Camp Observer1 of 7 photos
White Cloud
Notice
There will be no water at White Cloud Campground for the summer 2026 season. Please plan ahead and bring your own water. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Apr 7, 2026 – Oct 16, 2026
Overview
White Cloud Campground is located right off of Hwy 20 in a nice wooded area. Scotts Flat Resevoir is 6 miles from White Cloud Campsite. Adjacent to the campground is Pioneer Trail used by hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. Campground is available for both RV and tent camping (however, there are NO RV hookups or amenities, size restrictions on RV may apply).
Recreation
The Pioneer Trail stretches 25 miles through the Tahoe National Forest and can be accessed from the campground. The popular path was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2003. Horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking and cross-country skiing are favorite activities on this popular trail.Facilities
The campground offers several single-family sites, a few of which are designated for tent camping only as well as one double site. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Drinking water is provided.
Natural Features
The campground is situated in a forest of cedar, pine, and Douglas fir trees, at an elevation of 4,200 feet.Nearby Attractions
White Cloud Campground is located on the Highway 20 portion of the Yuba Donner Scenic Byway near many gold rush era historical sites and old mining towns such as Washington and Nevada City. Nevada City, about 14 miles west, is a scenic historical mining town with many historical attractions, top notch restaraunts, various lodging options, shopping, and stores for everything you may need. Other attractions include the Pioneer Trail, South Yuba River, Washintong Scenic Overlook, Alpha and Omega Scenic Overlook and Interpretive Trail, Rock Creek Nature Trail, Chalk Bluff OHV trails, and Grouse Ridge Non-Motorized Area.Contact Info
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (530) 265-4531.Charges & Cancellations
No Show Policy
A no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date (or for day-use facilities, by check-in time the day of arrival).
* No-show customers are only recorded at staffed facilities. At most remote facilities, all customers are noted as automatically checked-in on the date of arrival.
* It is recommended that staffed facilities hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date.
* It is recommended that staffed facilities hold group day-use facilities until check-in time on the arrival date.
There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation if the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit some or all of the recreation fees.
There is no change fee if the customer changes campsites that are the same price and on the same reservation dates in the same campground. If the campsite the customer is changing to has a price difference, the customer will be responsible for any additional fees or be provided with a refund, based on the price difference.
Where recorded, no-show customers are assessed a $20.00 no-show fee and forfeit the first night's recreation fee for a campsite or forfeit the entire day-use recreation fee for a day-use facility. We recommend customers contact the facility if they are en route to their reservation but cannot make it by the check-in date. In these cases, no refund will be issued, but the facility can ensure that a "no-show" fee is not assessed.
Camp site features
Across 44 camp sites:
- Fire pit: all 44 sites
- Picnic table: 23 of 44 sites
- Pets allowed: all 44 sites
- Longest rig: 40 ft
- Largest party: 12 people
Directions
From Nevada City, travel east on Highway 20 for 10 miles. Turn right at the
White Cloud Campground sign and then the first right into the campground. From
Interstate 80 take exit 161, Highway 20 to Nevada City and drive 26 miles west
toward Nevada City. Turn left at the White Cloud Campground sign and then the
first right into the campground.
Stay Limit
Check in from 2 PM, check out by 12 PM.
Reviews
Ratings (82)
5 stars
33
4 stars
23
3 stars
10
2 stars
11
1 stars
5
Ayla S
Loop:2
Site:032
Reviewed a day ago
Unfortunately the time we went the water facilities were down. But I would say it was a gorgeous campsite that really felt in the woods without being too far from the road itself. My group went to Lake Tahoe for the day on Saturday and coming back to the peaceful sire was wonderful. Can't wait to go again!
Mary B
Loop:2
Site:046
Reviewed 8 days ago
I’m not rating as excellent due to no water availability, otherwise it was peaceful and relaxing. Great access to bike trails. A fantastic bar/restaurant just 6 miles away in case you don’t want to cook!
Robert B
Loop:2
Site:027
Reviewed 14 days ago
car camping
nothing special.
lots of no see-um type of mosquito in early july, which forced me inside often. lots of freeway noise. much closer to freeway than i had expected. nothing special here for it to be return worthy.
Camila J
Loop:2
Site:040
Reviewed 15 days ago
The campground area was good but all the water faucets were out of service with a lot of spiderwebs, showing that it’s been that for a while. Not only 1, all of them.
Kathi B
Loop:1
Site:007
Reviewed 20 days ago
Beautiful scenery very peaceful. Unfortunately, the water was out, but we went down to Auburn not a bad drive and got more water.
