Big Meadow (Stanislaus National Forest)
October 2026
About
Overview
Big Meadow Campground lies at about 6,400 feet elevation on the Stanislaus National Forest. It is located 21 miles east of Arnold, California. Breathtaking views abound, and wildlife viewing opportunities include marmots, squirrels, and deer.
Recreation
Picnicking, birding and hiking are popular pastimes at Big Meadow.
Lake Alpine and Spicer Meadow Reservoir, both just a 15 minute drive away, offer fishing and other water activities.
Facilities
Big Meadow has 65 individual camping sites.
Big Meadow Group camp is easily accessible from Highway 4 and can accommodate a maximum of 50 guests and 20 vehicles.
Natural Features
Big Meadow Campground is situated in Stanislaus National Forest. It is known for exceptional stargazing, remote location, spread out campsites, and large granite boulders.
Contact Info
For facility specific information, please call (209) 753-6350.
Phone: 209-795-1381
Is Big Meadow (Stanislaus National Forest) fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches Big Meadow (Stanislaus National Forest) in CA for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching Big Meadow (Stanislaus National Forest) for cancellations is the paid part.