D.L. Bliss State Park Campground

I have only stayed at the group site and we love this campground. Wonderful beach access. The group site has a lot of privacy from other sites and plenty of space. They have the water off right now for bathrooms and showers but portopotties were cleaned every other day. Drinking water is available. Be sure to use your bear box, we did get a visit from a Vera one night, but our site was clean and setting off car alarms shooed it away. The beach side sites are great also. Definitely book six months in advance.

We pitched our tents at 11:30 pm trying hard to not wake up other campers. In the morning I was surprised to see a couple sites vacant right next to us. 

As usual I was not happy with the possibility of meeting a bear, especially after I read about a bear storming a campsite not far from our site (we were on #76). So we were extra careful to put anything scented in the provided bear locker. The park admins are very strict and have a US$2k fine for any food left out. Even bear-proof coolers are required to be chained safely.

We didn’t hiked the Rubicon trail to Lester Beach as we had to keep moving to the next destination in our cross country road trip, but took a short drive to the beach and a quick, but very refreshing dip in Tahoe’s cold waters.

Everyone was so nice and very helpful

The site is gorgeous and so close to the Lake. The only thing keeping this from 5 stars is the fact that it gets very busy, even with limited access during COVID, try to go during the week.

Campsites are decent but the restrooms are filthy. Try to get a site near the beach! The beach is awesome! Make sure food is locked up from the bears.

Many sites available with a handful of first come first serve. Highly recommend the hike along the cliffs. Emerald bay and the desolation wilderness are both a short drive away. The place is always packed.

Upper Pines Campground#74 

Pros:

-Ice sold at campsite for $4 per pack- proceeds go to state park

-Clean bathrooms close-by

-Partial shade

-Close~ 1mi. walk to Lester beach, calawee cove

-Accessible~0.2 mi to Rubicon trail

-Large bear locker

-Flat/even campsite 

Minor Cons:

-no views of lake tahoe

-no privacy

-1st night- no mosquitoes, 2nd night- several mosquitoes

My top favorite campgrounds goes to D.L. Bliss state park. The reason I love this campground so much is the amazing views you get from just the hikes itself. We stayed at Upper Pines Camp ground. Rubicon trail is absolutely stunning, and can be rather long since it goes into emerald bay. Nonetheless worth the hike. The beauty of camping here is that you are so close to the lake! Since day use parking isn’t the largest- especially compared to most lake access areas in Tahoe, it’s so awesome! The beach isn’t as full as most parts of Tahoe you would see. And if you make reservations early enough, you can get an awesome campsite super close to the beach (you still have to hike down) but you can view the lake from your site. I camped here in July 2019, and had the perfect weather which ranged around mid 70s in the day and lower 50s during the night. We slept without the rain fly and saw all the stars.

Seriously. Best camp grounds ever! The beach is unbelievable with water as clear as the east shore. Don’t tell your friends -keep it a secret!

If you love the mountains and the beach, this is the place to be! This campground is tucked away in the forest. Not far from a local town to gamble if you like but far enough away you’d never know it was there. Once you’ve entered the campsite area there’s plenty of sites to choose from and plenty of room for privacy. Reservations can be made but are not necessary, once settled it’s just a short walk to the lake and it feels like you’re at the beach. Beautiful sandy shores with glacier clear water at the lake. Winters here are just the best. Sunsets are colorful and vibrant and you will not want to leave when you can catch fresh Salmon! Tree top adventures zip-lining is also not far away and it was one of the best trips we’ve made to date! All amenities are here, as needed. Small shop for wood at the entrance, restrooms, fire pits, tables and secured bear lockers. It is incredibly clean and an overall beautiful campground, we can’t wait to go back!

One thing my wife and I love about this campground is the creative design of the sites. They are close together but beautiful and create such a fun experience.

This is a great state park on the western side of Lake Tahoe. The park has hundreds of campsites and excellent facilities. The hiking is the highlight at this park. You can drive down to the waterside and take a great cliffside hike along the lake. They also have a number of cool rock formations. The sites are somewhat uneven, so you will need levelers if you are sleeping in a van or small RV. The camp has a lot of tent campers. We did not see many staff but felt this was a clean and well run facility. Great shower and restroom facilities. I would come back to this campground and recommend. The sites closest to water have great views. We were able to make advanced reservations. Great option for tent or van campers touring the west side of Lake Tahoe.

We love this campground in south Tahoe by Emerald Bay! We have come every summer for the last five years with my growing family. This year it was colder in June, but we still swam in the icy water.

This campground has beach lake access and the views are spectacular. There are accessible hiking trails on the premises and easy to drive to trail heads, which you can get to before the other summer visitors get there. We usually bring our rafts and hang at the beach all day and go back to our site and relax.

The campground is beautifully set in the trees. Lots of shade, but lots of Tahoe granite too: made it almost impossible to use tent stakes (if you use them). The sites range in size: some are quite large, some are very small, so some are very private, some have cozy neighbors. There is very little parking at the beach, so it’s best to just walk or drop off then return car to site. Some camp sites are quite far from the Lake if you have kids and lots of beach gear. There are lots of trailheads from the campground, and all of them are a great hike. We camped here multiple times with our family. It was an easy day trip to take our kayaks from here to Emerald Bay. Watch the weather though! The summer has become prone to afternoon thunderstorms.

Came here without reservations and was able to find a spot easily. Although it rained much of the time had a chance to explore the park and area. Each spot has a bear vault for curious visitors. Swimming access down by Lke Tahoe is great. Clean facilities, showers are coin operated and you need to get tokens from the check in.

My first time camping here was last year in June and we're going back this year. Pretty neat place. Had no Bear problems here, unlike Fallen Leaf.

We've camped here 3 times. The bears were very active a few years back and knew how to get into the bear lockers, but it wouldn't stop me from going back. Beautiful campsites with shade. Walking distance to the beach.

Even on a Sunday night, the campgrounds near Lake Tahoe were packed. We found a fairly empty section of DL (the beach sports were all reserved much in advance). For a base to explore it'll work

We stayed at DL Bliss State Park campground for two nights in August. The campground location is perfect, with access to beautiful beaches and hiking trails. From the campground you can walk to the start of the Rubicon trail. They have flush toilets and hot showers (token operated), firewood and ice for sale. From the campground it's a short drive to Emerald Bay State Park, and hiking trails in the Desolation Wilderness. Suggest an early start for those because even during the week the trail head parking fills early. Lots of shade at the campsites and plenty of trees to hang a hammock. We were lucky and all of our neighbors respected quiet hours. Bear lockers were available at each site, which were large enough to hold two coolers and a large Rubbermaid of food.