Eldorado - Home

Graphic showing 7 ways to recreate responsibly.

Know Before You Go

OFFICES- Our virtual offices are staffed to provide visitor information. The phone #s and hours are on the left side of this page.

CHECK CURRENT CONDITIONS/STATUS - Check out our Current Conditions web page for the status of campgrounds, roads, facilities, weather, fire, forest closure orders and other regulations.

Will your favorite recreation site be closed? SMUD had been making some exciting improvements to recreation sites associated with their license. Check out this page to see what facilities are closed this season for renovation and what has been done in the past few years.

FOREST ACCESS – Check out the maps below for Forest System lands, roads and trails that are open if accessible depending on the weather.

ROADS - Please be cautious when recreating in the forest. The forest experienced one or more severe wind events resulting in a huge number of downed trees blocking roads, trails, and damaging facilities all over the forest. Crews are working hard to clear the damage and get these open but that doesn't mean that conditions cannot change after they have been through the area. Drive slowly!
- Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM). Find out where you can legally operate your vehicle.
HIGHWAY 50 STATUS - Caltrans is alerting motorists of reduced lanes on U.S. Highway 50 starting next week as part of an ongoing safety improvement project in the Camino area of El Dorado County. Starting Monday, June 14, Highway 50 will be reduced to one lane in each direction during the week as work on drainage and the median barrier is being conducted behind k-rail. The k-rail will be removed and the highway back open to four lanes for weekend traffic. This work will start on the west end of the project at Still Meadows Road and the lane reductions are expected to continue through August. See CalTrans Traffic Alert. Go to roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php for current highway information.

DISPERSED CAMPING - To learn more about dispersed camping please check out the recreational guide here.

TARGET SHOOTING - Allowed on the Eldorado National Forest. Please shoot responsibily; review the Firearms Use guide and be aware of property boundaries.

CAMPFIRE PERMITS - Campfire permits are required even in the winter for the use of open fires, such as wood (campfire), barbecues (charcoal) and portable stoves (gas) on federally managed lands. A campfire permit does not give a person permission to access or camp on National Forest or private lands.