Angela S
Loop:2
Site:042
Reviewed a month ago
We wanted to go camping before the July 4th weekend and were lucky to snag this campsite. The location was convenient, with several nearby trails to explore. I don't believe there was a camp host on site during our stay. The restroom could have used some cleaning and was out of toilet paper. Overall, it was a nice camping spot, and we enjoyed our stay. Thank you.
lynette f
Loop:1
Site:014
Reviewed 2 months ago
I would encourage anyone to come visit and have a wonderful stay at this very quiet and very spacious campground that has easy access off of hwy 20 set in the beautiful Tahoe National Forest. We arrived for the Memorial Day weekend in our 16ft GeoPro trailer and stayed for 5 nights and only needed to run the generator 2 times to power up as there is no electricity or water available. Scott's lake is right nearby with beautiful clear water and trails that you can utilize right from your campsite. The campsites are huge with a fire ring and old handbuilt rock ovens with stovepipes attached. I wonder if back in the day when people were cooking on them it created a white cloud hence the name "White Cloud Campground". It was a very enjoyable trip especially with all the nearby places to visit. Nevada City has maintained its historical charm and well worth visiting. Spending the day at Lake Tahoe is a must as it is so beautiful but very busy and so it was nice to be able to camp in such a quiet location. Very clean and well maintained campground and I highly recommend this location!
Leslie U
Loop:2
Site:028
Reviewed 2 months ago
I have camped at White Cloud for many years and I am giving them a low rating this year for one reason. We were there for the Memorial weekend and not once were the bathrooms serviced. Toliet paper was gone by Friday night and never stocked or bathrooms cleaned. I know that these days it is hard to get a camp host but at least stock the paper!
Tim E
Loop:2
Site:031
Reviewed 2 months ago
No water but USFS warned us about that. Only two outhouse bathrooms. Used to have three flush bathrooms. No camp host but still charged full rate. It's ok cause it's close to home and 15 degrees cooler!
Genevieve M
Loop:2
Site:032
Reviewed 10 months ago
It is a lovely and clean campsite with the bathrooms stocked with TP and the camp site areas clear to set up a tent (vs needing to bring a rake). I would like to share that there is no water available (even non-potable) which makes any fires very dangerous to have unless you bring a few fire extinguishers (possible spark spot fires).
Dawn M
Loop:2
Site:033
Reviewed 10 months ago
No cell service (Xfinity) which is fine.
Listed flushing toilets, there are none.
Sites are close to each other but clean. Plenty of shade. There was no water when we stayed. (It was posted on the site) There are neighboring bogs (over 6) that bark 80% of the time. Forestry Fore is nearby, The ranger did make an appearance. Nobody checks you in or out or verifys. Lots of flying bugs during sunny hours. If you saw water pics, there is no body of water, closest one is the lake/reservoir 7 miles away.
Overall was a peaceful stay.
This was my first recreation.gov reservation/stay. Hope to have many more
Kira S
Loop:2
Site:022
Reviewed a year ago
Really enjoyed this campground, site 22! The map is a little off (it shows the toilets nearby, it's wrong.) The bear box was something I've never seen before but heard about. Super easy to use, and it fit our cooler nicely. Fellow campers seemed to either not care or didn't know that a fire ban was in place. The Vista Point and Scenic Overlook east of camp on 20 was really awesome to visit. Unfortunately, people are not as kind as they should be and we ended up with a full grocery bag of trash that we removed from the brush near the lookout. Other than that, it was a lovely night. I chose this campground because it didn't force a night block for the weekend. 9/10, would camp again.
Karma B
Loop:1
Site:011
Reviewed a year ago
There is no water, not even non-potable. On the Friday night I was there, there were many huge groups making noise until midnight and a few of them made illegal camp fires, 2 of which were huge. I’ve always had a pleasant experience there before and there was always water of some kind from the faucets. I am wondering if the lack of a camp host is why this experience was different. The vault toilets were clean and the sites are nice.
Lowrene M
Loop:2
Site:035
Reviewed a year ago
Nice and shady. Quite. The only issues that we had while staying there, was the bathrooms were not cleaned and ran out of toilet paper. So glad that we ALWAYS carry some with us. Other issue is that for this season there is NO water in the whole campground. We were prepared and brought extra in. So not really a big deal. Do your research and be prepared. We will be back again. No camp host either.
Delilah S
Loop:1
Site:003
Reviewed a year ago
It was nice place to camp but bathrooms where not clean and ran out of toilet paper everyday and they did not say anything about not having a shower 😭 we had to go shower at a different campsite
Doug F
Loop:1
Site:013
Reviewed a year ago
I was disappointed that the bathrooms were not cleaned and adequately equipped with supplies
Johnny T
Loop:2
Site:022
Reviewed 2 years ago
First- I'd like to say that if you are trying to get away from vehicle noise- Site 22 Loop 2 is not the spot- especially on a weekend. That aside- this was a wonderfully kept campsite, hosted by one of the moat balanced and wonderful camp hosts ive had- Nancy. Nancy qas very good about notify other sites to reduce noise after 9 PM, and maintained the sites and restrooms to a very good level for what the campground provides. If you dont mind car noise, I highly recommend it. Outside of Site 22- there is some hiking to be done on the Pioneer trail, but there is no other trail accessibility that doesnt require a drive. Scotts Flat Lake was very beautiful, nit ridiculously busy, and clean. Give it a shot!
