U.S. Forest Service · Eldorado National Forest · California

Airport Flat Campground

Location: 23 miles east of Placerville on Highway 50 then 24 miles north on Ice House Road (Forest Road 3), and 3 miles north on Forest Road 33. Sites are arranged into pods to accommodate groups of 15 – 25 people. Airport Flat Campground Recreation Opportunity Guide (ROG) - This guide contains information, maps, and directions to assist you in enjoying your trip to the Eldorado National Forest.

Closed for the seasonFirst-come, first-served

More like this: first-come in California

Airport Flat Campground
Photo from the area. jason jenkins from stockton, california (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
1fire
active
Tmu Rx Support (prescribed burn) · 22 mi away
Interagency incident data as of 2026-10-16
Incident details ↓

Season & status

StatusClosed for the season. Forest Service sites close for the season; check the official page for the reopening date.
SeasonJune to October
ForestEldorado National Forest
BookingNo Reservations.
FeesNo fee.
RulesThere is no piped water at the campground. Water from the creek is available but should be boiled before using. Water quality testing is not performed on open water sources. Please keep family pets on a leash at all times. All food must be stored in the Bear Boxes. Use only dead and down wood for your campfires. Make sure your fire is dead out before leaving. Check ahead.

Eldorado National Forest recreation page ↗

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Airport Flat Campground20°30°40°50°60°70°January: 6.37 inches of precipitationFebruary: 6.90 inches of precipitationMarch: 5.52 inches of precipitationApril: 2.78 inches of precipitationMay: 2.02 inches of precipitationJune: 0.84 inches of precipitationJuly: 0.49 inches of precipitationAugust: 0.35 inches of precipitationSeptember: 0.60 inches of precipitationOctober: 1.99 inches of precipitationNovember: 3.40 inches of precipitationDecember: 6.47 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 29.7°F averageFebruary: 29.8°F averageMarch: 33.8°F averageApril: 38.0°F averageMay: 45.7°F averageJune: 54.5°F averageJuly: 61.5°F averageAugust: 61.0°F averageSeptember: 55.4°F averageOctober: 45.7°F averageNovember: 35.8°F averageDecember: 29.4°F average0 in2 in4 in6 in8 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Tahoma, 14 miles from the campground at 6,315 feet, station USC00048760 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 38 inches a year.

Getting there

Coordinates38.9853° N, 120.3804° W · Directions ↗

Fire nearby

  • Prescribed
    Tmu Rx Support

    22 mi from the campground

Distance is to the reported incident point, not the fire edge. Call the managing office before you drive.

Supplies & services

Dump stationDump station ↗10.8 mi
Outdoor gearAlpenglow Sports ↗18 mi
RV sales & serviceCustom Truck Accessories ↗34.4 mi

Locations © OpenStreetMap contributors. Call ahead; hours change seasonally.

Limited data for this unit

No site-by-site records, no amenities, no fee schedule or directions in the Recreation.gov record. What is here comes from the agency's own listing. The rest lives there.

Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the record fills in.

Explore

Video

History Of The Rubicon - Episode 6 - Airport Flat Campground

Trails nearby

Forest Service trail data →
  • 0.3 mi
    Gerle Creek Interpretive
    1 mi trail · hiking, horse, bike
  • 0.8 mi
    Gerle Creek Trail ↗
    0.8 mi trail · hiking, horse, bike
  • 1.1 mi
    Summer Harvest Trail ↗
    0.8 mi trail · hiking, horse, bike
  • 2.6 mi
    Chipmunk Bluff
    1.3 mi trail · snowshoe, ski
  • 2.7 mi
    Berts Lake
    0.8 mi trail · snowshoe, ski
  • 2.8 mi
    Polaris
    2.3 mi trail · snowshoe, ski

Trail and trailhead records are the Forest Service's. Distances are straight-line to the nearer trail end. Trail conditions are not tracked here.

Public land it sits in

On Wilderness Atlas →

This campground sits inside Eldorado National Forest.

Each unit is published as a centre point and an acreage rather than a boundary, so this section stands it in for a circle of the same area. Whether a campground is inside, and how far it is from one it is outside, are both approximate.

Guidebooks for California

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

Do I need a reservation at Airport Flat Campground?

No. Airport Flat Campground is first-come, first-served. No Reservations. Sites are taken on arrival and paid at the fee station.

Source: Forest Service

How much does it cost to camp at Airport Flat Campground?

No fee.

Source: Forest Service

Is Airport Flat Campground open right now?

Closed for the season as of Oct 16, 2026. Season June to October.

Source: Forest Service status

What if Airport Flat Campground is full?

The nearest public campgrounds are Gerle Creek (0.9 mi, partly first-come), Loon Lake (2.7 mi), and South Fork Group (2.8 mi).

Source: Campgrounds nearby