Best Tent Camping near Alabama Hills, CA

This was stop to be able to visit Manzanar Internment camp.

Tent sites are gravel and mostly level. They all have water, a table and fire ring. Trees are still young. Very close to Owens lake(within view).

We had a lot of wind that came blowing up the valley from the south. There is very little protection for the tent campsites. Almost killed the tent.

Hosts were very helpful in getting us situated despite the need to switch sites(too many people).

Free muffins and coffee in the morning! Nice pool and hot tub, as well as bathrooms and laundry facilities.

Easy access into  town for dinner or groceries.

If you’re looking to camp in California, Sequoia National Park should be one of your top destinations. They have cabin and tent camping. I have stayed in both. There are trails galore and GIGANTIC trees bigger than your car. This beautiful setting is worth visiting year round and I recommend camping during the less touristy times in early Spring and Fall. You are near lakes, waterfalls, and an array of bodies of water. I recommend coming up the back end up the park for an easier ascent rather than via the 198. The 198 takes you up a steep, but beautiful, hair pin turn ridden road. If you get car sick easily, take the route through Fresno.

Pros: Nicely designed tent sites, plus flush toilets and (free!) showers. Absolutely gorgeous views of Kaweah Lake in the foothills of Sequoia NP. Convenient location also, as it is on the road into Sequoia; it takes about an hour to get from the campground to the park entrance. I think this campground is also a nice alternative to staying in Sequoia; it didn't seem bears were at all a concern here, while they are in the park. It was a nice alternative to tent camping alone in an area bears frequent.

Cons: Outdated facilities - the toilet/shower house was in rough shape and not really clean. There was also a steep hill to walk up to the bathhouse that had been partially washed out, so somewhat of a hazard. Additionally, one of my nights there I got no sleep whatsoever because there was a group of young guys partying all night. And it was the works - loud music, yelling, swearing, vulgar language, and because the campground is pretty open and in a valley, it echoed throughout the entire campground. Definitely one of the downsides of 'unstaffed' campgrounds that only have a host on site; these guys were breaking every apparent campground regulation and were allowed to do so. I would say one other weird thing about this campground is that they have signs that say they close the gates after 9 pm, and their exit has tire spike strips! One night I went into the nearest town for dinner, but I was stressed about getting back by 9 pm. It's probably the first campground I've ever encountered that, and it's really weird.

I'm torn on whether I'd stay here again.. maybe, if there weren't any other campgrounds in the area.

Campground Review:

This campground lies about 10 miles to the west of its namesake town, Lone Pine in the Owens Valley to the east of the Sierra Nevada range.  It is a very popular campground to use as a base camp for climbing Mt. Whitney especially if the Whitney Portal CG is full. which was the case when we were there.  If you can't get a reservation or walk in site at Lone Pine CG, then Tuttle Creek, and the Alabama Hills would be your closest places to camp if you're not planning on climbing Mt. Whitney.

Now on to the actual campground!  Now since this is a few miles from the actual trail head to Mt. Whitney it has more RV camping sites than tent sites.  Campsite range in price from $25-$65 for single tent sites, RV sites, and 1 group site, respectively.  Each campground has a large bear proof box to store all of your food and  smelly items in addition to a picnic table and a metal fire ring.  The campground had potable water spigots and vault toilets spread throughout.  You could also purchase firewood from the camp host, which is recommended due to the possibility of spreading pests.

To list all of the activities you can do in this area would take a book so I'm just gonna touch on some of the things we did!  Our main goal for the trip was to try and summit Mt. Whitney by the Mountaineers Route.  We got pushed back however due to hard route finding and soft avalanche prone snow.  We ended going around 10 miles but the regular hiking trail is 13 miles one way!  After getting beaten down by the mountain we were able to eat some great food at the Mt. Whitney Restaurant which had Americana and diner food. 

Since we stayed at this campground in the middle of June the temperatures weren't too hot but I would really try to camp higher up at the portal if you plan on coming here in July or August as it could be really hot and there wasn't a ton of shade.  Also be doubly sure to book your campground ahead of time as I doubt there will be any sites if you show up after 3 or 4 without a reservation.

Product Review:

Being a Ranger for the Dyrt allows us to test and review gear from time to time!  This time we were testing out the Adjustable Neck Gaiter from Eclipse sun protection.  This was honestly one of my favorite pieces of gear I've been able to test for the Dyrt!  

Pros: 

• Simple design that replaces $100's of sunscreen in it's lifetime! (never washes out)
• Is multi functional and can be used as a gaiter, headband, buff, and so much more!
• Super lightweight and doesn't need to be reapplied or leave you greasy
• It is super cheap and includes a Velcro strap to adjust to smaller neck      

Cons:

• The only flaw I could find was the sewing along the neck was a little weak and I ripped it slightly before realizing I needed to be a little more delicate pulling it on

Other than that one con I would say this is an amazing product that helps keep you from spending 100's on a temporary sunblock and helps keep all those nasty chemicals out of nature, the waterways, and the oceans!  I definitely think we'll be trying out the sleeves for fishing as my fiances arms can get pretty burnt sometimes.