Mrugesh M
Loop:2
Site:031
Reviewed 2 years ago
Campsite was good. It was nearer to highway so it was a bit noisy. Expected flush toilets as mentioned in site details and the map on-site. But campsite has only vault toilets. Vault toilets were clean.
Andrew C
Loop:2
Site:031
Reviewed 2 years ago
Excellent campground, great host, clean bathrooms. Would absolutely recommend staying. Convenient location for hikes, biking and swimming.
Robert K
Loop:2
Site:043
Reviewed 2 years ago
George our camp host was on top of things, we enjoyed going to Scotts Flat Reservoir, the camp was mostly empty, sparsely populated, the Pioneer Trail was nice, the dogs enjoyed it. Although we didn't use them, the bathrooms appeared to be very clean. It would be nice if the reservoir had public access that wasn't $20 for the day use, we only used it for a few hours at a time and parking wasn't always available.
Rafe M
Loop:1
Site:011
Reviewed 3 years ago
White Cloud was disappointing. The water at the campground was turned off, so none of the spigots worked. There was no notification prior to our arrival that this would be the case. The recreation.gov listing says that there are flush toilets, but in fact there are only vault toilets. The campsites themselves are clean but they are too close together and RV sites are intermingled with tent sites. The second day we were there a noisy RV parked right next to our site. There was road noise from the highway that is much closer than you would expect from a campground setting. In general, it was a bad experience and we ended up leaving a day early because of it.
DOUGLAS F
Loop:1
Site:013
Reviewed 3 years ago
although website said there was water available, there was not. Also the highway to the campground was closing the day after we arrived, so we didn't spend the night as we didn't want to be trapped. No one obviously was around to ask questions.
Pahoua C
Loop:1
Site:004
Reviewed 3 years ago
We camped here from 9/1-9/4. This was our second time here camping. Even though the weather was not the best and it was wet our group still has fun. Lots of sites were reserved, but Campground was quiet and empty possibly due to the weather people backed out. Our site had plenty of room and was pretty spread apart. Bathroom was nice and cleaned the first day or two then after it was horrible, it smelled really bad and no toilet paper at one point, thankfully we brought our own. There was not a camp host to even inform them of that issue. Over all we enjoyed our time and we are planning to return here next summer.
Ronald S
Loop:1
Site:008
Reviewed 3 years ago
There was a large group of site occupants, that I believe occupied about 6 separate sites that persisted to party until 1:30 and 2am on the Friday and Saturday nights during our stay. While we weren’t immediately beside them, they were loud enough to wake us at those times. We did not complain to the site host or Rangers because we expected the people occupying the closer sites to complain instead. It was only after our stay on the Sunday night when we learned that all the adjacent sites were actually occupied by the party goers themselves. We also noticed that a couple of other sites were vacant before their expected departure dates, likely because they also were annoyed by the partygoers. We fully expected the 10pm quiet hour to be respected. This experience has significantly tainted our camping experience to California.
Melina C
Loop:1
Site:15A&15B Double Site
Reviewed 3 years ago
Super clean bathrooms and we’re convenient around the campsite. Quiet area, but can hear the noise of cars driving by. The closest body of water was about 15 minutes away, but was easy to locate and have fun at and then return back to campsite. Overall, such a great stay!
Tashi D
Loop:2
Site:027
Reviewed 3 years ago
Can’t sleep at night , bcz of HWY 20 is very close by . No drinking water enough , have to get far , there is no water in bathroom . Poor network service ..
Jordan C
Loop:2
Site:020
Reviewed 3 years ago
Very good campsite, nice and quiet despite being near the road. The only complaints I have are that there was a dog roaming the campground that was growling at our dogs (that we had on leashes the whole time). This dog would just make herself at home, continuously coming back to our campsite. We thought it was the hosts' dog at first but later saw the host on a golf cart with a separate dog and didn't see the first dog past the first day or two that we were there. The other thing that we saw was that there was a lot of broken glass in our campsite (mainly around the fire pit and bench area). This forced us to go through and pick up all the glass we could fine (despite continuously finding some through our whole trip) so we could let our dogs walk around the camp site. The construction during our stay was a pain as well. Running into town to grab one or two things (normally a 20 min drive) turned into at least an hour and a half because of the poorly placed stops (one of which being probably 100 feet from the entrance of the campsite, forcing us to stop for at least 15 minutes at a time just to get back into the campsite since they wouldn't just let us through).
