Merrill Campground

A few years ago, we were told to evacuate from our prior campground at Warner Valley in Lassen National Park due to the approaching Dixie fire. We escaped in the early evening before the whole town of Chester was next evacuated (a good thing). We then went directly (4 days early) to our next campground which was Merrill Campground. The many fires in California caused cancellations of many sites in this campground because campers could not get here from most directions. This was a wonderful campground (with full hookups) but sadly the one day we wanted to use the air conditioning it was found to have gone out. If the area wasn't so remote we would love to camp here for a couple of weeks every year. It is the best federal campground I have ever had the privilege of enjoying. As you enter the campground, the left half is first-come first-serve. The right side is reservable and grouped by utility availability. The sites closest to the lake had no hookups. The sites furthest from the lake had full hookups (and so forth). I took pictures of all the reservable sites and am posting them below so you can see what the shade is like around noon at each site. Don't forget bicycles if you have them because there is a great paved bike trail along the lake going thru this campground. I hope the attached photos help you decide which of the great campsites should be reserved and will please you the most. Some are well shaded, and others might be loved by those who want to use solar panels instead of the electrical power sites that are farthest from the lake.

Fantastic campground. Beautiful surroundings and lots of things to do. Eagle Lake is beautiful, and there is a really nice paved trail that runs alongside the lake that leaves right from the campgrounds. Facilities are clean, but lacking shower facilities. Sites are very large and spread out, so you are not right on top of your neighbors. Clean and well kept.

Great campground designed specifically for big RVs. Great mix of dry & hookup sites, as well as a large number of first come/first serve. Large dump across the road. Plenty of sunny sites with great lake views for dry camping with solar. Well managed campground. Roads in from both directions are pretty bumpy from deep road expansion seams. Very dog friendly. Dogs everywhere. Lots of clean restrooms, water spigots, and gray water dumps scattered thru campground.

Great place. Nice sites, clean restrooms, great walking and biking trails. Only problem the web site sucks. Can't book anything.

Great campground. There's a lot of space for the sites. The lake was a lot bigger than I expected. The camp hosts were very nice, and the people working in the store were full of information and fun to talk to.