Kern River Campground

Okay, my star rating is at a 3.5 stars and here we go - we arrived last Sunday and the drive up was super dope and we were excited to escape the city and life and work. We arrived around 4pm and check in time is at 2pm and we reserved for Goldledge campgrounds and when we arrived there was another couple setting up their tents and at site 27 to 29 is all clustered together and we notice space 27 table was marked but not 28 and 29. The other couple had already set up and it was hot so we said whatever, let's go back to the other site. The other site is rocky and has a great boulder you can chill on but since this site is in the back, everyone before us had at least taken number 1 or 2s back there and there was tissue paper stuck in the bushes and stuff. If you're camping, please clean up after your damn self! Mind you, this was on the outskirts of the campgrounds but toilet paper was definitely near our site. The gentleman that comes in the AM, Bob I believe finally arrived around 9am and notified us the the other couple was in site 28 and we were site 29. Ugggggh!!! Maybe if you painted the numbers, we would know this. But whatever, we were already dedicated and set up in our spot and we also had three 11yr old with us. Bob is an older man and he was nice and not disrespectful or condescending at all to us and might be a little hard of hearing. He also let us know where the huge boulder is at and swimming area. So now the restrooms, eeeeehhh, NASTY! In the heat and luckily you have a mask since we're in the RONA and that masked some of the smell. The toilet have no running water, it's just a huge hole, deep in the ground and stinky. And, theres no shower but running water at several spots near each camping site. Now I kinda know why people have handled their duties use to the sites but take your trash with you, your in nature. Now let's talk about the river, OMG!!!! The river is the best part of the trip and it was so refreshing and chill. Near site 27, theres a hiking trail that goes down and you basically have your own little river walk and swimming area. Theres also a rope going across the river to grab on too. The kids loved it, we loved it and even tied up our beers and had then floating in the water. We chilled down there for 6+ hours and I even took a little nap. Being in nature and straight roughing camping, no glamping here is so nice and a lot of work but soooo worth it!! The moon was full on all our nights there too and I came back recharged and full of magical moon rays. Definitely check this place out and be prepared to actually camp amd enjoy the crickets, the critters, the EPIC Kern River, family time and laughs. Theres also a lot campgrounds around the area.

Kern River is easily one of our favorite campgrounds. It's clean and beautiful! the hosts are always friendly and easy to work with. In the summer, the river is a fun place to wade or ride with a floaty. I want to give a shout out to Arica who helped us find another sight when everything seemed booked up!

We had a great time at this campground, we stayed at site 44 and had beautiful views of the river and it was lovely hearing the river flow by, the restrooms are renovated since 2022 and the showers are free with great water, pressure and temperature Restrooms very clean, we did the 2 mile hike around the lake, it was a bit hot, but beautiful and saw some birds and lovely nature.

Do NOT camp at this campground. Top 4 reasons why: 1. It's dirty. There is trash in the river, all around the river, all over the campground. It's disgusting. 2. It's loud. Not like Mother Nature, rushing waters loud, like mariachi music until 3 am loud. No camp host Sunday to Wednesday. WORST time to camp. 3. It's sketchy. Glen, guy in a cart drives around to check you in, comes to us. Hands us a piece of paper & says, "Here's the phone number for the sheriffs dept. no camp host until Wednesday & the sheriff will drive through every once in a while, but keep this number. In fact, save the number in your phone or dial 911." I told him that's kinda scary & he hesitantly replies, "well, just to be on the safe side. There's a free park to camp at up the way. All sorts of people camp there." I asked about this specific campground we're camping at. He REPEATED to save the number in my phone.4. 4 people died in the river last week, he told us. 1 being a little kid :( and 3 adults. Told us to be wear life jackets & swim at your own risk - which we were already aware about! Kern can be dangerous!! Staying at this campground is kinda like Russian roulette. In more than one way. If you're even thinking about camping here - just stop!!! Buy a slip n slide & Pitch a tent in your backyard.

Great camping spot. The campsite was located a few feet away from the river. The bathrooms and showers were surprisingly clean and well maintained. All in all it was a pleasant experience.

Do not highly recommend this campground. Too loud, no security, no Ranger, people do not respect the quiet hours. People have their music loud all day and night. If you are looking for a peaceful campground to get away from all the noise from the city or stress this is definitely not the place to go to!

Beautiful campground next to Kern River and Lake Ming. The showers and bathrooms are nice and clean and well managed. Campground host Robert was also very nice! Overall experience was great would definitely consider coming back.

Easily accessible, grounds are clean, access to water, bathrooms are kinda old and requires some maintenance, camp host was really nice and informative, right next to water.

This campground is beautiful, but the people who camp here have no regard for nature or boundaries. People walked through our campsite every 5 minutes and right up to the door of our camp. I felt bad for our neighbors because the day users were constantly on their campsite. A church with day users even set up on our neighbor's campsite and started baptisms. There was music blasting all over, ice cream trucks and vendors every hour with annoying music/horns, dirty restrooms. It felt more like a circus. People even selling stuff from their cars and bugging people at their campsites to buy stuff. We watched people just throw their litter on the ground from the ice cream trucks. There were dirty diapers floating in the river. I watched one lady bring her little girl to our neighbor's campsite while they were gone and defecate on the tree...Yeah, definitely won't be coming back here. Too noisy and like a city park where day-users trespass on your site.

Amazing place they have showers and restrooms that are clean with hot water, water is dangerous and would not recommend swimming in great place would recommend