Hospital Flats Campground

This was our second year camping at this campground. We brought the entire family this time around. I reserved campsites 6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12 for three days and two nights. We used campsites 11 and 12 just for parking because we couldn't pitch the tents due to all the rocks. All the campsites we're clean when we arrived. The porta potties were clean and even when it got hot they did not smell. The weather was perfect (80 degrees) and we spent most of our day in the river having fun. We're looking forward to going back next year.

Booked for 32 people. Sites 8,9,10, 11, 12, 7, 14. We were tent camping. The best sites for tents were 8,9,10. It says they are "walk to" but they are very close to the parking spots. Trees are sparse. Bring a pop up for shade. Sites 11 and 12 are strictly for trailers. Very very small and tight. We ended up just parking one truck in each site. Sites 7 and 14 are in the middle of the campground. Kind of rocky, but OK. Beware of the fire ants!The odor from the toilets kept wafting through Site 7 and 14. Pretty raw. If you have your own personal potty, I would definitely bring it. Sites 8,9,10,11,12 were all next to the Kern River. Wonderful to hear the rushing water especially at night. Beautiful views of the river and mountains, and great star gazing at night. Site 15 is closed for camping, but you can walk through it and get to the river. There is a shallow and calm patch right there because of the growth. You can stick your feet in and watch the river. DO NOT GO INTO THE RIVER! The water is rushing at Hospital Flat. It will claim you.10 minutes to Kernville, Lake Isabella, and about 45 minutes to the big Sequoias drive. I'd rate the campsite a solid 3, but the view, river, and proximity definitely bumped it up a notch for me.I was disappointed that campers before us left the campground a mess at mostly all the sites. There was trash everywhere, toilet paper, and burned ground from fires. Please clean up after yourself and use the fire pits.

We came for Memorial Day weekend and it was so fun, pretty hot during the day but fresh at night, we were in the middle, couple of miles from some stores and couple of miles from some good hiking spots, honestly the river is amazing but PLEASE don't get in it, sadly after coming home I saw news that 3 people died in it and 24 were luckily rescued ! Don't ever think you can swim in that kern river ! It will drag you ! But overall the campground is awesome, it has water and decent restrooms!

For Our first time in Kernville it was real fun. The camp host it super friendly and helpful. The only downside is we had campsite 3 which NOT on the river and during the HOT summer days the hot sun beams down on the site 3 with very little shade. The upside was the mountain side would block the sun til about 9:30am. Going down to the river I noticed we had to cut thru campsites and there were people who didn't like it that we and other groups would use the water behind their campsites. every day there was campers who think the water belongs to them only. I just want to say to everyone who camps here that the WATER IS FOR EVERYONE. We have very small children so we needed to find specific shallow areas for them and there are few here. Please wear a life vest and respect the water. 4 stars and not 5 because the place needs bear bins. We saw a bear one night on the trash bin coming in. It was a small black beer. All in all we had lots of fun and will be back. We also meet lots of great friendly people.

This campground was just as Reserve America or whatever said. Lots of rocks, so be sure to look at individual campsite photos, while not totally accurate, they do give you a good idea. Some sites were walkin only and some would only fit a small tent, not our "condo". The bathroom facilities are outhouses and while well ventilated, you know you have to bend over to lift and to close the lid. They were well maintained from what my family and friends said (I could only bring myself to go when we first got there, otherwise my Coleman Camping Toilet was the spot.)The other reviewer is accurate, no bear boxes. I'd be surprised to see bears there though and wasn't worried once I got there. Not saying there won't ever be a bear but it's more like desert than forest. It wasn't very buggy but there were TONS of red ants during the day.All the campgrounds on that road are off the mountain highway. It was relatively quiet after 10pm but occasionally there were some loud cars. We were on the outer loop closer to the highway. It didn't bug me as much as my last campground but it bugged my friend. Kern River was on the other side and it was nice to hear the rushing water at night. Very soothing with the super bright stars and clear sky. The campground supervisor was a pretty cool dude too. I gave this a four because of the red ants. All in all, I'd definitely go back.

