Reviews

John R

The restrooms here are vaulted toilets and you can imagine what that's like "Stinks!". Toilet paper was provided in the restroom but the restroom itself was dirty, especially the door handle, one of which didn't lock. The camp host "Randy" had minimal to no people skills. He was rude and even insulting. People like that do not need to be running a campground PERIOD. He insulted you if you had not seen the "Fire Ban" notice at the front gate. Yes, there was a fire ban so my group could not have a campfire for 2 days. That was a real real bummer especially because the weather was cold and rain. There must have been a motorcycle/bikers rally or something because for the entire weekend no matter where we went we heard motorcycles, all day til evening! I go camping to get away from the city and be in peaceful nature. Nope, not that weekend. I won't be going back to Kern River period!

Richfisherman Jimenez

Headquarters campground wasn't that nice.we had a little trash at our campsite when we got there. The bathrooms were duty. The Camp Host Randy was very rude. Like he hated tending to people by asking questions. Another camper told us that he was. Then we experienced it. Please get another camp host. He is not a people person and does not keep up on cleaning the bathrooms. I think he just there for the free stay.

Robert Lopez

Had a great weekday camping trip at this location. There's lots of different campsites to pick from, some are right up against the Kern river and some are close to the highway, I recommend scouting the area to see which campsite you prefer. I picked spot 35 since it had a lot of shade and a nearby artery of the main river. I was surprised that there were not a lot of bugs, flies, or mosquitoes during my trip. Lots of bats at night to eat the bugs and plenty of quail and other birds everywhere too. One thing that was unpleasant though were the restrooms, the heat of the day just stews everything and it's a terrible smell, I recommend bringing your own portable commode or toilet.

Jessy V

Went here for the first time 2 weeks ago and it was such a great time! I love camping and I went with 2 other families, which we got 2 spots next to each other and there was a trail that lead right down to the river! All camping neighbors were friendly, and the patrol person of the campgrounds was so nice and accommodating! We will definitely be back! We fished a little and got to enjoy the river and all! Definitely recommend!

C Marie

We stayed in one of the yurts. It was clean and appeared to be well kept. As was the camp ground as a whole. While vault toilets are not my favorite they were the cleanest and least smelling I’ve encountered. The host was kind and informative. The site was larger than I had expected.

rinl

I honestly wish this review was a better outcome because my friends and family have been coming here for 10 years. We stayed from the 25 to 28 of july and this year has been the worst one yet. Apparently this campground got under new management and things changed. Let me just say it is the worst hosts ever and kept threatening that the ranger would be coming over to check on everyone if we didnt quiet down. We had not even been too loud and this happened on the last night we were staying. I know their job is to check around that no one is breaking rules but please, who needs to be circling and checking on everyone every 5 minutes. Not just that but the fact that she would bother about something or anything she could find. We felt as if this vacation was ruined because of these hosts. We had been asked to take stuff down because we couldnt be hanging anything off the trees but there were many people around who had more than one thing hanging which were hammocks. When it came to the rules’ curfew, it says that all music and things had to be turned off. While it was still 9:40, the host cane over to say we were making everyone miserable and that we were breaking rules by not turning it off. Let me remind you it was 9:40, not 10:00 so we still had a right to continue with our music and fun for 20 more minutes but she had assumed it was 10:00 already. She spoke to us very badly and didnt even let us explain ourselves and that we were not in the wrong. After all this, we all went to sleep and once laying to rest, we could hear people laughing very loud and blasting music at 2 in the morning. So many things were horrible and also the fact that were was no toilet paper in the bathrooms so we had to find something to use. After all this, Having to constantly abide by the rules which we were already doing, the host ruined our whole vacation. I hope management changes soon because it was not it. All other years were amazing and this one just happened to be the worst of them all. Worst management of this camp and hopefully they find somewhere else to bother every 5 minutes.

Martina Cordova

been coming here with family and friends for 10 years and have never had any complaints until this year with a horrible camp host. she complained about every little thing to us, made us take down ropes when others also had some in their camp. we had music playing before curfew and she still came to complain that we were too loud at 9:51pm. she was arguing with everyone at the campground: worst host we’ve had.

Jen S.

Location is what makes this campground great. I forgot to take any pictures! We were here 4th of July weekend. The water level was great for swimming. The current wasn't strong on the south end, you could float in a tube mostly in place. It was stronger towards the north end. I was in campsite 003 with our 23' trailer Not much shade, but it was a good site. Camp host was really friendly. Bathrooms are stinky, but that's to be expected.

Forest Ferkin

I stayed there in June 2023 (less than a week ago as I write this review). The pros: the campsites tend to have lots of spots for tents, which we used. We were a group of 17 in 3 campsites. The bathrooms, which are vault toilets were very clean and smelled good?? which I didn't expect. The water wasn't in the campsites but wasn't too far. It was quiet at night, and it is so close to the Kern River that it muffles a lot of noise. The bear boxes were in good shape, but we didn't have any problems with animals. The cons: Some of the best campsites were damaged by the high river and are not repaired, just roped off. Lots of the remaining sites are quite sunny. There were no "safe pools" of the Kern nearby, so we stayed out of the river. There were plenty of mosquitos at twilight, so bug spray is highly recommended.

Laura Lowe

We've been coming here for years. It's a great spot for fishing or summer water play. Be watchful for snakes and critters in the summer. The best part is: 1- This spot is open year round allowing us to visit multiple times a year, 2- right around the corner is the River Kern store that's got a little bit of everything including delicious tri-tip sandwiches that we always splurge on, once per visit.

carlos torres

Great spots and great site to camp close to the river the experience it's amazingly awesome

LizzHarris09

Huge sites! Several by the water... beautiful! amenities are basic but clean, water spigots and vault bathrooms. Very quiet peaceful pretty area. Love this campground!

Zully Tapia

This year was our first time camping in the site loved it

Nette Blu

Always a great times at Headquarters Can't wait to return

TERESA PARMELY-PEREZ

Nice place. Great camp host! All sites are close to the river and it's absolutely beautiful!