Save Bear River Park!
Help preserve public access to the site…
Right now, Placer County is negotiating a lease extension with the State of California Department Fish & Wildlife, which owns the lands. The current lease expires in February 2025. At this time, it appears that both parties are progressing toward a new lease, but terms and conditions are not yet publicly available. The best way to help save this public access area is to stay tuned to the issue, and sign up for BearPARC newsletter alerts. BearPARC holds your email contact information completely confidential, and would never violate your trust for privacy by sharing or marketing your contact information. For BearPARC public action alerts, register here.
The Issue:
Bear River Fishing Access, formerly Bear River Campground, is at the heart of Bear River Public Access. It is owned by the State of California Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW). It was operated as both a family campground, group campground, and day use area by Placer County Parks from 1966 to 2021 through a long term lease.
The River Fire of 2021 was started at the campground, and burned 2619 acres and 142 buildings. Placer County closed both the family and group campgrounds, and entered into a temporary 2 year lease with DFW as a day use facility only. This short term lease expires again in February 2025.
We need Placer County to continue to manage the day use areas for the long term. Investment in the future is needed to improve fire safety, trail development and maintenance, river restoration, and ecosystem recovery for the burned areas.
Help BearPARC organize the public support we need to persuade our County to maintain and improve this facility. At present, our elected Supervisor of District 5, Cindy Gustafson, is in full support of continuing County management of the park, and supports the fire safety management needed to reduce wildfire danger, as well as improved trails including handicap access trails. Placer County Parks is taking lead in the negotiations with the State, and is also proactively supporting continued public access. As the negotiation develops and becomes public, BearPARC newsletter alerts will keep you informed, and will indicate where and how public support will be important in the process. Stay tuned through the newsletter! Register here.
The map below shows the location of Bear River Public Access and its current features.

The Bear River is well loved by many Placer residents and out-of-county visitors. Nearby trails are maintained by Meadow Vista Trails Association (MVTA). The day use areas are favorites for hikers, fishers, inner tube floaters, and kayakers. This Class II river run between this park and Dog Bar Bridge is used for training in the spring runoff for both rafting and kayaking.
