Sage Flat Campground Inyo National Forest California
Sage Flat Overview
Sage Flat Campground has 28 single-family campsites along Big Pine Creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. The campground is first-come first-serve (no reservations) and is located at an elevation of 7,400 feet. Tall Jeffrey Pine, aspen and cottonwood trees provide nice shade to most campsites. Campground amenities include drinking water and vault toilets. Each campsite also has a table, fire ring, grill and food storage locker.
Above the campground in Big Pine Canyon, the creek flows into a series of impressive glacial lakes in the North Fork Basin. These turquoise lakes sit at the eastern base of the steep Sierra Nevada at around 10,000 feet elevation. The Palisade Crest rises more than 14,000 feet.
In addition to incredible hiking and backpacking, there’s also great fishing in the creek. And you can’t beat the stargazing and wildlife viewing.
Other campgrounds in the area include Big Pine Creek and Upper Sage Flat campground.
Reservations:
First Come, First Served
Amenities
- BBQ Grills
- Campsite Tables
- Comfort Station
- Drinking Water
- Fire Pit
- Fire Rings
- Firewood Available
- Food Storage Locker
- Golden Age & Access Passports accepted
- Grills
- Pets OK
- Picnic Tables
- Restrooms (Vault Toilets)
Activities
- Backpacking
- Biking
- Bird Watching
- Climbing
- Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Mountain Biking
- Nature Trails
- Photography
- Picnicking
- Stargazing
- Walking Trails
- Wildlife Viewing
Big Pine, California 93513
760 935-4339
Lat / Long:
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Campsite Types
- ADA
- RV
- Tent
- Trailer
# of Campsites:
28
Season:
Mid May – Mid October
Elevation:
7,400
Sage Flat Comments & Reviews
Visited Sage Flat Campground lately? We'd love to hear about your adventure. Did you find us useful? Did we forget something? Anything our community should know before heading out to Sage Flat?
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WE CAMP AT SAGE FLAT EVERY YEAR…..JUST CHECKING TO SEE IF WE ARE STILL AGO……….WE WILL BE THERE JULY 21 ST…….HOPE YOU REMAIN OPEN…………LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU. JIM AND CHARLOTTE BEALE
Hi Charlotte,
Sage Flat campground is open! It’s first-come, first-serve and will be popular so hopefully you’ll arrive earlier in the day on July 21. Have fun!
Hello ranger,
Wanting to come up to sage flat/ or upper sage flat week of june 13 or week after. Could you give us any advice on best days, availability, since first come first served? Also would be interested in sites 14-16 as site says their the nicest!
Thankyou!
Hi Brenda,
Sage Flat and Upper Sage Flat campgrounds are popular. I checked and Upper Sage Flat is pretty much sold out (just a few random dates the week of June 13). I suspect you may have some luck with Sage flat with a mid week arrival (Sunday PM through Thursday AM). Not sure about sites #14 and #16, but there should be a handful available. Try to arrive in the morning and if sold out you can check the campsites to see if anyone is leaving that day. Best of luck and have fun!
Hi Camp Ranger,
We were told about this awesome campground by a friend. We plan on driving up Thursday morning July 23rd and staying the weekend. It seems like a big risk to drive 5 hrs with the family and hope there is an open site. What do you think my chances are?
Hi Rudy,
Great question. Sage Flat campground is first-come, first-serve and is popular around the weekends. Normally I’d say your chances were fair to good with a Thursday morning arrival, but with all this Covid-Cabin fever going on – we’re hearing that more campgrounds are filling up midweek. With that said – I still think you’ll have a pretty good shot at getting a site. Best of luck.
Hi Camp Ranger,
I was wondering if there is a phone number that I can use to speak to someone in the Sage Flat campground? I tried a few numbers I found online but no one picks up each time I have called.
Thanks!
Hi Camper,
Unfortunately a lot of the numbers listed from campgrounds don’t get answered. They usually route to a district office location. The two phone numbers we have for Sage Flat are 760 873-2400 and 760 935-4339. I tried both, and no luck. Hopefully someone will pick up if you call again.
I’m hoping to stop by Sage Flat & stay on Saturday night to break up a long drive to another campground. How early would you recommend for us to arrive? Do you think it’s possible that there will still be a campground open?
Hi Lisa,
It’ll be a long shot to try and get a first-come, first-serve site at Sage Flat for a Saturday arrival. Upper Sage Flat is completely sold out through the weekend (and rest of the month), and Sage Flat will be as popular.
Hi Camp Ranger,
I’ll be arriving Thursday afternoon, 09/03/20, what do you think my chances are for first come first serve? If I were to come back early Friday morning, do you think I’ll have a chance for first come first serve?
Thanks!
Hi Stephen,
Your chances are ‘good’ of getting a first-come first-serve campsite at Sage Flat with a Thursday arrival (hopefully no later than mid afternoon). By Thursday night (after 6pm), I would anticipate the campground may be pretty close to full. Friday morning may have a few sites still available, but not sure if I’d risk it since it is Labor Day weekend.
How busy is it mid October? How many people per site?
You can have up to 2 vehicles and 6 person per site at Sage Flat campground. Mid October should be fairly open, but weekends still tend to get a little busy. Still, you should be able to get a campsite with Friday late morning arrival.
Hi, we are planning to come up and camp next week on 9/16 and stay through 9/20. Is the campground open?
Hi Dwayne,
Unfortunately Sage Flat campground is temporarily closed due to extreme fire conditions. There are no fires in the area, but the US Forest Service has closed all campgrounds and trails throughout the Sierra Nevada (all National Forests). There is not reopen date, but it’ll be at least another week . . . if not longer.
OK, thanks. We’ll check back with you in a couple of weeks to see if conditions have improved and opened back up.
Hello, is Sage Flat open now. Or is it closed for the season?
Just FYI, there are no flush toilets, just vault. Also, site picture for # 26 is actually #28.
Thanks Martin!
We will get that corrected on the Sage Flat campground page.