Sycamore Grove Campground

This was a nice campground, but rather scruffy along the side facing the river, and the host's site would have looked at home in a trashy trailer park. I had a prior reservation, but when I arrived there was an "Open" sign on my site, and some other sites had "Reserved" signs on them with dates that had expired that morning. Those signs were not removed until more than 24 hours after they had expired.

Some of the sites, including mine, that were listed on recreation.gov as 44 ft long were in fact 30 ft. I could not overhang the back of the site because there was a tree immediately behind, so the only way I could fit was by parking my truck at 45 degrees right up against the road. If you can't fit your tow vehicle or toad into the site, you have to park it in one of the day-use lots outside the campground. The site was very narrow, with mud right outside my door.

I paid $18 per night for water and electric, with a NPS senior pass discount. Verizon 4G was good, with 4 bars, 42 Mbps down and 8 up. There is no dump station here, but there are dumps both north and south along I-5.

This campground was a really nice find and only about an hour from Lassen Volcanic National Park. You do have to reserve and pay online (there is no ranger station) but we always travel with solid plans anyway. The sites are spacious & the grounds beautiful. There are many paved walking paths, a nature center with a lovely garden showcasing native plants, and the Sacramento river to sit and watch. There are a few sites with water & electric which is excellent. There is no dump station at all but you can go down the road a couple miles to the Fair Grounds (call Frank at 530-209-1858 for directions & to meet you there) and dump for $10. Our kids had so much fun exploring the park & riding their bikes because everything is paved. A fire ring and solid picnic table (on a paved pad) are at each site. The showers are paid but 25 cents gets you 3 or 4 minutes. Use the ADA shower in the women’s bath so you have 2 shower heads at the same time. The water was very hot - so nice!!! Walmart is only 10min away (grocery) and an Applebees 3 min up the road. The camp hosts have very junky run down setups but whatever. We would stay here again!!!

It has been a couple of years since we have been here. It is NOW all online reservations or phone reservations only. At the entrance there is a sign telling you which phone number to call. We did not know that when we got there because it was not like that 2 years ago. We were able to call and get a one night only reservation. If you do it online I believe it has to be two nights. It was very quiet. Lots of walking and biking trails. If you have the America beautiful pass you can get $8 off. We had a non-utility site. By doing that, we had more privacy. We felt safe here.
We stayed Nov 7, 2018.

This is our second time here on our way up to Oregon. We staying in a pull-through spot, #12 for $25 and we made a reservation online. The park is clean, shaded and the walking trails are a added bonus. The camp host was friendly and the ladies in the Visitor center were very helpful. It’s a great place to stop that’s along the Sacramento River.

This isn't a destination campround but a very convenient stop while traveling. Surprisingly quiet for a campground so near a city and highway 5. Sites are clean, shaded with large mature trees, and nicely spaced. The amount of time and warm water you get for a quarter in the shower was good. One of the 2 women's showers didn't work and stole my money though. There is a salmon ladder and a fish interpretive center between the campground and the river that was closed while we were there but it looked interesting. There were only 5 sites occupied on a Saturday in early August. We opted for an electric site so we could use AC in the heat.

Red Bluff is notorious for being a hotspot (literally) in the Central Valley. Temperatures frequently soar over a 100 degrees in the summer. Well good news....Sycamore Grove is Just off I-t and CA 36 on the Sacramento River with plenty of shady trees and grass to help cool down that hot summer day. Ice cold frappuccinos can be purchased just as you turn on to Sale Lane, the road to the campground.

We camped at the group camp (next to Sycamore Grove) for the annual "Woodflock" on Memorial Day Weekend. (The price reflects a "dry" camp site, which we had.) We have a wheel-chair equipped RV and need to land the wheelchair lift on the pavement. The group camp worked for us. We were required to keep two wheels on the pavement but otherwise could park where we needed. Restrooms were pit toilets but clean and even had a scented "tree." The bathrooms were wheelchair accessible with grab bars. The showers were clean as well.

One of the best parts of this campground is all of the wonderful trails. There are 4 miles of paved trails along the Sacramento River and through the native grassland. Enjoy great views of Mt. Shasta and Lassen from the Shasta View trail.

We checked out our neighbor Sycamore Grove. There were two wheelchair accessible sites but they are not wide enough for an RV with a lift. The U.S. Forest Service (manager) needs to remedy this. There were back in sites and pull through sites; some sites have electric.

The down side: 1. Sites designated as wheelchair accessible are not wide enough and do not meet requirements. 2. There is no dump station in the Red Bluff Recreation Area.

The upside: 1. Beautiful shady and quiet spot next to the Sacramento River with an enjoyable trail system. 2. Informative visitor center (usually open until 3 pm weekdays) with nature path.

1. Close to major stores for replenishing your supplies.
2. Right off the I-5 and typically available.

Level sites some with electric/water hook ups. The downside is no dump available on site at all. Sites are open with lots of trees and plenty of space in between. We spent a few days and have no complaints.

There are about 4 miles of trails to explore and while it’s not mind blowing scenery, it is a nice walkabout. There is a visitors center and a lovely garden next to it.

All in all a nice campground to hang out. This is a Forest Service Campground which has been down funded. I see folks out working every day but it doesn’t seem there are many of them.

Campground very overgrown and needed lots of maintenance. Clearly had not been mowed in months. We barely fit into our site that was listed as 44 feet. Lots of trash in our site and fire pit. There was an abandoned travel trailer next to our site that had an expired license plate from 2007 with boarded up windows. Then a group of campers with a couple of tents and multiple vehicles came in late afternoon and cleared their site with a weed eater for several hours then fired up their mini bikes and rode around the campground and trails where they weren’t allowed while their dogs were tied up outside howling horribly. About 9pm they fired up chain saws to chop wood we guessed. The campsite host finally came around about 11 pm and told them to shut it down. The campground needs more onsite security.