Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground, near Joshua Tree, California, is a fantastic spot for those looking to soak in the desert vibes while enjoying some modern amenities. With a mix of RV and tent sites, it’s a great place to kick back and take in the stunning night skies that this area is famous for.

The campground boasts clean facilities, including restrooms and showers, which visitors appreciate after a day of exploring. Many campers have highlighted the friendly staff and well-maintained grounds, making it a comfortable place to stay. One guest noted, “The check-in was seamless and the staff were friendly,” which really sets the tone for a pleasant experience.

If you're up for some adventure, you're just a short drive from Joshua Tree National Park, where you can hike, rock climb, or simply enjoy the unique landscape. The campground itself features a small pond that attracts various birds, adding a nice touch of nature right at your doorstep. Plus, with fire pits available, you can enjoy cozy evenings under the stars.

While some campers mentioned that the sites can feel a bit close together, the overall atmosphere is welcoming and relaxed. Whether you're here for a quick overnight stay or a longer retreat, Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground offers a solid base for your desert adventures.

When all the campsites are fully booked in Joshua Tree Nation Park, this is your next best option to get a campsite near the park and still have the "campground atmosphere" you seek.

Our spacious sites offer beautiful views of open desert and sweeping vistas in all directions.

Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground

Joshua Tree is the perfect place for adventurous campers and RVers. Camping, hiking, biking: however you want to spend your days near Joshua Tree, you'll find great campgrounds with The Dyrt. Get the dirt on all the best camping near Joshua Tree. Browse campgrounds by amenities, site types, and more.

Joshua Tree

The Best Camping Near Joshua Tree, California

I always have a blast camping but this one lacks a lot of attractions besides for the beautiful sites. It's also close to main main counties like Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. The hight of this camping site is it features many fantastic festivals like Live Oak Music Festival.

Mid-level Attractions 

We stayed 3 days at this funky little RV campground. It’s full of art installations and has its own small lake that you can fish in. (Catch &amp; Release) There’s a ton of birds and wildlife to observe and a really well stocked general store on the property. Bathrooms were clean and staff was friendly and helpful. There is a small playground onsite for littler kids and tons of space to tent camp. We stayed in 201 which was a HUGE flat spot that could’ve held a much larger rig than ours. All in all it was great, I’d definitely recommend it and plan to return. About 10 minutes to the Joshua Tree National Park entrance and 15+ minutes to good climbs. Easy access and close to town if you forgot something but you won’t hear any traffic.

Hidden Gem outside of Joshua Tree

This is the most beautiful place to watch sunrise and sunset and stars. So peaceful.

Beautiful view of sky

**very nice campground. Always clean. Small store onsite. Small lake. Some sites are full hook-ups and many tent sites. Quiet and peaceful. I’ve stayed many times - September, October &amp; May. The Joshua Tree Music Festival takes over the campground for a week in October and a week in May. Wonderful time to stay and hear such a huge variety of music and art!**

Comfortable, Clean & Pretty!

This campground was a great find. Pleasant hosts, check in was easy despite the late arrival. Sites were well maintained and easy to navigate in and out. The sewer is not at the site but you can dump on your way out. We went over Thanksgiving so it was a long line to dump on departure. The weather was perfect, campground was quiet and stars were bright. I would definitely go back. Only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is that they had some issues with toilets overflowing (clogging) and cold showers (and they weren't even close to full, maybe half full?).

Wonderful campground outside but close to Joshua Tree

Visited towards the end of June campground was clean. Spots were clean close together but bushes separated sites and allowed some privacy. Stayed here due to the proximity to the park and having electric and water hookups which was great in the desert. 

Close to Joshua Tree National Park

A great spot away from the main Joshua Tree strip. We visited for one night during the waning height of COVID and staff was taking all the necessary precautions. There were some restrooms and dish cleaning station available, though we didn’t use them. Spaces were clean and tidy and, although close together, were separated by beautiful bushes that kept it feeling private. Lots of birds around and great views of the desert and mountains. Fire ants were everywhere, so wear shoes. Most of the spots don’t have individual sewer connection but access to shared dump station. Everything was in great condition. The art installations and theatre looked so cool, but were closed temporarily. The lake was super cool and teeming with wildlife. Very reasonably priced for 50 amp &amp; water hookup per night. Very easy access with 25’ trailer. We will definitely return. 

Quiet, private and unique

We just stayed  on June 27 for 1 night. We did a day trip into Joshua Tree National Park, which was amazing. It was a hot day but the RV park had full hookups so we could run the AC in the RV to escape the heat. The RV park was just a short drive from the National Park. There was clean with a little fishing lake and it was dog friendly. We would stay here again next time to Joshua Tree. 
We had 2 bars of ATT&amp;T

Escape the heat

Nice campground for all. Has a lake to fish for a nominal price. Spaces are nice and wide some have full hookups others are just electric &amp; water. They have no hookups to. Location is nice to get to town JT or the national Park. The only thing is no laundry here. 

Joshua Tree Lake Camping

Great open space minutes from Joshua Tree park and next to Twentynine Palms town. A lot of OHV rolling around and a few scattered groups. We got some wind that luckily died down. Great place to see the sunrise and sunset.

Great Open Space

Since National Park campsites were closed this place worked out perfectly for us. Most sites are drive-thru. Don't take the back way in - its a really bumpy dirt road

Pretty large desert campground

This was our first time camping with our new trailer and I was a little nervous about this place since some of the other reviews said the staff wasn’t friendly. The woman working at the front desk was very friendly! We really enjoyed our time and would visit again!