Decided to try this place out for 4th of July weekend. Stayed at Hospital Flat campground. There is plenty to do here. A 5 minute drive will take you to the small town where you go back in time - all stores are mom and pop shops. From antique shops to the Saloons to the general store, it's all fabulous. This place has it all - You can hike, fish, relax, river raft, or float around on the river on a tire/inner tube and drink a beer. The weather can get to be over 100 degrees and being a skip and a jump from the river is a huge plus. All sites are within walking distance to the river (no more than 2 minutes). Please, please take a canopy. Most (if not all) of the sites are directly exposed to the sun with minimal shade. Recreation.gov states that campgrounds have potable water - here is the story: yes, there are multiple potable water stations throughout the campground, however, the water tastes like iron, its disgusting. The campground host mentioned it does taste like iron and even when you treat the water or boil, the iron taste (from the pipes) does not go away. Somehow, the water passes minimal standards for human consumption. Long story short, bring your own drinking water or buy some from the general market. Use the so called potable water at campground for cleaning, dishes, etc. The camp host informed us that Fairview Campground has potable water that tastes decent and you can get there in no time. I did not try this. The restroom situation - well, what do you expect from portable potties :) First off, they can be quite a distance away from your site, depending on where you are located. With temperatures over 100 degrees it was pretty funky. I tried out the Lugga-loo at REI and I loved it! There's nothing like having a private toilet at your disposal :) Shower situation - no showers, but no worries, for $10, I bought a Solar Shower at REI and I was set. I need to shower and get the layers of sunblock off. :) You can also just fill up a bucket with the potable water and shower (birth bath), the water from the potable water spigot at the campground seems to be lukewarm all the time. No need for a rainfly on your tent- it was great. The sky is full of stars at night. Hope this helps. Enjoy!

We camped here this past weekend and had a great time. We had spots 11 and 12 which were right on the river. Not a ton of trees thought, so at about 8:30 each morning we had sun blaring through our tent. HOWEVER, all that aside, they fail to mention anywhere that bears frequent this area! if I had known that I may have thought twice about camping here. Everything was fantastic except for that one little detail. We had a bear come through our campsite at night and steal brownies out of the cooler. Thankfully we had a dog with us who was able to keep the bear from coming any closer to our tent; I heard him growling at the bear for a good half hour. Then the next morning we actually saw the bear walk right by our campsite again. Another camper nearby said that bears come through there all the time, so he wasn't surprised to see it. We were very careless with our food storage, but had we known about this little bear issue we would have definitely been better about hiding our food! Or else, the park service could provide some sort of bear canister/storage area. There was absolutely nothing there to protect your food. So strange.

We came up here the week before July 4th, and had a great time on the Kern River. Even though the level is a bit low, we enjoyed swimming and tubing, and with the hot weather, the water was refreshing! This campground is not fancy, but it has good sights for camping, and the river is right there, so you don't really miss not having a shower available. The fee was reasonable for what you get. The early morning sun was hot, but you can't blame the campground for that! Having said that, a few more shade trees on the grounds would be great for those who didn't get the best sites. Definitely want to return here again next year!

We've raised our 3 children camping at this campground every year for about 26 years. site 19 was our goto site. We even held a family reunion here! With only about 40 showing up. We have such fond and wonderful memories here, from "our swim spot", jumping off rocks into the river, tubing, rafting and fishing all over the place. We used to stay for 5 or 6 nights. We hadn't gone up in about 3 years (kids all grown up with jobs and babies now) so we decided just the wife and I would go up this last weekend for a 3 night stay. We got our site 19 as usual. We were so excited to see our "home away from home" with the massive trees providing shade over the site and the little beach area. It was a disaster zone! The flood last year took out part of the campsite and ripped out many trees, left the little sandy beach all rocky. Then to top it off sometime since the flood, it appears as though Site 19 was ground 0 for a fire that burned out a lot of the trees. There's minimal shade now. It was heartbreaking to see. But nature will nature, it will grow back! Fire and floods can drastically change a landscape, but it can't erase all those great memories. We will still return to this campground next year with the kids and the grandbabies to continue the family tradition!!