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Lake Isabella / Kern River KOA

3.5 (97 reviews)

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Andria C.

Stopped here on our way to Kern. Clean campground, clean restrooms with showers. Pool was a good size and not too crowded. They had a bar connected to the camp store where you could get some food. Pizza was good and the service was great. The campers followed quiet hours and it was so nice and peaceful at night. We will definitely stop here again in the future.

Enjoying the front patio
Joanne P.

This was my first ever experience staying at a KOA property. Being from San Diego, yes, I'm aware that there are locations closer to where we live. But, I wanted to venture away from home. To explore some mountains and new sights. I did my research for this property and noticed pets are ONLY allowed in standard cabins (no bathrooms inside cabins). I even called to verify if there are certain breeds not allowed. From my understanding- no specific breeds are prohibited. But, dogs must be on a leash at all times and attended. Owners must pick up after their dogs as well. There's a dog area at the far right corner - but, we didn't utilize it. Just have your own poo bags handy. There's a small fee/ dog. I think it was $10/ day? We had two of our English bulldogs- and basically, this getaway was meant for them. Since our visit was at the tail end of winter- the pool, jacuzzi, splash pad, movie screen on the green wasn't in effect. Please note, in the standard cabin- there are no TVs inside- and I'm pretty sure the same goes for the deluxe cabins. You can go on the KOAs website for the property and view the floor plans for lodging. We enjoyed a two bedroom cabin. The front room had the queen bed, desk/ chair, coat hooks, mirrors, bench, and small shelf. Three windows. I let hubby have this bed because he sleeps with the chubby bulldog. So, I had the second room. Two sets of bunk beds, desk/ chair, bench, window, and the air/ heating units. I sleep with the not so chubby bulldog- he just likes to hog everything. With that being said- it was a tight fit for me and Bronx to sleep on a twin mattress- the first night. The second night- I just removed one of the mattresses from the bunk- plopped it on the floor. YOU WILL NEED TO BRING YOUR OWN LINENS!! And it just worked out! Each bedroom had 4 electrical outlets too. WiFi is very strong- at least in our cabin- 47. It was a good sized porch out front. Porch swing on one side and a bench on the other. Our dogs were tethered. A full size lunch bench/ table and a fire pit is set up at every cabin/ rv/ tent site. With more additional picnic sites on the property. Right next to the office/ store/ pub- there's the Kamping Kitchen. There are 3 stations of stove burners/ sinks. If you look close enough- there's a microwave. This area is well lit all night. I was pretty impressed at how clean and spacious the women's bathroom facilities are. On our day of checkout- we left a few hours before the office opened. And we just dropped our cabin key in the gold mail slot at the office door. One mile away is the James Sierra Gateway Market & Gas station. There is also a VONS 10 miles past this.

No poop bags means poop isn't going to get picked up.
Rob V.

Let me start by saying Stephanie and Sierra are the best. They were such amazing hosts and very helpful. The pizza pub has delicious food and beer. The campground in general looks shabby. The cabins look wonderful. But the individual sites and the area around the sites aren't attractive. The whole place is dirt. Dirt roads and dirt camp sites. This creates a lot of dust and dirt on everything. The electricity and water worked well, but drinking the water is not recommended due to high nitrate levels. The swimming pool area is tidy, nice, and the water is a cool temperature, which I like, but the water is foggy. The hosts tell me this is because of the chlorine they use. The men's bathroom/showers are being renovated, so that was a bit of a headache, but kudos for making improvements. It advertises a dog area, there is, but it looks like no one cleans it, or cares for it, EVER! I picked up A LOT of dried out poop before I allowed my dogs in. The roads and campsites had bits of garbage all over the place. I cleaned about a dozen plastic water bottle caps from my site. These might sound like nitpicking, but the little things make a big difference. The many trees in the campground are beautiful. The dead or broken trees and stumps need to be replaced because it adds to the shabby look. Big, beautiful shade trees are much appreciated during the hot hot summer time. Right next door, on the other side of a chain-link fence, it looks like there's a junk yard. This adds to the shabby look. And takes away from the natural beauty surrounding the place. Maybe put up a non transparent fence or wall to help improve. Finally, the campsites are packed tight like sardines. You are so close to the people in the next campsite that there is no privacy. Although, you do get to eavesdrop on some interesting conversations. I will not be staying here again, but I will stop in to the pizza pub for the food and to chitchat with Stephanie and Sierra again.

Jamie S.

