Six Rivers National Forest Camping

Panther Flat Campground is a wonderful wooded campground located off of Highway 199 in Northern California. There are 39 campsites with a few being group sites. Regular campsites are $15 a night. There are no hookups at this campground. Communal water spigots and trash receptacles are dotted throughout the camping loops. The campground is open all year. Most campsites are on a reservation system from mid-May through the first part of September and then first come first served through the remainder of the year.

Most sites are relatively flat with a good distance between campsites. Bathrooms are flush toilets and kept very clean on each of the 4 different occasions my wife and I camped there. This USFS campground also has coin op showers (50 cents for 3 minutes). Thats a rarity for a USFS campground! There is also a day use area next to the Smith River with a nice swimming hole. You will hear road noise from the highway, especially the loops farthest from the river. Camp hosts warned us that the campground gets very busy and a bit rowdy during the peak season.

We camp in a small camper van and cook outside. Based on that, we found that the following sites were our favorites:

Sites: 4, 9, 20, 22, 25 and 33