Lewis At French Meadows Campground, Foresthill, CA

Lewis At French Meadows Campground is located in the American River Ranger District, Tahoe National Forest (3 hrs 31 min west of Carson City, NV) with an elevation of 5,277 feet. There are a total of 39 campsites. The campground is normally open from mid May to the end of September. Sites can accommodate RVs and trailers between 22 and 50 feet. All sites are currently reservable. Reservations can be booked up to 6 months in advance. There is a fee of $20.00 per night. Some amenities include swimming, flush toilets. Activities include biking, boating, fishing, hiking trails, floating sports.

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Campsite Reviews (37)

4.2 out of 5

5 star		46%
4 star		38%
3 star		11%
2 star		0%
1 star		5%

@LemiT368AD150D · Camped on Aug 10, 2024 at Campsite #10

Lovely and great campsite! The only thing you should know is that the lake can be quite dried up in certain seasons, so plan to walk awhile or drive to where the water is. But beautiful and very nice and often not very busy :)

@PatriciaC59210 · Camped on Aug 2, 2024 at Campsite #13

We had a pleasant camping experience. Our campsite was close to the bathroom, trash bin, and water spigot, #11. With kids in tow that was important. Of course we could get sporadic gusts of wind that reminded us we were close to the bathrooms :) The bathrooms did run out of toilet paper. Thankfully we brought our own to use. Campsite's were spacious but not all the tent areas were flat. Our sleeping bags were sliding off the cots all night because of the angle. The campsite was a bit of a drive to the water area, and you could unload your beach gear at the boat launch area but then had to park the car up the hill and walk back down. The Lewis campground side of the reservoir was all rocks, no sand. Not a fun area for the kids to play in. And you couldnt let the kids play on the flat boat launch area for safety reasons of course. The park rangers told our kids they had to be 30 yards from the boat launch area. But having to walk 30 yards over rocks and boulders is not easy. If you wanted a sandy beach I guess you had to drive around to the French Meadows campground area. It was also very windy so we couldnt put up an umbrella. Not sure if it was just that day or if its windy all the time. Besides the rocky beach, and the wind, Lewis at French Meadows was a nice place to camp for the weekend.

@JoseLM1E538FCB · Camped on Jul 27, 2024 at Campsite #30

What a beautiful camping area. I was afraid it was going to be bad on my way there. There was a huge fire that took everything out driving up. This campsite luckily survived. There are bathrooms with running water, but when I was there they had water issues. The alternative bathrooms were great and clean though. The staff came regularly to clean and stock the bathrooms. They took the trash every morning. The lake is beautiful, but you should drive to the boat launch down the road for more water. There is parking there. All in all I loved this place. I will definitely come back.

@JacobS9807253 · Camped on Jun 21, 2024 at Campsite #37

Great spot close to the water. Facilities were well maintained. Bring bug spray in the Summer for mosquitoes.

@NohemyB0BDC1A8 · Camped on Jun 14, 2024 at Campsite #12

Great, secluded campground! This is a great location if youre trying to have a laid back trip. Quick access to lake across a road with little to no traffic where you can kayak/fish but theres not much of a beach to hangout at. Bathrooms were clean and well stocked. Our location unfortunately would get whiffs of pit toilet aroma every once in a while though. This site is a little uneven but we found enough flat ground for our 4 person tent, anything bigger might be tough. Definitely stock up on everything you might need in Auburn or Forresthill before heading any further!

@KellyM9992231 · Camped on Sep 15, 2023 at Campsite #36

Campsite was very clean, private and quiet. The McGuire trail is a great hike and close by. The lake is a short walk from the campsite. The drive to the campground is tricky due to road closures but is a temporary situation. Will be back!

@AnthonyoF2A97F · Camped on Jul 21, 2023 at Campsite #7

Amazing place. Campsite is very clean and lake is absolutely beautiful!!! Will be back !!!

@KatKE93514446E · Camped on Jul 15, 2023 at Campsite #37

Very beautiful lake and not crowded which is rare for the summary time. The campsite had everything you'd need. Only call out is that you have to take a dirt road to get here because of some detour which I was unprepared for.

@JasonM3591902 · Camped on Jul 14, 2023 at Campsite #5

Awesome spot

@SheenaT94D0DAA · Camped on Jul 6, 2023 at Campsite #11

Beautiful. Deeper and a bit more remote than places I usually camp. You have to drive 45 minutes for phone reception, and further for a store, so gas up and bring plenty of ice. The lake was high and the shoreline was very small with trees submerged but we still found a beautiful spot to bhang and swim easy walking from the campsite. Nice hosts, seemed new.