We just stayed here over the weekend, and though it was quite a drive for us, we really enjoyed it. Among the KOAs we have been in California, this has been the nicest we've stayed in so far for its location. The one thing that stands out to me was the customer service. The Cushmans (the owners I believe) are so extremely customer-oriented. I had a couple of things that needed to sort out about our reservations and they were very quick to respond. We also had very troublesome neighbors at T27 and when I emailed them about it, they were apologetic and sought to find resolution. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 1.We really enjoyed the fact that we had such a huge tent site. We were able to fit three tents for five adults, and still have a lot of space. If you could, try to get T26 site. It also had a good amount of shade, so our area didn't get hot. 2. Somehow, you will be awakened by loud bird noises. I have no idea what they are, but during the weekend I have been awakened at 5:30 am every time. It's almost as if all the birds are in sync to wake up everyone. BRING EAR PLUGS! lol We will definitely come back the next time we want to explore Kern River

Tara W.

Wow, what a fun few days!!! The world is shut down and we were able to come up here and use a full hookup social distance site. We can't wait to come back when the whole site is open. The time here was so sweet and peaceful. We were so grateful for the site host who took great care of us!! Mike was so attentive and was doing a one man show taking care of the site all by himself. We were just grateful to have the opportunity to get to get away. He said the owners just love this place and can't wait till they get to get it completely open again!!!

LA R.

I camped here by myself, and felt comfortable and at home. I loved the pool, and the hosts were very nice. The cowboy decor is great and the location is ideal, whether you are on a roadtrip or coming to the area to see the lake/ river/ sequoias

This was our first camping experience and it was enjoyable.

This was our first camping experience in our new travel trailer and was enjoyable. The bathrooms and showers were clean. The staff was friendly as well. We met three very nice couples- one was from a small island off Aruba, another was from the San Fernando Valley and the third was from central California. We learned that we needed to do a better job of organizing things we won't use all the time to make room for things we will use more often. It was a great learning experience for our first time camping.

a lot of stars and a beautiful wooden house

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Ask the Community - Lake Isabella / Kern River KOA

Are there electrical outlets in standard cabins?

Yes

Do only locals go here to use the pool?

I doubt it as everyone gets a wristband upon check-in. You need the wristband to swim in the pool.

How close is the KIA from lake Isabella?

The KOA, teehee, is about 3 miles from the lake. The lake is pretty sad looking these days though. It's VERY LOW. :(

Any good hiking trails nearby the campsite?

There might be, but I didn't investigate as it was in the 90's and 100'sF. Not good hiking weather.

Are the dry tent near the river or is it pretty distant?

The river is no where near this campground. To get to the river we traveled about 20 minutes into Kernville.

Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

Review Highlights - Lake Isabella / Kern River KOA

Since our visit was at the tail end of winter- the pool, jacuzzi, splash pad, movie screen on the green wasn't in effect.

Mentioned in 17 reviews

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Hospital Flats Campground - Site 19 Hospital Flat Campground Burned

Hospital Flats Campground

4.3(9 reviews)
6.9 mi

We've raised our 3 children camping at this campground every year for about 26 years. site 19 was…read moreour goto site. We even held a family reunion here! With only about 40 showing up. We have such fond and wonderful memories here, from "our swim spot", jumping off rocks into the river, tubing, rafting and fishing all over the place. We used to stay for 5 or 6 nights. We hadn't gone up in about 3 years (kids all grown up with jobs and babies now) so we decided just the wife and I would go up this last weekend for a 3 night stay. We got our site 19 as usual. We were so excited to see our "home away from home" with the massive trees providing shade over the site and the little beach area. It was a disaster zone! The flood last year took out part of the campsite and ripped out many trees, left the little sandy beach all rocky. Then to top it off sometime since the flood, it appears as though Site 19 was ground 0 for a fire that burned out a lot of the trees. There's minimal shade now. It was heartbreaking to see. But nature will nature, it will grow back! Fire and floods can drastically change a landscape, but it can't erase all those great memories. We will still return to this campground next year with the kids and the grandbabies to continue the family tradition!!

This was our second year camping at this campground. We brought the entire family this time around…read more I reserved campsites 6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12 for three days and two nights. We used campsites 11 and 12 just for parking because we couldn't pitch the tents due to all the rocks. All the campsites we're clean when we arrived. The porta potties were clean and even when it got hot they did not smell. The weather was perfect (80 degrees) and we spent most of our day in the river having fun. We're looking forward to going back next year.

Photos
Hospital Flats Campground - Still a great view of Kern River from Site 19 at Hospital Flat Campground.

Still a great view of Kern River from Site 19 at Hospital Flat Campground.

