Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park
North Bloomfield (Nevada County) · near Nevada City · Gold Country & Central Valley
Camping
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Elevation
- 3400
- Campsites
- Chute Hill ~30 sites + 3 rustic rentable cabins
- Season
- Roughly late spring-fall; remote unpaved access, snowbound in winter
- Fee
- ~$25-35 camp; $10/vehicle day-use
Permits and booking
- Reservation required
- Yes
- How to reserve
- ReserveCalifornia. Small trailers only (<=19 ft); no showers. Operating in 2026 but historically vulnerable to budget closures and the access road is rough/remote - confirm status before a long drive and arrive with a full tank.
What is here
- Setting
- forest
- Amenities
- Rustic rentable cabins in the ghost town · Potable water & fire rings · Vault-style toilets (no showers) · Firewood at visitor center
- Best for
- Camp beside a preserved Gold Rush ghost town and hydraulic-mining cliffs
- Features
- Preserved North Bloomfield ghost town · Surreal hydraulic-mined cliffs · Site of the nation's first environmental-protection ruling · Quiet, remote, dark skies
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Camping detail
- Nickname
- The Gold Rush Ghost Town
- Camp type
- developed · cabin-glamp
- Intl tip
- The last miles in are unpaved and slow - allow extra time, arrive with a full tank, and leave big rigs at home (19 ft trailer limit). No showers, so this is rustic; confirm the park is open before the long drive.
The guide
Malakoff Diggins is where you camp inside California history - a remote state park in the northern-mine foothills preserving th…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.371, -120.899