Backpacking camp

Tunnel Meadow camp area

Golden Trout Wilderness, California

About this place

Tunnel Meadow is an official itinerary area, permit zone, or source-backed named overnight reference represented by a reachable point on the pinned agency trail network in Golden Trout Wilderness.

The marker is a route-access reference, not a tent pad. Move off the trail only where travel is permitted, remain inside the authorized zone, and choose a legal durable site under every current setback and closure.

Water planning

Water at this camp

Natural water at or near this camp area

Availability

Long Stringer is mapped at or near the camp-area marker. This is map evidence, not a real-time flow report.

Drinking safety

Natural water is not verified potable. Filter and disinfect it or boil it according to the linked land-manager guidance before drinking.

Seasonality

Long Stringer is classified as perennial in USGS hydrography, but current flow still must be confirmed.

  • Long StringerRiver or stream · at the camp areaMapped perennial source — verify current flow · Treat before drinking
    Official source

Fire planning

Campfire & stove rules

Permit + current order required

Campfires

Tunnel Meadow is an undeveloped backcountry camp area in Golden Trout Wilderness. A California Campfire Permit is required for a portable stove or any otherwise-legal fire in Golden Trout Wilderness. Use a gas, jellied-petroleum, or pressurized-liquid-fuel stove with a working shutoff valve; wood, charcoal, twig stoves, and campfires are allowed only where the current forest order and destination-specific elevation or named-area rules expressly allow them. Never treat an old ring as proof that a fire is legal, and do not build a new ring where fires are prohibited.

Backpacking stoves

Shutoff-valve gas or pressurized-fuel stove with permit. Use a gas, LPG, jellied-petroleum, or pressurized-liquid-fuel stove with a working shutoff valve. Twig and wood-burning stoves follow the campfire rule and are prohibited anywhere wood fires are prohibited.

Permit

Carry a valid California Campfire Permit for a portable stove or any otherwise-legal fire; the permit never overrides a forest closure, fire-danger order, elevation limit, or named-area prohibition.

Current restrictions

Check USDA Forest Service's current alerts and the selected trailhead posting before departure. The standing rule shown here remains subordinate to a newer emergency order.

Seasonal access

Closures & seasonal access

Western Golden Trout Wilderness entries have no single recurring closure season

Place closure

No recurring date-based closure of Tunnel Meadow is published. The source-connected approach conditions below and temporary emergency orders still control access.

Seasonal access

Source-connected approaches: Blackrock Trailhead, Forks of the Kern Trailhead, Lewis Camp Trailhead, and 4 more. Western Golden Trout Wilderness entries have no single recurring closure season. High-country snow, remote-road gates, wildfire, washouts, and dry-season heat can make individual approaches unavailable or unsafe.

Before driving

Check Sequoia National Forest alerts and verify the exact road, gate, parking, fire restrictions, and water conditions before departure.

Mapped approaches

Choose a trailhead for Tunnel Meadow camp area

Each option has a sourced trail route to this camp area. Choose one to open its itinerary builder with this destination in context.

Map

Loading map
Latitude
36.220854° N
Longitude
118.282555° W

Sources

Official overnight record Forest Service Golden Trout guide; mapped to the nearest reachable agency trail pointSequoia National Forest Wilderness PermitGolden Trout Wilderness overnight regulationsGolden Trout Wilderness current conditionsOpenTopoData public API — SRTM 90 mUSGS NHDPlusV2 flowline — Long StringerUSDA Forest Service — Backcountry Safety: Water & SanitationCalifornia — California Campfire PermitSequoia National Forest — current alertsSequoia National Forest — Golden Trout Wilderness