Camp Far West Phone Number (530) 633-0803
Camp Far West Reservoir also called Camp Far West Lake, is located at the junction of Placer, Nevada and Yuba counties. Both Beale Air Force Base and the Spenceville Wildlife Area lay directly to the north of the lake. The lake’s location makes it easily accessible by coming from Nevada City, Grass Valley and Western Nevada County along with Sacramento, Roseville or the Yuba City/Marysville area.
Camp Far West’s 185 foot high earth and rock dam was completed in 1963 as part of the Central Valley Water Project impounding water from both the Bear River and Rock Creek. The dam was built for the purpose of flood control and irrigation, but has proven to be a boon for anglers and recreational boaters in the years since.
Camp Far West is situated at an elevation of 280 feet. It is a fairly large lake, impounding 104,500 acre feet of water when at full capacity with a surface area of 2,000 acres and 29 miles of shoreline. The lake got its name from a gold rush era immigrant camp that was located just downstream from the present day dam site. Since it was the last camp on the immigrant trail before the 49ers coming from the east reached the Sacramento Valley, it was dubbed, Camp Far West.
In the spring when the lake is full, the hills are green and the oak trees lining the shoreline are covered with budding leaves, the lake is quite beautiful. In the fall when the water level is drawn down 60 feet or more, the grass is parched and the leaves have fallen, the visual impact isn’t quite as awe inspiring, but the camping and recreation can be just as good as it is early in the year, plus crowds are typically very light during the fall.
Fishes in the lake include largemouth and smallmouth bass, black bass, crappie, catfish, brown trout and striped bass.
Availability: The North Shore is open year-around. The South Shore is open mid-May to September.
Camping and Lodging: Camping facilities and a store are available at the lake. There are 70 campsites on the North Shore and 8 RV hookups. There are 67 campsites on the South Shore and no RV hookups.
Boat Launching: The North Shore and South Shore each has a boat launch ramp and mini marts. The mini marts also include tackle and bait.
Activities: Swimming, boating, water skiing, jet skiing, hiking, biking, fishing and horseback riding
Reservations and Fees: Camp Far West Lake (916) 408-5037 or (530) 633-0803
Their Website: Camp Far West Lake
Sounds like they need security there…wont be going there.
I love camp far i bring my family there 2 times a year and always have a great time. Sorry one person had a bad experience could have happend at any place…i think its a great spot with great fishing
I just discovered the lake earlier driving by on google maps and despite all the bad comments I’m going to try camping there I’ll check back in a few weeks to let everyone know how it goes
Camping here is fun and sometimes there can be some a-holes that keep you and your fam up all night listening to them puke and scream. But if you like to fish, swim, boat and be able to consume alcoholic beverages (with out being cited), this lake is great!! My family has had several fun trips out to this lake and only a few bad ones, not enough to keep us away. And they have beefed up security because I lit off a signal flare because our neighbors were lighting off fireworks and security showed up immediately!! Cat fishing at night is a blast!!
Look- Live Free Or Die !
There needs to be a place for the idiots to get together. As long as we all have fun then let live. Or go to another beach. Quit whining!
I was laughing at some of the fools acting like that but really- No gun shots- So it’s a good day.
Kidding.
Whatever!
I’VE BEEN TO CAMP FAR WEST QUITE ALOT. BOATING AND NOT BOATING. I LIKE IT. ONLY THING THAT I DONT LIKE IS THAT THERES REALLY NO SHADE. BUT ITS VERY EMPTY TO BOAT AND WEN IT ISNT EMPTY, THERES STILL QUITE ALOT OF ROOM TO HAVE FUN WHILE BOATING. I’M NOT SURE ABOUT ANONYMOUS BUT WEN MY BROS AND FRIENDS WENT THERE TO CAMP AND THERE WERE QUITE ALOT OF US BEING LOUD. WE WERE TOLD TO KEEP IT DOWN. SO THE SECURITY IS ENFORCING THE RULES. I HAVE BEEN BOATING THERE SINCE 08. FOR HOT DAYS THAT I WANNA BE NEAR HOME, I’D DEFINATELY GO THERE AGAIN :D
To anonymous on August 11th. If after the first night you had such a terrible, fearfull time, why did you stay the second night? You don’t make sense.
I would like to hear from someone who had a good time at the lake, fishing, swimming. With 27 miles of shoreline, there must be nice places to go.
It is kinda sad you have nothing better to do then leave 7 diffrent comments sorry for youur bad experiance but mine has been wonderful there and if you read the brochure you would know there ARE NO showers at the facility so how could they tell you where they are and for selling to minors did you check the IDs I am sure not and it is a wrong accusastion that could be used against you
My husband and I stayed at Camp Far West a couple weekends ago with another family and their three year old: what a disaster! It was a Saturday night, and we were surrounded by underaged partiers who felt it necessary to drive drunk and get into fist fights and swearing contests. It was like camping in the Jerry Springer audience! When we made a complaint after our tent was almost run over, the security guard came by after 45 minutes. It was now midnight, and the campers were getting so raucous and dangerous, that we had to call the Sheriff as the guard could do nothing. The next morning we requested our money back and found that the personnell just shrugged everything off saying “that’s just camping”. We also noted that the kids were buying beer from the Camp Far West store with fake i.d.’s. The staff at the store again said, “well, they had i.d.’s…we had to sell to them”. I’m sure the ABC would love this.
We went camping as a family with our 3 young children. We were kept awake all night with people screaming at each other, cursing and someone even threw up RIGHT outside our tent! NOT a family camping site! Try Rollins Lake. They have fishing, a sandy beach for swimming, they even have a water slide going into the lake and they DO reinforce “quiet time”.
The “help” here is simply lazy and stupid. No one knew where our camp was, how to get to it, where the shower was, what time was quiet time ( that’s a joke), etc. What a horrible camp
If you are 18-24, unemployed, drink to excess, love to shout, fight, scream at your girlfriends/wives, have no respect for others, use drugs, scream “fu**” or “fuc**r” every 3rd word, this place is YOU.
I called CFW to see if I could talk to management and/or the owners. I was told that they do not give out their phone numbers. I was to leave my name and phone number; they would call me.
What kind of a business hides management from their customers???
But I did have a nice chat with the Placer County Sheriffs Dept. and reported all the illegal activity I witnessed, along with the lack of response from anyone at CFW. They were very interested in what I had to say.
My advice, steer clear of this dangerous campground.
My girlfriend and I camped 2 nights at this ——-. First, the employees are useless. I asked these questions at various times: Where are the showers?How do I get to campspot? Is their access to water? Can we camp in the day use since the lake is at 60%? Every answer I got was ” I don’t know”.
Are fellow campers consisted of people 18-26 years old, drinking, using drugs, screaming —- and — YOU at the top of their white trash lungs. We saw fights, cars driving past our site over 25 mph, loud music and racous screaming until 2 AM. “Duck”, the “security at CFW is useless. He never once showed up to enforce “quiet time”. 2 calls into security went unanswered.
When I called today to speak to management, I was told to leave my name and number; management does not take calls.
My next call tomorrow is to the CHP and Placer Co. Sheriffs Dept. It seems to us that Camp Far West condones illegal behaviour.
Our advice. Stay away. No respects anyone else at Camp Far West.
I do have a blog on Camp Far West and a link to their website. Look under Lakes in Nevada County Category.
you should really have just a Camp
Far West Website.;)