The campground looks like it is permanently closed. They put huge boulders in the campground entrance area. The day use parking lot is open. The river is very pretty here, and clean, and there's a big gravel bar. We did not have to pay to park. We went gold panning and found zero gold flakes or nuggets. It was a weekday and there were only 4 cars in the parking lot. read more

Beautiful and I had a great time. We had 17 people a group and it was the best Camp Grounds we've ever been to.

Good place to camp. Reservations must be made online. I wish there were food storage, we had to leave our food in my car's trunk. We didn't see or hear any bears but someone told us they did see a bear the previous day we were there. Safe pavement road all around the site, unfortunately several cars passed by so it's not the most quiet place but it is pretty nice. It's pretty clean, there's tables, grills, and bathrooms. Lots of areas to walk and discover, several people looking for gold which makes the water not so clean. Also lots of poison oak so be careful! read more

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Stayed 2 nights at a walk-in site (#3), right next to the pathway down to the river. There was a ton of foot traffic during the day (gold panners and random people going to and from the river). Come Saturday, there is hardly any parking. The bug situation was minimal. Our site was across from the vault toilets. The smell that protruded from these things was horrendous to say the least, and I gagged every time I had to use one. There were numerous times I walked in and had to walk right out because I couldn't handle the stench. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if it was limited to use by just overnight campers, but it is literally open to anyone walking by, and half the time they didn't keep the toilet seat down to keep the stench to a minimum. Other than that, the river was pretty and convenient. There are no showers and no running water, but we signed up for that since campsites availability is scarce these days. Most likely will never return, but still had a good time with our group. Star gazing at night and lounging in the river was a highlight (bring water shoes, it's rocky). I do have to say, the park ranger that did his rounds was super nice and friendly....I think his name was Jake or Jacob. He was awesome. read more

I have never camped here because I live a stone throw from this place, but it is our go-to place for evening walks, river day trips, and even a nice long walk with our dog or hike. The campgrounds always seem fairly full; the sites are large and offer river access but not too much shade. Although you are river side, you are also on the side of the road that drives through the area. During the summer time the campsites and the day use are crowded, but not the kind of "crowded" you see closer to Sacramento, or on the American River. This river isn't the best for swimming because it is "dirty" in comparison to the almost clear water of the American, but it is refreshing to take a dip and cool off without having to drive or walk very far from your vehicle to the water. This place is popular for locals and people like to bring their dogs. If you drive down to the day use area there is also a separate gated entrance for group sites. I have spent many evenings walking down through the group site area. The site itself is about 2 miles from the main camp sites and offers total exclusion for you and your group. When the spot is reserved, they will inform you on how to obtain a key to open the gate to let the members of your party in. I enjoy going here in the fall and winter months when it feels like you have the place to yourself. My husband and I have also prospected a good amount in gold from this river also. Camping, floating, swimming, gold prospecting, pic-nicking, sun bathing or walking the dog, this place will accommodate it all! read more

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Went up from April 2-9, first 5 days was at the private campground, last 3 days at the pay per day campground. Had a great time, we showed up the day after the freak snow storm dropped a couple inches on Colfax, it was beautiful but not ideal for prospecting. Coming in and out of the private campground was easier than it first looked, I had left my 4x4 diesel Suburban at home and brought my lowered 2wd one since it is more reliable and has overdrive. Even with 1000lbs of gear in a lowered suburban we had no trouble getting in and out on the dirt road, even while it was raining, to the private campground. The 3 days at the pay to stay public campground were just as fun, we had a few other campers staying there and all were quiet and respectful. Even the couple that was obviously living in their van and jumping from campsite to campsite after the 14 days are up were no problem. The "Rangers" were very friendly and did a great job of keeping the trash empty and the bathrooms clean and stocked. I look forward to heading back up next year with our group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL3XA1-Jgfo&list=UU9MtoMTj4fd4Sjkquut68mg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhdkuMHG8Nw&list=UU9MtoMTj4fd4Sjkquut68mg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvf5F0IhnYY read more

Bear River Campground - A little bit of gold and 3 "river diamonds". - Campgrounds Near Me - Colfax, California

This is a great spot for coming to camp, tube the river, or just lounge around! I would give it a 5 star, but sometimes the neighbors can be a challenge. Other than that, the temp is hot in the summer and the river is cold. Grab a tube and jump in, this is my all time fav. lazy river camping. If you plan ahead, you can park a car/truck at Dog Bar bridge and tube all the way down. Don't forget to jump off the rock! Oh yeah, almost forgot... $10 per night...first come, first served $2 per night extra car fee I also almost forgot to mention that there is no water available (except from the river), so you'll have to bring your own...they said it was budgeting, but I have a feeling it was done to keep people from living there ;P... ...and I don't think that I mentioned that the river is about 20 feet from each campsite! This place is great! read more

I camped at this location back in the 70's & 80's as a kid growing up. Not much has changed accept the updated restrooms and the river depth. They used to stock this river with trout at the north head back then. Planning to go here to fish before season ends... I am not sure why Dan D., gave this location 1 star and referred to it as a lake and RV/Park. He must have had the wrong location for his review? read more

