove up to our site while we were all sleeping and honked his horn and yelled for us to pay. That was at 6:30am. It was a very rude awakening. Then when I complained about it he said he would charge us extra for complaining. Also, everyone has dogs and they barked all night and all morning. The bathrooms are destroyed, and there is litter and food waist all over the campgrounds which invited several raccoons to the area. Our neighbor started playing music at 7am!!! This was a very disappointing place, and the camp host was a jerk. Don’t camp here.

went camping here with my boyfriend and it was super pretty!!!
kinda sad to hear that they’re gonna be closing the place down due to humans trashing it.
i wish the bathroom situation was better out there but overall greaaaatttttt camping experience. also the sky looks beautiful at night

I went here with my girlfriend and we hd an amazing camping experience. Kern river/​lake isabella. About 3 hours from los angeles. Awsome experience. Camped right by the river and its completely free

Worst camping experience ever. The website said «first come, first serve» and «no reservations». Also the ranger told me go ahead grab any open spot. I show up Thursday night to an open spot and set up camp then the next morning a car pulls up telling me I’m in there spot that they had reserved it. When the camp host came over she was not helpful at all and said I was in the wrong for setting up camp there. I showed her the website on my phone that it said «first come, first serve» and «no reservations» and she said I still needed to leave cause they reserved that space. She also told me the campground was full when there were multiple vacant spots. On top of all this the river there looked filthy with trash up and down the river. Ended up going to Kernville and found a campground that was amazing. The drive was beautiful and the new site really went out of there way for us after the previous experience. «Rivernook campgrounds» thank u for the great hospitality. I will never go back to Kern river campgrounds do to the way I was mistreated. But I guess you can say it was a blessing in disguise cause my trip to Kernville was well worth it.

This is great for what it is supposed to be, a great in town getaway. The campgrounds were clean and green. Had a few holes around our campsite that were def an issue but overall it was a nice place to go. Camp ground host was very nice as well. I went during an off season so can’t say what it’ll be like when it’s summertime and packed.

This review is more about the Kern River itself, which is located adjacent to the Campground, Park and other areas.
The Kern River is really nice, especially from a Metro/​Urban perspective knowing that from the LA area, within about 2 hours of a drive you can go from concrete to nature.
There are residual reminders of the city of course, as you’ll see areas with graffiti, the aroma of marijuana in the air, delinquent looking types hanging out, litter and garbage, alcohol containers (FYI — I believe there’s an ordinance about drinking and not drinking at certain designated areas and the law enforcement does patrol and police the areas)
I was warned, if you park your car in the area and leave it unattended, especially for any long period of time, do yourself a favor proactively and don’t leave any valuables, whether visible or hidden, as cars do get broken into in the area. It’s an area of opportunity for criminals knowing that people will leave their cars for hours, so they can scout ‘em out and vandalize or steal with less risk of getting caught.
The river is/​was nice in August (2014), very slow and peaceful for a «tubing» expedition, and the length of the river was adequate, as was the width for enjoyment without raging waters or adjacent hazards to interfere with either safety nor hinder seamless enjoyment.
It’s a nice public place with cool water. I’d encourage wearing a life jacket and proper shoes since the water does have it’s spots where it’s a bit powerful and the grounding is rocky and slippery, especially for anyone who has balance and mobility issues nor can’t swim strong, and especially for children… watch your kids carefully… «it’s always fun until someone gets hurt» as the saying goes…
The restrooms are a tad sketchy (dark and dingy), and the areas along the river do lack garbage cans (I’d encourage the city/​state to promote recycling and proper refuse disposal to keep the areas clean).

This place is realy nice beautifull peacefull for camping but that bad thing are the restrooms that’s terrible not to have privacy when you use them (jail style) they also stinks bad they are really dirty the guy who comes and cleanse them just use water not disinfected they never painted I’ll said is a good place just to come spend a single day

Not too far from town.
Well spaced areas.
1 picnic table, 1 grill, 1 fire pit & 2 car parking per spot
The river was pretty cool.
2 restroom locations for the whole campground. The bathrooms are disgusting. Stalls need trash bins or at least one big one because too much dirty toilet paper accumulates all over the floor and it’s so gross x _​x. Bathrooms got clogged a couple times during our stay on Memorial Day Weekend but fortunately they got serviced fairly quickly. Usually the issues were resolved before people started crawling out of their tents in the a.m.
Warm Shower! There’s one per restroom and there are lines. Usually in the morning and evenings but people move fairly quickly. Bring shower shoes. River dirt all over.
Troopers drive around frequently to check up on everything and are very friendly and courteous.
Over all, good experience with this place (aside from the restroom issues) and will camp here again. Hopefully soon!

Back in the early 1980s my husband stayed at this campground while going to and from Fresno and later on Colorado and Utah. It was clean and beautiful. Today we took our dogs out for a walk as it was hot and we knew the trees would give us cool breezes and relief from the high temps. Yes I know it was Easter Sunday yesterday and the area was heavily used. But I was not prepared for the trash piled everywhere. It was literally a pig sty! There is absolutely no excuse for this. What is wrong with people? Don’t they have any pride?

