A dark green Toyota pickup with a roof tent parked in tall dry grass as mist closes in.

Army Corps of Engineers campground

Buckhorn

Army Corps of Engineers campground in Black Butte Lake, Tehama County, California. 524 feet. 10.6 miles from Orland.

Managed by
Army Corps of Engineers Black Butte Lake
Elevation
524 ft USGS elevation model, at the mapped point
Sites
93 87 standard non-electric, 5 walk to, 1 group standard non-electric
Longest rig
80 ft The longest vehicle any site is listed for
Hookups
None listed
Reservations
Recreation.gov
County
Tehama County

Overview

Buckhorn Recreation Area is at Black Butte Lake, situated at the northern end of the Sacramento valley, 100 miles north of Sacramento, CA and 30 minutes south of Red Bluff, CA. The lake is a popular meeting place for water sports and outdoor enthusiasts, so bring family and friends for an incredibly scenic getaway.

Recreation

Find excitement with wake boarding and sailing or explore the shoreline's 13 miles of fitness trails for hiking, running and biking. Black Butte is renowned for its warm-water fishing, including catches such as crappie, channel catfish, and large and smallmouth bass.

Facilities

Buckhorn has 93 campsites, including a group campground and five walk-in sites. Conveniences include showers, a modern boat ramp complex, two playgrounds, an exercise area, and shoreline access. No sites have electric or water hookups. The area is open year-round.

Natural Features

Black Butte Lake was formed in 1963 with the completion of the Black Butte Dam on Stony Creek.

The lake's surface area measures 4,460 acres when water levels are high. Black basalt buttes and blue oak woodland hug the lake's 40 miles of shoreline.

Nearby Attractions

A 18 hole disc golf course can be accessed across from the Orland Buttes Campground. Horeseback riders can make use of the horse trails at Grizzly Flat and Burris Creek. Drive east to visit the Mendocino National Forest.

The description, directions and fees are the Army Corps of Engineers’s own words, from its record on Recreation.gov.

What people do here

  • biking
  • boating
  • camping
  • fishing
  • hiking
  • swimming site
  • wildlife viewing

The land around Buckhorn

The ringed pin is this campground; the others are its nearest neighbours. Switch on forest roads or BLM routes to see the way in.

Interactive map. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select any point to see which agency manages the land. Arrow keys pan and the plus and minus keys zoom when the map has focus. A list of every state with its share of federal land is on the Explore page.

Map layers

Layers
Base map
Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • US Forest Service (USFS)
  • National Park Service (NPS)
  • US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
  • Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
  • Department Of Defense (DOD)
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
  • Other Federal
  • State
  • Local
  • Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
  • Alaska Native Allotment

Federal campgrounds, by agency

  • Forest Service
  • Bureau of Land Management
  • National Park Service
  • Army Corps of Engineers
  • Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife and others

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

  • State land
  • County and city land
  • Regional agency or district
  • Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Source: Recreation Information Database (Recreation.gov), record updated April 1, 2026. Elevation from the USGS 3D Elevation Program. Seasons, fees, water and fire rules change; the managing office has the final word.