Rivernook Campground

Overall, this is a wonderful campground. The place is easily accessible, clean, located on the Kern River (above Lake Isabella), right next to downtown Kernville, and the people there are incredibly nice and helpful. We stayed in campsite 55, which had partial hook-ups (water, electric, cable). It was not located right on the water, but was an easy walk to it. The spaces are close, but not very close. My site had approximately 15 feet from my trailer door to my neighbors motorhome. This was a good size (substantial) for this area and progressively get smaller in the full-hook-up section and spots next to the river. The site was primarily dirt or really fine dirt when really dry. The campground is covered with mature trees around most of the sites and open to the sky where you can drive.

Access was very easy to the campground, but going through the Kern Canyon on the 178 can be a little hairy for larger rigs, but using commonsense and taking it easy will get you through easily. Once you get into Kernville, the campground is a turn around the corner to the North. There is a slight grade down from the road, but easily negotiated. When leaving and when it is wet, you may experience some slippage.

Rivernook is a great location right on the Kern River right next to Kernville. Driving a few miles up the road along the Kern River is great fishing for trout and many hiking trails. Driving a little further up, you can enjoy the Sequoia National Forest and all the great spots along the way. If you want to have access to amenities (Kernville) and still get lost in the Sierras (Sequoia National Forest), this is a good place to have a home base.

This campground is constantly being cleaned and maintained by the staff. I get up early and notice these guys are out as early as 6 am raking leaves and prepping sites for future visitors. These teams are constantly roaming around ensuring everything is maintained, yet they do it discreetly and are more than happy to help if you need it.

The sites are good, but it is dirt. When it rains, expect to track it everywhere. Fortunately, it's really a very fine sand, so when it dries, nothing really sticks. That being said, when it's dry it's can be dusty. The sites are well maintained, but they are not level. In our site, we had two large surface boulders and a tree stump/roots obstructing our space. Good, but not great.

As for noise, we went in late November, where they're only really busy for the Thanksgiving weekend. It was very quiet and you can hear the river, the coyotes, and the wrestling of the leaves at night. I have not experienced (or would not dare go) the Summer months where I've been told the campground is packed and crowded where the noise was a bit too much.

As for mobile phone signal, AT&T/LTE and Verizon/LTE was good. I consistently had 2 or 3 bars inside my RV and 3-4 bars outside of my RV. I used my Verizon Hotspot to conduct two full days of work with no issues. Be warned, you are still in a rural environment, so if you conduct a lot of conference calls, expect some latency for voice calls.

Overall, I like this campground, but inherently, I do not like to be packed in so tight. I went in the middle of Fall, so it was not as busy and not as hot. In the Summer, I'm being told this place is packed and my past experience camping during the Summer months can easily stay in the 100º's days at a time. If you do not have an issues with crowds or heat, I would recommend this place anytime of the year. If you want to avoid the crowds, come visit during the non-peak times and enjoy the river when it's not so busy and much cooler during the Spring and Fall. If you're expecting to do anything on the river, be mindful of the Spring runoff as it can be dangerous during these high flows. I removed a single star due to the size of the sites and how crowded it can get, but if these are not an issue for you, you can consider this a 5-Star review. Also keep in mind of the time I went for this review (Mid-Fall) as I'm being told that Summer months are a very different atmosphere.

That being said, I would still recommend this campground for it's overall high marks.

This RV Park is near the small town of Kernville. Only .6 miles from the brewery. But you’d have to walk on a busy street (we couldn’t find a good walking path, but the river might be an option).

The women’s bathroom was swept but not mopped and very old and worn.

We got a site here last minute and so they put us in the “less desirable” row. And now I know why they call it that! There are lots of permanent residents with junk out side their houses. People walking around pants most of the way down and no shirt.

The front desk wasn’t mean but also not overly friendly. They charged us $20 for a two hr early check in. They also put us right next to our neighbors with 10 sites completely open. In typical rv Park fashion we were crammed in right next to our neighbors our Airstream barely fit (width wide).

There were beautifully maintained trees in between our site which helped with the raging summer sun.

The mountain driving to get here from SOCAL was a bit of a pain, but at least it was pretty scenic. Campgrounds was clean with nearby dumpsite for the non-full-hookup peeps. Camped around the river-front with was great. Unfortunately, the water was pretty rough around here from the shallowness and the rocks - can't really play or fish in it.

Overall a very good experience and will definitely go again.

My family & I have been coming to this campsite for many many years! I'll have to say it's the best place to stay on the beautiful Kern River! They have such a friendly staff, beautiful campsites, and nice restrooms with showers! We all love this campground so much! If you're looking for a great, fun, family friendly place to stay, Rivernook is the place:) The memories you make here will truly last a lifetime

Stayed here with some Airstream friends for a rally at the end of October. We had a beautiful spot that backed up to the river with 30/50 amp power and water. No sewer but there was a dump station onsite and some of the pull-through sites have full hookups if you prefer, but they are not riverfront. This is a basic campground with dirt pads and also some permanent residents. It's a large campground and the roads are a bit confusing and the sites not well marked. We had a problem with the power upon arrival (like no power), but the staff went out of their way to make sure it was functioning ASAP.

The best part of this place is it's location. It has an extensive river frontage along the Kern River and is adjacent to the town of Kernville which is a quaint little Southern Sierra Nevada town. They were having their Fall Festival the weekend we were there and there was lots of activities in town.

Overall a very relaxing experience. It was really nice to walk out the trailer door and see the river and mountain views, and to hang out in the lounge chair at the river's edge.