Union Flat Campground

So lucky to happen gotten a spot here! We had plenty of room with our SUV and 17' camper trailer, but we were in the largest spot available. Other spots are fairly small, some right on the river. Downieville is incredibly cute to explore. Bring your mountain bike, fishing gear, and gold panning stuff.

Had a wonderful time, a great place to spend the day, walking around and enjoying the sites.

This review is knowing that there is no water or fires allowed. #11 is by far the best site to be next to the river. on the rec.gov site it says you need to hike to campsite...this is not true, you can park at the site. All the sites are really nice and the ones along the river you can hear the water. The noise from the road was minimal. The fish were most active at dusk. We could see them jumping and tail flips but no dice. Saw a few day use groups panning for gold between sites #10 & #11. A pro tip is there is no gas station at Downieville or Sierra City. The last gas station is at the Lost Nugget until Bassets CA which is about 40 miles.

It's a nice campground if you have a good campsite. I don't recommend site 4. It's very small and the tent spot is next to a culvert. Be prepared for mosquitos they were bad. Also no cell phone service or internet. The bathroom is very dark during the day so bring a flashlight .

the local nature is great! this campground is a pos though. The experience is overall runied by, e.g.: californians in rvs/campervans with trailers full of atvs and dirt bikes, camp parties of 8+ people who bring in their own extra picnic tables, and most of the campsites that are along (and pinned against) a single dead-end dirt road. Consider the experience of a tent campter where people driving the campground looking for open spots, kick up dust, and use the road+part of your campsite (the only area not clogged up rvs/trailers/campervans&extra tables) to do a 3pt turn and kick up a ton of dust. I wish that there were stricter enforcement of rules/equipment/etc and more restrictive rules in general to make the camp enjoyable for traditional (probably considered quasi-minimalist by modern standards) woodland campers (read: not tailgate/basecamp-type campers). Not the campground's fault, but the general non-tent campers ruin this place for tent campers.