First, this place is VERY crowded in the summer. There are no reservations so folks show up the Sunday BEFORE the weekend they want to camp and buy the whole week, then go back home (leaving the sites reserved and empty all week) until the following weekend. It is not likely that you’ll find a spot by showing up the Friday or Thursday before your camping weekend (in the summer).
Second, the rangers that manage this place are assholes. Their job, as they see it, is to bust people. Not help people. Not keep people safe. Not manage the campground. But only to collect camping fees and give tickets. As many tickets as possible. Parking tickets, dog tickets, noise tickets, alcohol tickets, curfew tickets, too many people tickets, you name it I’ve seen them give tickets for just about everything.
Thirdly, with all that ticket income flowing in you’d think they would maintain the bathrooms. Nope. The bathrooms are disgusting and there are no doors on the stalls.
Two stars because aside from the crowds, rangers and bathrooms, the campground is green and shady and right on the river.

Just pull up your camper and start your generator, turn on the radio, order a pizza and you are camping! Getting away from it all is nice! This is what you will see mostly. Weekend warrior and car camping types at its best. It feels like camping out in the back yard or in a public park. Not to much privacy cuz its always packed and kids walk right though your camp when chasing the soccer ball. The only reason I here is when I know someone is already there and have room for one more tent. I stay up late, drink beer and pass out. Sure I could do that in my back yard, but hey, I’M CAMPING!
Make sure you bring plenty of beer for the night. DO NOT GO ON BEER RUNS! First of all, it is stupid. The closest store is about six miles away. If you dont know the roads, I dont want you on them. Especially if you had a few. Secondly is because the rangers are right outside waiting for you. If you leave the camp at night for better be 100% sober. They are bored and just waiting for dumbasses to fuck up.
The next morning you might get woken up by mariachi or cumbia music as people are leaving. Just wait a few minutes. A redneck from across camp will come a yell at them. It’s quite a show sometimes.
With all that said, I still go here. It’s close. It’s for when I want to go camping and not really plan a camping trip. You can also ride you bike here along the bike path. I’ll have my mini tent and set up along the river and leave early. The ranger will think I’m part of your group.

It really depends on what you are looking for. People love this place, it is always packed. They maintain the grounds real well and you are right on the wide Kern River but for me, the spots are too close together, campers music is too loud, you can hear the race boats on the lake, and it is usually too hot here… but I guess that doesn’t bother all those folks from LA

I’ve visited several different campgrounds in California and this has been the absolute worst.
First of all, this campground is not in Kernville where many popular rafting and kayak outfitters are based. If youre looking for a campground in Kernville, its probably Frandy, which is a good 45 minute drive up past Lake Isabella. This is about 10 miles from Bakersfield, but still right on the Kern river.
It does have a lot of good things going for it. Wide open spaces with nice grass, most are well shaded. You can set multiple tents with lots of room between sites. It has GREAT access to this part of the Lower Kern River. If youre not here to kayak or boat, there are a couple of nice wading eddy pool along the river. BUT BE CAREFUL! The river IS dangerous. I wouldn’t let the partying tubers floating down fool you. People DO DIE every year.
Here’s where the negatives come in. Its «First come, First served» which basically means in the summertime, families will come midweek and rent out several sites. There is little to NO CHANCE of getting a site just rolling up on Friday. No «reservations», but people still pay for a few days and just come back leaving the site empty for a few days. So plan well ahead… If you cant beat em, join em.
The rangers come more frequently from Friday over the weekend to check things and take money. They will not tolerate anything unpaid or unregulated. No third vehicle unless its in the PAID overflow lot. You can be sure to catch them around 2−4pm. Check out is 4pm. There is NO other camp host or serviced booth. Its all thru the rangers.
The site advertises showers as an amenity. Its true, the shower is free and slightly warm. And theres only 1 for each sex for each half of the campground (figure 25 sites x8 people max on a packed weekend) The rest of the bathroom is an absolute disaster. Theres 2 stalls BUT NO DOOR. And it gets pretty nasty in there. I actually see a crew pull up at least once a day to clean and service the bathrooms. I’m not really sure what theyre doing other than unclogging toilets and refilling toilet paper, which I guess I should be thankful enough these things dont occur for more than a day… The only other option is porta-​pottys at the middle and ends of the campground. But come on… a porta-​potty in the hot summer is just a fly incubator.
I hope this post helps inform anyone who wishes to stay here to get a realistic view of the campground. Like I said it does have its perks, but until they change the no reservation policy and fix those bathrooms, I’d steer away unless you have to be here with some other group.
There is a small but decent convenience store next to the Chevron just outside the campground. From the market, drive down Lake Ming Road and around the circle, pass Rudal Rd with a sign for Lake Ming until you see the sign for CAMPSITE, turn right.
Final note, there is an oddly STRONG 3G signal with AT&T here. Tether your laptop and its a surprisingly fast and reliable connection.