Gold Ledge Campground — Hotel in Porterville

Bring extra trash bags and be prepared to pick up trash after people who dont care about keeping this place beautiful. That's including down by the river. My husband and I filled three small trash bags.

The river was a perfect flow and made tubing really fun, if you were willing to hike up the river a little & tube down. Make sure you bring your river shoes! Be prepared for it to get crowded down by the water during the day. We met a very large family who were camping at Hospitals, a few campsites south of Gold Ledge, and apprently word of mouth gets around and Gold Ledge is the spot to go for the day to cool off and hang out. There is very little space at the "beach", so make sure you set all of your stuff up there the night before or at sunrise, or you will be sitting in the rocks.

The firepits at the camping spots were a neat plus. 17, 18 & 19 are camping spots facing eachother. This location would be perfect for multiple people wanting to camp together. Our family stayed at one of these spots and it definitely did not feel private. Also, curfew is not enforced. People were walking around way past 11pm and being inconsiderate of others trying to sleep.

This was a neat spot to camp. One fellow camper calimed it was one of the best spots to camp on Kern. I cannot agree with that. Our kids loved it & that is all that really matters. It was a little too crowded for my comfort and since it's up river, there is not as much wild life (bullfrogs, deer, foxes, birds, etc) or foliage. Bring a pop up or...

Stayed at this campground 6/10 through 6/12/2016. If you're looking for a 5 star hotel who's looking to get fanned and a room with a bidet this ain't for you. If you're looking for a good campground along the Kern River in the high desert with minimal shade this is for you. Starting off, great access to river, no showers. Toilets are stone outhouses with a simple seat and a big window you can see through so if you want extra privacy bring some tacks and a towel with you and tack that towel up for some extra privacy while handling your business. They aren't great but I've seen much worse. We were lucky this weekend because everyone on property was clean and picked up after themselves and in the toilets. If you want a clean campground you pick up your crap, your dog's crap and co-exist with your neighbor's. Great people were there to meet. The campground itself is clean and nice. Great views and you are right on the river. Fire pits have a swing down grill plate and worked great. I cooked chicken thighs, steak, roasted veggies and we did breakfast on them as well. Water access is great, lots of faucets. 15 minute drive from town. Would stay here again.

Lastly, the camp host was on-site and did ask a group who'd taken our parking spot to be kind and move (which they so kindly did). He was friendly and kept a tidy camp ground. Knowledgeable about the area and welcoming to our group...

I loved that we had the option of chilling at the water by our site or going to the swimming hole. The water was so chill this year it was an easy innertube ride down the river into the swimming hole. (But most summers I do not recommend going down the river without a life vest.)I jumped off the rock! That was fun! But I highly recommend plugging your nose. I got all waterlogged which made the experience less fun. Campsites are close in proximity but not stacked on top of eachother. The walk-in sites go over seriously rocky terrain making a simple wagon difficult to pull!! They are also very far from the bathrooms.. The plus side of the walk-in sites is privacy from the main road. Especially if you're bad like me and my friends and are noisy late into the night and building small fires hoping no one sees LOL... Nice spot, not too much shade. Bring your canopies, lots of sunblock, and bug spray& centinela candles! The campground host is pretty easy going. There isn't much space for extra cars to park on-site, but there is free parking at the turnout...