Hospital Flats Campground - Flood in 2023 washed away sand and left it very rocky on Site 19

Flood in 2023 washed away sand and left it very rocky on Site 19

Hospital Flats Campground - Little Sandy beach is now very rocky with little shade on Site 19.

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Little Sandy beach is now very rocky with little shade on Site 19.

Tillie Creek Campground - Site 19, full of shade!

Tillie Creek Campground

3.6(14 reviews)
7.2 mi

May, 2024. We stayed one night at this campground mid-week in our Class B RV after having made…read morereservations on Recreation.gov. Finding the campground (Rating: 1/5). We had had a LONG driving day, it was getting dark, and we were not familiar with the Lake Isabella area. We passed several National Sequoia Forest campgrounds on the lake that had vacancies but Tillie Creek was still further along -- and required navigating a curvy road where the speed limit and driving by locals was too fast for conditions. When our GPS reported that we had reached, we didn't see any signage that a campground was there so we mistakenly missed it. However, we then noticed picnic tables and fire rings that were suggestive of the campground so we turned back and found the campground. Finding a site. (Rating: 4/5). Being mid-week, almost ALL of the sites were available but most had tags that they were reserved for the weekend. We selected a fairly level site -- and were soon joined by the camp host who checked us in and gave us our car tag. He also warned us to be careful because there were rattlesnakes in the area. We only saw a bunny! It turned out that only the camp host, another rv, and us were the only ones on-site for the night. It also turned out that our selected site (#18) wasn't ideal because there was early morning traffic noise. This campground does not offer showers, but it does have restrooms and water spigots. Also note that one section of the campground isn't being maintained -- beyond where Tillie Creek had flooded. Also, to our knowledge, the lake is not easily accessible from the campground.

Stayed at this campground over the weekend. The campground is very pleasant, quiet, and has many…read moredifferent sites available. We chose a site in a grove of trees and it's been amazing have shade throughout the entire day. The campground isn't perfect, we were lost when we first came in, went up the road to some mobile homes and then finally when we reached the campground it looked slightly abandoned. The booth where you check in was abandoned, in disrepair and full of cobwebs, a playground was full of empty frames of where swings and stuff should be, and like I mentioned before looked empty. We eventually found the camp host who was very pleasant and helpful though and were given the choice to pick any site we wanted. About an hour from Sequoia's trail of 100 giants and a few minutes from the French Gulge Marina where we rented some kayaks. Only real downside was there were a lot of wasps at our campsite when we tried to prepare food and no showers on site either. Toilets are basically outhouses but were kept clean. All in all had a good weekend away here.

Photos
Tillie Creek Campground - Campsite #18 (I think!)

Campsite #18 (I think!)

Tillie Creek Campground - Empty of campers Thanksgiving week, but the toilets are still being cleaned!

Empty of campers Thanksgiving week, but the toilets are still being cleaned!

Tillie Creek Campground - Houses across from the group sites...good is you have a few dozen ppl.

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Houses across from the group sites...good is you have a few dozen ppl.

KRS at Camp James - Illegally smuggled pittbull

KRS at Camp James

3.6(277 reviews)
8.6 mi

We attempted to stay at this campground last night, but we never even made it to check‑in because…read moreof how difficult the interaction with the host/manager was. We were originally told it was fine for part of our group to arrive later, which we appreciated, but everything changed once we got there. The host spoke to us like we were children rather than adults (I'm almost 40 yrs old) trying to follow the rules. She kept lecturing us about policies, yet she wasn't enforcing them consistently. The real issue came when the rest of our group--who was running later than expected--was told they would have to turn around and go home because walking in with backpacks after dark would "disturb people." Mind you the River in the background mostly drowned out our conversation with her at the time. We tried to understand how this made sense when campers regularly leave for dinner or drinks and return later, but she refused to have a real conversation. Instead, she canceled the reservation on the spot and accused us of being "difficult." At that point, we were never even allowed to check in. All we wanted was clarity on the rules, because what was written and what was being enforced didn't match. It's hard to imagine enjoying this location when the campground host seems more focused on rigid control than hospitality. A little reasonableness and communication would have made all the difference. Still not clear on if my refund went through. Smh.

Love this place clean well maintained. The campers are families or more just safe friendly people I…read morefeel safe for my kids to roam around all the time. Been there for 5 years in a row for Spring break. My kids never want to leave. I just wish they would fix the volleyball courts that was promised 2 years ago. Love the staff!

Photos
KRS at Camp James
KRS at Camp James
KRS at Camp James - View of flipped trash cans on another day and trash spread by bears.

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View of flipped trash cans on another day and trash spread by bears.

Lake Isabella / Kern River KOA - campgrounds - Updated May 2026

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