Buckeye Flat Campground
★4.5(106 reviews)
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks · Three Rivers, California🌊River Access🏔️Mountain ViewsForest Setting
Best For
Tent campers who want a low-elevation foothill setting with more intimacy and shade than Potwisha, and who don't need RV access. The 22-foot max vehicle limit enforces the tent-only character — bring a car-camping setup and enjoy the oaks.
28
Sites
No
Hookups
Buckeye Flat is a tent-only, 28-site campground perched above the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River at 2,800 feet, shaded by large Live Oaks — a genuinely lovely foothill setting that is meaningfully different from the high-elevation pine forest of Lodgepole or the sequoia groves. It scores 4.5 on 106 reviews, tied for the highest rating among campgrounds with substantial review counts, which reflects the quality of the experience relative to the foothill tier. No booking window data is available to identify easy months, and Very High demand every day of the week means this smaller campground competes fiercely. Its tent-only, 22-foot max vehicle limit means the competition is at least limited to the tent-camping audience.
Content from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks park guide
June through August is peak season with 4,000+ reservations per month at Lodgepole alone and zero site-nights currently available park-wide — if you must go in summer, target Crystal Springs (CA) for walk-up availability or Sentinel for its unusually high 44.5% July last-minute rate. October is the best shoulder-season bet: Azalea shows 35.9% last-minute availability across 1,036 October reservations, and Potwisha remains open year-round for winter visits with 59.3% last-minute fill in December. Avoid September for advance planning — it's the hardest month to book both Potwisha and Azalea, with each showing only 0.3% of reservations planned 6+ months out.
The free NPS shuttle operates seasonally in the Giant Forest and Grant Grove areas and is highly recommended — parking at popular trailheads fills by mid-morning on summer weekends. Private vehicles are required to reach Cedar Grove (Kings Canyon Scenic Byway), Mineral King (a narrow, mostly unpaved 25-mile spur off Highway 198), and the South Fork area. The Mineral King Road is explicitly not recommended for RVs and trailers, and vehicles over 22 feet should avoid it entirely — plan for a 90-minute drive each way from Three Rivers. Cedar Grove Road closes in winter, so Sentinel, Sheep Creek, Moraine, and Canyon View are inaccessible outside the summer season.
Address
Three Rivers, California
Coordinates
36.5211, -118.7626
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
/246864_9b9ec7a4-8402-428d-ab3d-ac8ee499bc77.jpeg)
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Get instant notifications when campsites become available at Buckeye Flat Campground. Never miss a cancellation again.
Available on iOS and Android
The park entrance fee is $35 per vehicle, valid for 7 days, covering both Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Nightly camping fees vary by campground — frontcountry sites generally run $22–$35 per night depending on campground and site type. The America the Beautiful Annual Pass ($80) covers the entrance fee for the pass holder's vehicle and is worth purchasing if you're visiting two or more national parks in a year. There are no electrical hookups at any campground in the park, and no hookup surcharges apply.
The 14-day maximum stay applies to nearly every campground in the park — Wolverton Stock is the exception at 7 days. Bears are actively present throughout the park and food storage in bear canisters or bear boxes is required; improper food storage is the leading cause of citation and can result in campsite eviction. Three Rivers, California is the nearest town for fuel, groceries, and supplies before entering via the Highway 198 entrance — stock up there, as in-park options are limited to a small market at Lodgepole. Cell service is unreliable to nonexistent throughout most of the park, so download offline maps and park information before you arrive.