Reviews

Plyply

Great campground with decent space between campers. Has restrooms and showers in two locations, with the showers being coin operated so bring some quarters.

Dima Tsoy

Fantastic base camp for Six Rivers adventures! We stayed at Panther Flat and it exceeded expectations! At just $15/night, this hidden gem offers incredible value with clean flush toilets and hot coin-operated showers (50¢ for 3 minutes—rare for Forest Service!). Our spacious site (#16) was surrounded by towering Douglas firs with privacy from lush huckleberry bushes between campsites. The short 3-minute walk to Smith River's crystal-clear swimming holes was perfect for cooling off after exploring nearby redwood groves. Highway 199 creates some road noise, but the pristine river access and proximity to Redwood National Park make it worthwhile. Camp host kept facilities immaculate. Note: book through Recreation.gov for summer; first-come first-served off-season.

Karina

One of the cleanest campgrounds I've stayed in. I still had cell service but my boyfriend didn't. Nice large sites and parking spots. There was a standing dead tree with bring green marking. I reported it to the host and the FS showed up and removed the flagging. Said it was a "watch tree" and not a remove tree. It was in striking distance of 2 tent pads and 2 tables.

Sarah Barker

Really beautiful campground. The whole thing is protected by a bluff so even if there is a lot of wind on the highway, the campsite itself is calm. Each site is clean and spacious but with enough foliage that you get decent privacy. And bathrooms are really nice, they have flush toilets, motion-sensor lights at night and are kept quite clean. And there is a cute creek a 5-minute walk away. Was really impressed with this one, highly recommend!

Christine Blakeney

Fabulous campground. Sites are nicely separated. If you can get a spot closest to the river, you’ll have less road noise and more sounds of the river. It even has showers but bring quarters.

Michelle R

Came here in 2024, had a lovely, lovely time. The site is clean, the showers are hot, and the location is divine. But we visited again this year and had a drastically different experience. We stayed Tues-Monday. The only day that didn't have hours, literally hours, of noise coming from a gas-powered leaf blower was Sunday. It echoed through the campground making it hard to hold a conversation. It drove us out of our campsite to seek peace elsewhere on more than one day. When it happened Wed-Fri, I thought maybe they were preparing for the weekend but it happened Saturday morning too starting at 9am. I go camping for peace and quiet of the wilderness, not endure the fluctuating roar of a 90 decibel leaf blower for hours on end. Sad to say, we won't be returning because I won't risk our much anticipated vacation being ruined by this nuisance again.

Carl Strohmeyer

Excellent, well maintained National Forest campground near the Smith River. Clean restrooms with pay shower. Some sites will accommodate an RV up to 30 feet, such as our 30' travel trailer. The current hosts worked hard at keeping the campground nice. My only minor complaint is that I wish they allowed reservations all year, as our trailer length makes planning ahead often less stressful.

Louis Hubbard

We really enjoyed our stay at Panther Flat Campground. The swimming hole on the Smith River is deep and water is very cold. Very refreshing to take a swim in. The campground itself is very clean and well taken care of. Campground has showers available and the bathrooms are well maintained. The sites have a good amount of space and are separated enough between campers that you feel like your not camping right on top of another site. Be mindful that at certain times there are fire bans in effect and this means no campfire or charcoal bbq’s. Overall I highly recommend this campground for a family vacation spot.

Sherry Jacobs

Quiet and you do not have to have a reservation. Best of all is it is right by the river. Beautiful!!

* Adams

This is a beautiful campground. There is a picnic area in the vicinity that is right next to the river. Watch out for the poison oak though because it's everywhere along the river.

Matthew Bier

Pretty nice. Parking and bathrooms (pit toilet), and easy river access. Plenty of camping sites. The kids and dogs loved it. Nice swimming holes.

Pattie Rettberg

Camp host April and her husband were friendly, restrooms and showers (need quarters) were always clean and well stocked. Great location with sites not too close to each other for some privacy. Will definitely come again!!

Brian G

Very clean, peaceful, and fairly quiet. By 9:30pm there was only the wind and the river to be heard. Restrooms were very clean and modern. Camp spaces were roomy and separated so there was a sense of privacy. Camp host was present and readily available. Beautiful campground over all. This stay was unplanned, but Panther Flats could become a planned stop, even a destination visit in the future.

Marlo Fullerton

Nice place to camp. Lots of trees to help keep it cool on hot days. Good swimming hole pretty crowded but nice for swimming. They need to develop another trail the the first swimming hole could not find a way to it. The trail was washed out. Was a bummer no running water other than the flush toilets this season but the camp host had a large tank of water we could fill our containers with.