Limestone Campground

Such an awesome campsite. Been coming to Kern for years but first time at Limestone this summer of 2022. Our campsite was in the perfect area between the river & where we set up our tent. Best trip ever!

Nice area right on the river. People should know that bears come into the camp at night. The USFS needs to address this. The dumpsters have plastic lids rather than metal making it easy for the bears to get in. There are no bear boxes at the campsites to store food in which attracts bears to the campsites. They are encouraging bad bear behavior by not having these basics in place. We also had a cougar in our campsite checking us out the same night. This is part of nature but families with little ones need to watch out.

We went in Late AprilIt was SUPER cold so take blankets!!It was raining also when we got there at night so be prepared for any weather :)During the day its pretty hot but when the sun starts going down it gets really cold. Theres also alot of wind since its like an air tunnel shaped.Beautiful views, and the toilets are just as described in the other reviews so be prepared. We took royal seat covers, you cant really hear your neighbors because the first few sites when u enter are pretty spaced outThe river is beautiful and sometimes people river raft with a separate place more down the mountain. I would definitely go again. Except check your routes, it gets dangerous at night going to the place if you are passing Lake Isabella, some cars go too fast that you dont see them coming... There are also cows on the roads sometimes hahaOverall great place! Id go again :)

It's first-come, first-serve. Check out is at 12pm. Other websites said the fee is $16/night but really it's $18/night. The ranger doesn't come around until 7pm. The yellow tags on the parking post tells you the checkout date. It saves you the time of treading onto other people's sites to ask them if they're leaving. The trees provided ample shade for almost every campsite (minus #1 & #2). We were originally going to stay in #6 since it had the most shade and was right above Crock Rock. But we decided last minute to switch to #13 because it was a bigger lot and offered more privacy. There was a group of college kids to the right of us and a large clan that had little tots running around to the left of us. Our site was large enough and spaced out enough that we didn't hear them during our entire stay. Throughout the three days there, the place felt really empty until you get towards the beach area (Crock Rock Swimming Hole).Crock Rock: when you enter the campground follow the road all the way down to the loop. it seems a bit rude but to get there you would have to walk downhill between sites #8 (or was it #7?). Normally along the river you're tearing the palms of your feet over sharp rocks but here you're stepping over sand. The water is calm. People fish further away from the sandy area, girls sunbathe, intoxicated college boys swim to the rock and belly flop back into the placid river. I did not realize how many people were actually staying at Limestone until I got to this swimming hole. Saying "hole" is an unflattering way to describe it since It's a pretty and spacious area. Bathrooms: there are eight bathrooms. one right off the entrance and another at the end of the loop towards the "back"/end of the campground. Typical outhouses: smelly and no lights so bring a lantern when you're taking a piss in the middle of the night. Or, just take a leak near a bush/tree by your campsite. ;)Weather: June 19-21, 2013 80s during the day, 60s at night. There was this one night where it said it was 49*f at 3am. But after that night, sleeping with a thin blanket with just the screen sufficed. Driving down mtn hwy 99 and checking out the other campgrounds, I'm glad we chose Limestone. The only real downside to this place was it not having showers.

We really liked this campground. Beautiful views and decent bathrooms! Don't forget to find Alligator rocks also, it's pretty cool to see!

This is a pretty ideal spot. We headed up that way on the weekend of April 14th, 2012. We were supposed to go up the day before on Friday, but a winter storm put the kibosh on those plans, (two of us were on motorcycles). We were actually shooting for a camping spot north of there and 2500 feet higher, but ten inches of snow covering the entrance caused us to backtrack and Limestone was the first non-snow site we came upon. And we actually discovered it by accident. (here's the secret spots). We pulled over at a turnout about 200 yards north of the actual entrance to dicuss our plan of attack when we looked down towards the river and saw some fire pits. "Well that looks cool." someone said aloud. We trudged down the hill and were sold. The river was flowing by, the trees were creating a canopy above and three flat tent spots and two trees perfectly situated for Ben's hammock made it the perfect spot. What's really neat about Limestone is the fact that it's so far from everything. After dark the stars in the sky were simply amazing and waking to the sound of the river was tranquility at it's finest. Though, we picked the worst weekend and woke up with FROST on our tents. Apparently the weekend before was gorgeous and the weekend after is expected to be in the 80's. Oh well.FYI: 3796 ft. - (35.9627, -118.4809)

A vast choice of primitive campsites on the river..... but if you stay on the road 20 minutes out of Kernville and just before the Johnsondale bridge, this is a terrific camping location. Primitive so forget about the toilets. If everyone would clean up their own trash and not leave their personal "waste"....it would be even better.

This campground was BEAUTIFUL!! There are bathrooms, but they are not the flushable kind. That was fine with me. upon arriving, took a bit longer than we thought and we weren't able to stop for firewood. John, the attendant for the summer was SO HELPFUL and brought us enough to last until we could go to the store the next day. He gave us instructions on how to get to the store, and the sights that were nearby! He was amazing. I loved the scenery and the water, while cold was a relief from the hot sunny day. I love that there was a fire pit and a table already with each camp site. I am definately going back!!

Latitude: 35.96278, Longitude: -118.48If you are looking for an ideal campsite along the Kern River, the above coordinates could as well be your perfect find.Limestone is a primitive campground with no electrical hookups or running water (be sure to bring plenty of drinking water!). We were able to squeeze eleven people and three dogs and four tents onto one campsite with more than enough room for playing catch and setting up seats around the campfire pit. We spent our days cracking open cool beers along the river's edge while fishing and hitting up the beach (Yes beach!) at this site. The nights were spent around the fire playing Catchphrase and eating s'mores and hobo dinners. The highlights of my experience here:-Early morning dips in the river to serve as showers-Finishing my Corona at the beach when a water snake swam by my leg-Checking out the 100 Giants Trail-Crazy stars at night since there's only firelight and random lanterns and flashlights-Early morning jogs along the road to catch the sunrise

Great rustic campground close to the Kern river. No running water or electricity amd no cell pjone signal. A great place to get away amd enjoy the outdoors.