Brite Lake Aquatic Recreation Area

We camped here for one night on our way home from Death Valley in mid-November. Was inspired to stay here as the DFG had planted some trout a week or two earlier and looked forward to having some for dinner. Upon arriving the entry booth had an "open" yet could not find anyone around. After scouting around we located a site we liked with a nice view of the lake in the group of sites that have both electric and water but no sewer. Keep in mind the dump station is closed so will need to dump at the nearby Flying J or Love's Travel Plaza. Drove back to the entry booth and put $30 into an envelope and into the payment slot even though the electrical box was locked. The camp host was not to be found when we arrived but did call me around 5pm with the combo to the electrical box so we could have power. After 8 days of boondocking it was a nice respite to have electrical power even though our battery was fully charged from solar. I did try my luck at fishing, soaking Powerbait an casting some spinners but caught nothing after a couple of hours. There were a few other fisherman but did not see any fishing being caught. Though the fishing wasn't very good the scenery was fantastic. A storm had rolled through a day or two before we arrived and left a nice amount of snow in the surrounding mountains and the skies were filled with big puffy clouds. I was pleasantly surprised that there was so many stores, restaurants, gas stations and fast food places nearby, while the campground and lake feel remote. Since there were only a few other campers at the campground it was a bit eerie being so close to a correctional center (less than half a mile away), just hoping there were no escapees running around. In the morning both my wife and I took showers at the clean bathrooms and the water was nice and hot, which was great on a 30 degree morning. Our Verizon phones had about 3 bars with 4G LTE and our T Mobil hotspot worked well. Definitely plan to come back here and explore the area more. While I did not bring my mountain bike there is a network of trails l would love to explore.

Water and electric for $31 a night. A lot of pull through sites although our site was quite unlevel but I saw others were perfectly flat. Beautiful scenery with a lake and mountains in the background. Bathrooms were really bad in my opinion. I went to take a shower and it was just like a bathroom stall with cement floor. I couldn't figure out where to hang my stuff without it getting wet so I just went ahead and used the shower in my 5th wheel even though grey tank said full :-0 location was pretty good, close to cute town of Tehachapi! Verizon service was great!

This campground (and Tehachapi area) was quite a pleasant surprise for us. We had been in the desert for two months and though this area was more of the same BUT it's at a slightly higher elevation than Barstow and Bakersfield so it was green! The surrounding area is beautiful farms and trees.

We had just finished 3 weeks of boondocking and needed full hookups to get things clean (and to get a bit of a break from worrying about the solar panel getting our batter charged). This was really a lovely place to reset. We almost decided to stay longer and next time would plan to do so.

We were lucky to get a full hookup spot as there is just one small area of full hookup (I think). The spots were large, though also furthest from the lake. The dry camping spots right by the lake would be fun. It was very full as it was a Saturday night but really quiet once quiet hours rolled around.

Verizon data was fast/strong enough to stream video.

There is a dump station if you don't get a full hook up spot.

Was able to pay for site over the phone. Campground host we interacted with was nice.

The bathrooms aren't very new and are your typical campground bathroom but seemed kind of clean. Didn't use the shower.

Not far from town/services.

I enjoyed my stay at Brite Lake. We took many nice walks around the lake, it's about a mile around the whole thing.

I was fine with paying the $25/day fee because we had power and could cook and power our electronics. However don't bother trying to take a shower in the restrooms. There is no hot water at all. Which is a shame. I went an entire week without showering because of that. :(

Beyond the campsite, the town of Tehachapi is great. Definitely make sure to go to Kohnen's Country Bakery. I had the best sandwich of my ENTIRE LIFE. I also had a lot of fun singing Karaoke at Savanah's Old Time Saloon. Everyone I met was super nice.

I would definitely visit this campsite again, but maybe after I upgraded to a new rig that had a shower + water heater inside it.

Also, even though this is Southern California, it gets extremely cold at night.

We came here after finding Indian Ranch completely full down the street and were thrilled to stay here instead. Brite Lake is surrounded by mountains, golden brush, shimmering lake and complete silence. It's secluded enough that you feel like you're away from it all but still have cell service in case you want to check in. We stayed in partial hookups for $25 a night, and in total came to $52 because there is a $1 fee per transaction for credit cards. Although they charged me once for one transaction, I was still charged $2. I guess for two nights? Seemed unnecessary. Anyway, there are only about 13 partial hookup sites which while filled completely on a Saturday night, they are spaced out enough so that there is plenty of room to relax and enjoy.

The rate reflects power and water hook up. FHU was $30 and tenting was $15. It's hard to tell if the recent rains are what makes this park feel a bit run down, or if it is a bit rundown. There are many areas where it is obvious campers were stuck in the recent rains. And parts of the park are still closed today, 5 days later, as they appear to be drying up. And the lake is down probably 20 feet. And the bathrooms are dark. The women's seemed clean, but the men's definitely was not. We did have a brand new picnic table at our site. And the electrical box was newish. The roads are dirt. I wouldn't not stay here again, but I might try something else in the area.