@ColleenO90F1CA · Camped on Jul 1, 2023 at Campsite #28

Lovely campground, proximity to reservoirs is great, found a couple of nice hikes close by and some nice quiet spots to enjoy the water. Our campground was in full sun for the hottest parts of the day so we would pick a different site next time (35, 36, 16 looked great, 38, 39, 6 were ok, 17 would be our backup). Facilities were clean and well placed.

@KellyR2232633 · Camped on Jul 29, 2022 at Campsite #14

Campsite was clean and well-kept. Lots of down timber that we ended up using for firewood. Bathrooms were in good shape and there were plenty of water faucets with clean drinking water. Fire pits were good with adjustible grills for cooking. First itme experience, we were going to take the Jeep 4-wheeling in the area but didn't have a lot of gas left after the 2+ hour drive from Foresthill.

@MichaelP381919 · Camped on Jul 20, 2022 at Campsite #40

Its alot better than the other campground. The river winds its way into the lake here with ample boulders to jump off & explore. Great kayaking or float tubes. It was near empty mid week. The camp host keeps campsites and restrooms very clean

@AndrewH3730305 · Camped on Jul 14, 2022 at Campsite #35

Beautiful campground. Even has flushing toilets. Only thing to be aware of is the site sizes are slightly off and cannot accommodate trailers in all the sites.

@DavidF8210922 · Camped on Jun 23, 2022 at Campsite #30

The French Meadows recreation area, the American River, and Granite Chief Wilderness are one of California's hidden gems. Great beauty, remote wilderness, butterflies, massive trees and ferns, river flows swollen with snow melt, an immense reservoir with clear cold water and a generally lay back vibe. There are plenty of camping sites in this zone, and they're often quite beautiful, most of them require reservations, but some are first-come. This site was great. But I'm giving the overall experience four instead of five stars because of the loud, lewd, and obnoxious behavior of the fully adult campers next to our site. Note to camp host: why post 10pm noise ordinance if there's no enforcement? Notw to fellow campers: why come to the wilderness only to spoil it for others?

@MikeS6104174 · Camped on May 29, 2022 at Campsite #30

First time to this campground and I really liked it. It is pretty remote and quite the drive to reach the area but it's beautiful and worth the effort. I did have a somewhat unpleasant experience when I got there as our site that I reserved had people in it. They had been there the day before and decided to stay longer and didn't bother to tell anyone. When I spoke to the campground host he didn't even know I had a reservation, he didn't have updated information. Fortunately, we grabbed another site that was not occupied and it was actually way better then what I reserved but still a little annoying that no one is really monitoring it. Either way, it's a beautiful campground with great access to the lake. Our site was very big and had pretty good privacy.

@LindaR3889509 · Camped on Aug 13, 2021 at Campsite #17

Quite place to camp. The campgrounds have lots of cut down trees and haven't been cleared. The water is really far from the campground and you have to pay to park in addition to paying to camp.

@LindaR610 · Camped on Aug 13, 2021 at Campsite #17

Quite place to camp. The campgrounds have lots of cut down trees and haven't been cleared. The water is really far from the campground and you have to pay to park in addition to paying to camp.

@KennethP446 · Camped on Jul 23, 2021 at Campsite #8

Great place, nice facilities. The winding road you take to get there can make your passengers motion sick so habe your party take some dramamine if they are prone to motion sickness prior to making the drive.

@KennethP699928 · Camped on Jul 23, 2021 at Campsite #8

@MichaelM541440 · Camped on Jul 1, 2021 at Campsite #35

There was a terrible wind storm during the winter and dozens of trees are knocked down. Last year, the forest service cleared brush and cut down trees so the campgrounds are very open. Also, this year the water level in the reservoir is the lowest I have seen in 20 years of going. I will not be back for another 5 years in hopes things will grow back.

@MichaelM122 · Camped on Jul 1, 2021 at Campsite #35

@GrantW315 · Camped on Jun 11, 2021 at Campsite #14

We love going to French Meadows. The campgrounds are clean and well kept. We took a day and explored Granite Chief Wilderness, a must see if you go to French Meadows.

@GrantW6523152 · Camped on Jun 11, 2021 at Campsite #14

We love going to French Meadows. The campgrounds are clean and well kept. We took a day and explored Granite Chief Wilderness, a must see if you go to French Meadows.

@AndresA9487303 · Camped on Jun 6, 2021 at Campsite #16

French Meadows is our number one place for camping. Great place to get away for the weekend or weekdays. Places to hike, fish and enjoy nature.

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