The day before Easter my boyfriend and I headed up to Bear River Campground in Placer County CA. We arrived in late afternoon and set up camp with our 2 dogs. We minded our own, before the campers 2 sites over approached and invited us over for a beer. There were about 9 of them in all. All except one guy was between 21 and 25 years old. The one guy was almost 30. There was also a girl among them, maybe 22.They seemed nice enough, a little drunk maybe, but seemingly ordinary. They indicated that they lived up the road. (The campgrounds road merges with Plumtree road, which is a woodsy residential area) A few of the guys sat near us and chatted about their guns, bebe guns and otherwise. They also had a chainsaw, and a mock tommygun that shot bebes. This is what we could see lying around. The rest kicked a soccerball nearby and the oldest one stuck to himself near where their vehicles were parked. I hung around for maybe 15 minutes before going back over to our campsite and laid in our tent. My boyfriend was still conversating with them when I fell asleep.I awoke to my boyfriend trying to explain to me that the oldest guy over there, pulled him aside and said something like "hey man, i like you and all, your pretty cool. but this is our territory. If you and your girl dont pack up and leave by morning were going to raid your camp and run a train on your girl. " he laughed a bit and continued " seriously man, i dont gotta tell you this but you got til morning. We raid camps all the time, and in the morning im going to rape your girlfriend" To say the least, I got up and began packing. while we packed one of them paced back and forth along the road, smoking a cigarette. It was so dark, but I remember this guy wearing red sneakers and a hoodie. The oldest guy, making the threats had a long burly beard and long dark brown hair, he had an older light colored truck. Another vehicle I remember was a silver BMW. The guy in the red shoes stalked our site nearly the entire time we scrambled to get our gear in my truck. While this happened the other 7 or 8 guys sat around their campsite shouting and making vulgar gestures a me. Sometimes red shoes had another guy with him and they walked all the way to the guy staying a few sites over. We didnt pack everything. Too intimidated. Our phones were dead. We drove away, a few miles down the road a car sped up on our tail and followed us, literally a few feet off my bumper till we hit the 80. We did report this to he Placer County Sheriff. The trainee officer taking our report said he will pass it off to an officer in the field to investigate. In addition we contacted the Superintendent of Parks and Grounds- Andrew Miller. We hoped he might be able to ensure the safety of the individuals, and families that visit Bear River, which there were several upon our arrival and leaving. Andrew Miller informed us that theres not a budget to patrol county campsites. He also added that this is not the first time he has heard about this happening at that campsite. SO WHY IS IT STILL OPEN? It is not okay that this is a known, reoccuring problem and no one is stopping it. At the very least, people deserve to be warned. read more

According to the map I found on the internet this campground has a day use area with picnic tables and a bathroom. This is not so. There are NO picnic tables! There are a lot of people panning for gold. We spoke with a county person who was there cleaning up and he confirmed, no picnic tables. A big disappointment for my friend and I, we were looking forward to having a picnic by the river. We ended up at Rollins Lake. I will say that the bathrooms (2 unisex) were very clean :-) read more

Bear river campground/day use area is an awesome place! Great for swimming, lounging, floating, fishing, and just having a good time in the outdoors by the icy water on a hot day! LOVE this place and it's never too crowded. Beware swimming in early spring, for the mountain snow runnofs can create a hazardous current! read more

My wife and I just spent 5 Days over the Memorial Day weekend in our 36' 5th. Wheel. This place is Heaven! We will be going back,

We didn't check out the campground, but this is a beautiful clean park! We enjoyed our time there. My girl, dogs and I will be back

This was my worse camping experience ever and I have been to many places. It is "home" to many people with no common sense. Kids abound, most of them left to their own devise. Spent 2 nights, first was just noisy, second Fire brigade and Sheriff came. Someone made a fire with lighter fluid, even though no fire/bbq was allowed because of the fire danger. Music blaring , kids screaming-no sleep. In the morning kids started running, screaming before 6am, no supervision. 911 was called by 2 campers,mainly to protect a baby crawling all over unsupervised and so was child protective services. If you want peace and quiet do not go here, it is a beautiful river and I had some lovely moments watching nature but my mind is still very upset by what I saw regarding the kids. Hopefully the City of Colfax will see better days. read more

great value for your money....our site was by the outhouse so that wasn't good, no showers but once again the price is great

Although this campground is really in a beautiful setting, it seems to be a party spot for locals. We went on a Saturday and were kept up until after 4am by some high school kids partying (loudly) at the site next door. Other neighbors were blaring 70s music from their car radio all day and another group of locals stopped by and used the campsite next to ours to binge drink. Many people don't seem to understand why the dumpsters are there, as they left empty cans and bottles at their site. Maybe it's better on a weeknight? read more

I like this campground alot. It is somewhat small but still enough room between sites. I like how it is away from the freeway but close enough to town that if you forget anything or just want a burger u can drive up and out! I go here every year and will be back as soon as they open! read more