Nice place 

This listing was showing as free but when we showed up that was not the case. For simple tent camping, this cost $15/person and charge $5/per kid and pet. Must be gone by 11am. Overpriced for what we needed. Very loud and rude campers next to us until early morning hours evens though it’s against the park’s policies. Disappointed. Front lady checking in was very pleasant. No discounts for Veterans, only active duty. 

Expensive for tent camping.

We had a great stay here. Our site was on the end next to the BLM land and we had nice views of the mountains over Joshua Tree and the stars at night. The staff was very friendly. There is a nice little pond with lots of birds that my daughter loved. It's out of the town which we like but not far from the Joshua Tree entrance to the park and lots of coffee shops.

Small and friendly campground

Loved the ease of after hours entry and the live music we could listen to at our camp site. Quick drive to Joshua tree park entry and town.

Will stay again

Nice park. It had all we needed. Great man made lake. Got to see the little birds come home for the night. Was a little windy when we were there..

One Night

The winning factors for this campground are:

$15 per person/nightly

Really nice staff 👍🏼 

A beautiful entry at night, one permanent residence opposite the office has a lovely succulent/cactus garden and the whole garden is pleasingly lit with tiny colored lights.

There is a tiny "lake" with reeds and visiting birds who congregate around the water. Fishing offered, but no swimming.

I spent a very serene time with just myself and my cat. There are so many tent spaces available, it's quite easy to make a camp and stay isolated from other campers. For winter, the location is pleasantly warm during daytime and any site will be nice. But be aware that in summer the sites ideally situated with trees are much more limited.

They have many types of site sections—loads of tent spots, a very tree'd and full hookup area for RVs, and there is also a "dry" RV section with no hookups.

The main bathroom and shower houses are kept very spic and span and there are also a couple outdoor dishwashing stations available. All the plumbed amenities are available for all campers at the park.

One wish that I would really appreciate would be the availability of a 110v outlet bank out in the tent camping area, or wherever putting one in would be feasible. I travel with a mobile freezer and a deep cycle marine battery. Not fully solarized yet, but I do have an inverter, and I really love when I can camp in places that offer electric only sites at a substantial discount off of full hookup sites.

I would happily pay an extra $5per night just to hook up my super efficient mobile fridge/freezer. Er, that is, my cat's mini freezer...it's for her special order frozen🥩 meat 🐈. I just use the little fridge section for the occasional tub of hummus, chunk of cheese, etc.

Overall, this is a very pleasant oasis, slightly off the beaten, no big highway noise. And Joshua Tree, Ca. is just a few minutes downhill where all the small town eateries  can be found. 

There's also a decent Dollar General store nearby that has the best prices for buying ice.

Slater Bros market in nearby Yucca Valley has  hardwood firewood boxes and reasonable prices on all the extras–Firestarter blocks, compressed wood logs, and long nose lighter wands. Gas stations also sell wood, but it's not hardwood, nor fully  cured. So that stuff burns up really quick and can be very smoky.

As for this sweet little campground, it's a nice place to get away to, and to have a sense of spaciousness. You might here the eerie, lonesome yips and cries of some coyotes in the distance, to boot.


And I sure can't beat the price for tent camping.


Huge Tent Camping Area

Interesting park about 8 miles from the Joshua Tree visitor center.  Large full hookup spaces separated by bushes, clean bathrooms and showers, easy in/out, and beautiful scenery. There are also lots of tent and boondocks spaces (don't have as much vegetation).  There is a small lake with lots of birds and there is a lot of funky art/sculptures around the property.   Apparently there is a local music festival held twice a year adjacent to the park.  Definitely would stay again. 

Funky

This was our first multi hour getaway with our new travel trailer.  We came up here Labor Day weekend to explorer the national park.

Allison checked us in.  Hook ups were in good condition.  The grounds were nice and maintained.

We got to enjoy the astronomy club that has an amphitheater on the grounds.

Restrooms were clean and well maintained.  Would stay again!

Easy for Noobies

This campground is a short distance from Joshua Tree. The checkin was seamless and the staff were friendly. The bathrooms were clean and the sites enough room between to be comfortable. I would definitely stay here again. 

Great place to stay!

This RV Park is a combination of RV camping, pond and entertainment site.
The hookup utilities worked without issue and positioned well.Place is quiet. This is a good location if you intend to visit Joshua Tree National Park. Check In was fine. Asked if I could use my drone for a video for this review and the answer was, sorry, no. The sites are oriented north so all slope up. It might limit your levelers or tongue jack. Not a place to spend lots of time around, but very adequate. I would return if I was to visit the park again.

I agree with Funky

There is no privacy, right next to other campers

Too Close

Was only here overnight but the staff was super friendly. Very well maintained park with plenty of waterfowl by their own pond. A bit of a drive to JTNP but nothing too bad. Lots of sand but that seems to be the case everywhere in the area.

Plenty of Ammeneties… and Sand

We booked and traveled here to show the kids the stars from a desert view, and it did not disappoint! My camera couldn't capture the magnificent view from just our site. We stayed three nights and had two perfect days, but the final full day was filled with wind, as expected in this part of the desert. No worries, though—explore the town and escape the wind. We did not use any facilities, but the hookups were great and the park was clean. I would come again in the off-summer season!

Good Times and Clear Skies! 

My boyfriend and I stayed here for about a week and we absolutely loved our stay! The staff was very friendly and hard working. They ran an easily accessible store on the campgrounds that had lots of last minute necessities. Not to mention the ducks! This RV park is also in super close proximity of the National Park. I would definitely visit again. Also, Rue loved it. 🦆👍🏼🤠

Photos of Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground

Real photos from real campers