Brightman Flat Campground

I stayed at this campground of or two nights in the summer of 2020. This review is based on the facilities and staff, not things regarding the forest itself, which is decimated by a wildfire two years ago thanks to the United States Florist Circus. The campground is located directly off of Highway 108. There are two parts to the camp (East and West). Total there are probably only 20-25 sites. It’s not a large camp. Cost was $19 a night. The roads are entirely dirt, but in better condition than most paved roads up here. However they still need to clean up and made some repairs after the forest fire. The sites are generally well spaced out (at least on the western side). In my case the site was set up in a way that I couldn’t even see my neighbors, although I could see highway. For me, being isolated from others is great. The only problem with the layout was the huge number of people driving into my site thinking it was a through road. There is NO running water here. Bring water; this is dry camping. The bathrooms are put toilets, but were surprisingly very clean thanks to the staff. Speaking of staff, I saw them once in 48 hours. Apparently the hosts don’t camp at this camp, but 10 minutes down the highway. They come around once a day to clean bathrooms. They never drive past my camp and never checked to see if I paid. You could probably get by without paying because the staff is not paying attention. and you wonder why Dodge Ridge Corp is teetering in bankruptcy. All in all a good campground for my purposes. It would have been five stars with running water and a little more attention to clean up post forest fire.

This campground is relatively pretty, sitting up the bank from a gorgeous stretch of the Middle Fork Stan. Some of the following remarks have nothing to do with what nature has gifted us, but instead what campers are doing to this area. There is a startling amount of garbage strewn along the river banks and even in the river. I filled up a duffle bag with bottles, cans, single serve packages, fishing line and lures, etc, each of the two days we fished the half mile span. I'm really interested in what goes on in the human mind after a Red Bull or a packaged Rice Crispy Treat is consumed in such a beautiful area and instead of finding a open pocket, the more appealing option is to drop the used item on top of Spanish Broom or a granite boulder. The flyfishing itself was surprisingly solid right around the campground and a quarter mile either way. Good size browns and rainbows -- probably recently stocked. The campground seems to be overrun with Yellowjacket nests in the ground about every 50 feet. It was spectacular. Perhaps it was the particular time of year (Late Sept), but we could barely cook without the YJs hammering our food first. They even dove into the half & half carton, which I discovered next morning as I poured them out into my coffee. Mmmmm, mmmm, buzzzzzz, mmmmm. Although I love this stretch of the river with the gorgeous boulders and pocket water, the only way I'd return to this campground is for community service to try and put a dent in the garbage problem. Perhaps Dodge Ridge Corp. can think of some more effective ways to enforce no littering.

Very nice and clean camping ground. The views of the mountains and the stream running in between is great. You could catch some fish. The couple that run this place are good people.

Very nice relaxing place by the river we come here twice a year love it.

Camp here all the time during the week and it is very nice. As with any campground try to avoid the weekends as you get all the rude and noisy people showing up. The price is right at $15 a night and during the summer months water is available at the Brightman Ranger station about a mile past the campground. The most of the sites are well separated from each other and can accommodate trailers up to 30 ft with some sites on the east side taking much larger trailers. The west side I would avoid if you are over 25 ft.

Always have a great time there. Been going every Memorial Day Holiday for 11 years