Best Tent Camping near Temple Bar Marina, AZ

Great experience. I arrived late at night and was still able to check in with a pay stub. Even though it’s mid/late November the weather was great! Just take a cool weather sleeping bag and you’ll be good.

This campground is reservable 15 days in advance, but if you missed that deadline, there is first come-first serve camping as well. There were many spots open when I came. When you get here, scout for a spot, remember your site number and license plate info, and then go back to pay at the pay stub center (at the entrance of the campground).

Its $20 a night to camp here. BRING CASH! :)

No showers, just bathrooms.

We landed in Vegas and headed straight out of the city to this campground.  I booked it online, not ever having seen it in person, but I'd stay again in an instant. 

We had site 23 - very shaded and "green" - site 24 (not ours) was very open to the desert. 

There is a no generator section meant for tents, but we didn't stay there as it seemed fully booked so I picked an RV/tent site at the far end.  And it was lovely.  The site was in the middle of a turn around, so we were in the "donut center" so to speak and it was quiet, shaded and beautiful.  Lot of palms and oleander that gave a lot of privacy. A short walk to the bathroom (hundred yards maybe?) but they were clean and the toilets were the flush kind, not pit kind. Drinking water was available too. There were fire pits at each site and a picnic table. Our site - and I assume most - were dirt/sand mix that made for easy tent set up.  But don't count on getting your stakes into the ground. There were a lot of small rocks around the site - obviously used by many campers to "stake out" the tent with.  We did so as well. 

The campground as a whole was a short drive off the main road, but very easy to get to. 

Absolutely I'd stay here again.

Arch rock campground is further up the road from Atlanta campground. It used to be a first come first serve campground, but just this month changed to a reservation system. If a site is not reserved and it is after 3pm, you can pay the iron ranger $10 for the site. Arch rock sites are more scenic than the other campground, but also more primitive with just vault toilet and water spigots distributed throughout the camp. No electricity. Desert big horn sheep do frequent the area. It can be very hot temperature. Sites are only modestly separated with little screening. Though the sites further up the loop are more dispersed. Each site has sun shade, table, fire ring, and 12’x12’ tent pads. No T-Mobile.

After 4 glorious days kayak camping along the Black Canyon, we moved our basecamp to Boulder Beach and spent a couple of days getting reorganized to hit the road further north. Since the wind was too strong to get out on the lake, we opted to bike along the path that runs next to the campground.  This gorgeous path is well-utilized by area cycling groups, and they are some of the most courteous and safe cyclists we’ve ever come across. 

Each site has a picnic table, fire ring, and all the sites are paved and level.  Don't normally love paved campgrounds, but the wind is so strong at times that it would be a total dust storm without them. All sites have a nice view of Lake Mead, but there is no water access to the lake from the campground. The bathrooms have running water and are kept clean and well stocked, but there are no showers. Water spigots are scattered throughout the campground and there is a sewage dump for RV’s. Most of the sites are designed for large RV’s, but there were some tent campers there as well.

Closest town is Boulder City, about 16 miles away, and has everything you need. There is strong cell service in the campground, and free wifi.

Although you can make it to the campground in 2wd, I wouldn’t take a car. SUV/truck preferred. Tent camping/car camping only, no RV sites at all. The road is steep, winding, dirt with loose gravel 11 miles off the paved road. Camp sites have a great view because of the elevation. picnic tables and fire rings in each site as well as many trash receptacles and clean toilets. no other amenities. Rough off-roading in the areas surrounding the campground leading to old mining areas. Awesome views, we went in June when it was probably 110 degrees at the base of the mountain, mid 90s up at the camp site.

Of the campgrounds I checked out in this area I found this one to be one of the nicer ones. Unlike some which had a lot of random garbage this one was well maintained and looked like those who stayed respected the area more.

Sites here were smaller than most but since I stay in a tent of course I had plenty space for my car and tent alike without struggle. I do not see this working well for longer rigs though that need a pull through that is much longer.

I had plenty of space between me and my neighbor and with some low level brush it stopped any of the brash winds from effecting me at night. I had a picnic table and fire ring, standard to most camping sites and that made for a perfect set up for me as I don't really need all that extra most of the time.

The weather was nice other than the wind when I was there so I didn't have any reason to need to plug anything in to keep cool but I do know I wouldn't even attempt to stay here after late May it just gets way to hot. Not to mention they do have a lot of snakes in this area when the heat gets to that point, so no thanks!

The night was quiet, I had read that there were a lot of coyotes but I heard none in the area instead only the sounds of someones RV making a humming noise a few sites over.

The bathrooms were well kept and there was water scattered throughout the campground which made it easy to access. My only complaint in regard to either of these was that the bathrooms did maybe need a bit of restock, but since I am always prepared that wasn't an issue. I would suggest also always being prepared!

TIPS:

• Don't leave trash at your site or food outside of your vehicle if you are in a tent. While I did not hear coyotes others have reported that not to be the case. Many times these animals are out because they smell food and are wanting to look for it.
• Take advantage of lake views for great sunset pictures. I was so upset by the time I got to my campsite I had used all my battery and missed some of the best views of the day.
• Check out hiking in this area. One of the best trails nearby is just a couple miles up at White Owl Canyon. It is marked on this map, however if you go and get a map from rangers you will not find the trail, this is because it is a wash area and is closed from time to time. Simply ask for directions to the trailhead when passing though the rangers station.