Fort Sage Trailhead Campsite

We spent one night here and the coordinates get you right to the camp area. We arrived late on Friday evening and enjoyed a beautiful sunset from this vista over Doyle, Ca.
Pristine pit toilets, absolutely clean and well stocked. Lovely tables, moulded fire pits and handy wood barbecues. (Bring your own wood and water)

There were 2 campers when we arrived and when we left in the morning.
We met Chris who is a firefighter but works for the BLM when not fighting fires. He mentioned that the local BLM take great pride in providing a nice location.

Lots of nice marked off road bike trails and Chris mentioned a new trail had just been built for younger kids with jumps their size.

Accessibility good for all RVs, including the class A. Small section of washboard that is fine if you go slow. Peaceful and quiet at night.

The view from this place is amazing! Free!

I learned about this lil spot from this site. The dirt road was pretty well maintained. I only encountered a short section of washboards. The remainder of the road was pretty good and wide enough for two vehicles.

I did not pull into the Diamondback Trailhead area, which is a short distance away and before you reach the Fort Sage Trailhead.

I arrived on Monday and was the only one there. There is a pit toilet and a few trash receptacles. I did not see another vehicle until Wednesday morning. A few ATV riders appeared in the afternoon. No one else stayed while I was there.

There are about 5 separate sites, one fairly large for a large group. By the tire tracks, I would say the area is popular for ATV's and motorcycles.

Each site had a table, grill and fire pit. The pad area was pretty level as well.

Driving north on 395, was looking for an easy campsite at no cost. 15 minutes east of highway, paved and unpaved. But grated nicely. In at 10:3pm out 9:30 am. One RVer there. Not seen or heard. Nice views. Cattle and rabbits. Mooing in the middle of the night due to earthquake, I believe. Highly recommend. Pit toilet very clean. Nice fire pits, grills and tables.

We're not OHV enthusiasts but we took a chance that the Fort Sage OHV Trailhead would be quiet during the week in the spring.  We were rewarded with 2 nights at one of the nicest BLM campgrounds we've seen.   The access road and camping area are designed to handle large toy haulers so our little 30 foot fifth wheel had no difficulty getting in there or maneuvering.   

The road and campground have been freshly graded and graveled.  There is an offload ramp to allow bikes & ATVs to be unloaded from pickup beds.  There are 7 unnumbered sites each with picnic table, barbecue and fire ring.  Another site has 2 picnic tables and may be intended for day use.  Most sites are generously sized.  There is a newer and clean vault toilet to help stretch your black tank.  No water in the campground.  

The campground sits on a hill above the town of Doyle and has sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and the valley including Honey Lake (which actually has water this year!).  We had strong, fast Verizon 4g service.  The area is open range so there are few cows about.  Despite the cows we were treated to flowers amongst the sage and junipers.   And although we stayed during a windstorm we had little trouble with dust.

This campground makes an excellent mid-week stop if you're heading north or south on Hwy 395