Adele B
Loop:2
Site:040
Reviewed 3 years ago
We had a great time; the campsites were spotless as well as the restrooms. The camp host
was always working and cleaning the bathrooms.
Also enjoyed the education from Farrah a Nevada City Ranger who demonstrated wildlife
facts that we could hold and touch.
Rustem R
Loop:2
Site:040
Reviewed 3 years ago
Big spaces. Make sure to bring water with you. Be aware of some sort of crickets that make noise
Shanti E
Loop:1
Site:003
Reviewed 4 years ago
Solid campsite but right off the freeway. When we stayed there was no potable water. Would have rated higher if there were more hikes near the campsite.
Erika M
Loop:1
Site:15A&15B Double Site
Reviewed 4 years ago
This was a great campsite. Perfect for a large group. Had about 6 tables and 2 bear boxes. Right next to a restroom and water spigot. The restrooms are vault toilets. Very well kept, had zero smell at all even when inside. Yellow jackets like to hang out at the water spigot in the morning but they were harmless, we used it plenty of times. One drawbacks were the proximity to a highway. It sounded like an airplane was taking off at night whenever a truck zoomed by so sleep was difficult. Another issue was a random dog was roaming the grounds. Other campers said it belonged to the camp host and it is allowed to roam but it was unsettling around young children and seemed to want our food. It was very friendly but looked like a coyote at first. Also, the 15A parking spot was somewhat confusing. The 15B parking was much more straightforward.
Nick S
Loop:1
Site:013
Reviewed 4 years ago
No complaints. Bathrooms were clean and there was running water. Site was clean and quiet after 10. Drove about 20 minutes to Scott’s lake.
Brad H
Loop:2
Site:044
Reviewed 4 years ago
Well maintained Campground on a slight slope of a mature pine forest, with little vegetation between sites. If you need or at least want a bear cabinet beware that some sites do NOT have them.
Adam K
Loop:2
Site:042
Reviewed 4 years ago
Great experience. Forest service staff were a wealth of information
Sarah M
Loop:2
Site:046
Reviewed 4 years ago
Beautiful spot, but pack TP! The bathrooms didn't seem to be restocked that often.
COLLEEN A
Loop:1
Site:013
Reviewed 4 years ago
We wish we could have camped at White Cloud, but someone informed us after we'd made the reservation that there was heavy construction on Route 20. The delay would have made it impossible for us to make our next morning's appointment in Truckee. So we found other accommodations. I wonder if it is possible to get a refund?
Tracy G
Loop:2
Site:042
Reviewed 4 years ago
We loved the three days we spent here in June. The campsites were mostly empty so lots of privacy. The site is located next to hiking trails and six miles from Scott's Flat Lake (though $20 per car there). Only downsides were closeness to Hwy 20 and bugs--lots of the latter.
Jessie S
Loop:1
Site:005
Reviewed 4 years ago
Large lot space, shade, quick drive to Nevada city and Grass valley, camp grounds are small but fun to explore.
liza b
Loop:1
Site:012
Reviewed 4 years ago
Loved the campground and forest! Loop 1 is a little tight for backing truck/trailer in.
Kati B
Loop:1
Site:002
Reviewed 4 years ago
Very inconsiderate campers here. Had to ask one campsite to not shine their head lamps across my tent at 11pm at night. They were setting up their tent! Another campsite had a child screaming until we’ll past midnight. Came host did nothing about it. Toilet paper was gone in both restrooms by 3rd camp day, glad I brought my own. Right next to the freeway, so you’ll hear cars all night long.
Alexander B
Loop:2
Site:024
Reviewed 5 years ago
The campground is not what we expected. The reservoir is 5 miles away and requires $14 extra for day use. The campsite we ended up at is right near the highway and we could hear every vehicle. Our site was also very close to other campers. There were bees everywhere, especially at the water spout (the hive was there). We went during the summer and it was SO hot. The nearby mountain biking trail had a lot of poison ivy too, so we did not have a good time biking. The campfire pit itself was functional, but the little oven next to it was cracked and damaged (not that we were planning to use it though...). We were so miserable that we ended up packing up and going home after it got dark.
Tam P
Loop:1
Site:004
Reviewed 5 years ago
The campsite was all messy and wasn’t clean the picnic table wasn’t in the right place and the dirt wasn’t suitable for a tent. My experience was bad at this campsite.
Popularity
Quiet · 27%
Busiest in July, when about 27% of sites are booked. Based on 9 years of reservations.
Location
Camptonville, CA 95922
Phone: 530-478-6253