Do yourself a favor and avoid campsite 008; this tent site is right next to the vault restrooms that have not been cleaned in ages…oodles of flies coming out of them and the odor carries into the tent site!! Also people have zero respect for quite hours; people were super loud and it was extremely upsetting and annoying!

Quiet, peaceful and great accomodations for your camping needs. Wether it be RV or tent camping. Walking distance to the lake

This is a pretty campground. Lots of pines but no real vistas. Also no real level flat ground for tent camping. Sites are smallish & close together. Running water and flush toilets. 1 medium bear box per site. No showers.

Great for tent camping, but no pull-in or flat spots if you're sleeping in your vehicle. I slept in the equestrian campground since those were back-in sites, but if there are horses you're not allowed to do that. The hike to the base of Langley was great though!

Clean restrooms and showers, nice picnic tables and fire rings, very nice tent sites. And the Wi-Fi was very good and covers the entire campground well. The campground has access to the river, though it did not carry a lot of water when we visited and you couldn’t swim.

We tent camped two nights here. Our site was roomy but not very level; turned out wonderfully though as it rained one entire day and no water pooled near our tent. Fresh/clean water was available. Bathrooms clean. Muir Grove is a hidden gem of a hike to a serene grove of sequoias, accessed at the end of the campground near the group sites. Fairly easy 4 miles round trip, hiked with 6 children, youngest hiker is 6; well worth it!

Lodgepole Campground at Kings Canyon / Sequoia is a GREAT park to do some great family camping. It is clean, well laid-out and very well maintained. I had sponsored the Sequoia National Parks for many years because of how well they maintain the parks, campgrounds, facilities and how their interpretive programs are. Hiking through the Crystal Caverns is amazing. Must do it. It is QUITE A WALK down to the caves so give yourself plenty of time to do the walk down BEFORE you go on the tour. This way if you have little ones with little legs, they get a rest and can enjoy the tour.

The lodgepole campground is very close to The Village marketplace and makes it nice for "easy camping"- grabbing items that you may have forgotten or to pick up a nice treat. They also have showering facilities at The Village Marketplace as well. It makes it nice if you plan to tent camp for any period of time.

I have tent camped here over 20+ times in a 10 year span. I do not know if they have opened up the stables again however they used to have horseback riding trips that were fun to do.

A nice little river/stream runs though the campground and it makes it nice to have "mini adventures" without having to leave camp at all.

It was a very peaceful and calm campground on the I stayed in one of the yurts. It was very clean and there is a bunkbed with two full size beds and another separate full size bed. The bathrooms were also kept very clean. I didn’t get a chance to go hiking in the area, but there are trails nearby. There is no service but it is about a 5 minute drive from a cafe/store/lodge that has Wi-Fi. I was in site 28. Sites 6-10 looked amazing for tent camping.

We tent camped here. It is beautiful! Spots are very private. Lots of trees for shade, close to the creek, short walk to the village where there is a store, restaurant, gift shop, showers. Also: lots of wildlife! There are bear boxes in every campsite use them! We saw multiple animals everyday. Nightly campground visitors are deer and sometImes bear in the summer. There is a great ranger program in the village for kids! The hike to the waterfall is easy for kids and the trailhead is in the campground. Campground is a short drive to many other trailheads in the park.

We spent 5 days here and it was a perfect location for what we wanted to do - go to Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Jennie Lakes Wilderness. I would definitely stay here again, great place for tent camping - quiet, well-maintained and clean, fairly spacious sites. The hosts were awesome, there are nearly 50 sites in this campground - yet the hosts freshly raked each one before the new campers arrived. How nice is that! It was not too crowed, and the sound of streams running nearby was the main noise - no traffic noise. Unlike the upper Stony creek across the way, this had flush toilets and drinking water.

Pay showers, general store, and gas are just a few files away.

We camped at site 13 between 2/12 and 2/14. There were restrooms and a large sink that is useful to dump bear attracting water located pretty close.

The campsite itself is fairly large. I would say it lends itself more to tent camping than car or RTT camping. The site is located on a significant slope, this includes the paved parking area and the grass. There are a fire pit, bear box and picnic table located at the site. Be wary, when we went there were numerous large holes that were definitely a trip hazard.

While there were rangers and employees of the park driving around, there were no actual rangers at the kiosk. Additionally, there wasn't a reservation list posted.

The only reason I’m giving a 1-star is due to our tent site next to the river—which was fun and refreshing especially for the kids. Also the proximity to the national park was very convenient. First of all there are signs at the riverfront campsites for other campers to NOT walk through people campsites to access the river but people were doing it all the time. The bathrooms were disgusting, atrocious! The campground didn’t adhere to the maximum visitors per site so there were so many people packed into one site. The worst, worst part of this campground people did not adhere to the 10pm quiet at night. Literally music, screaming, and yelling up until midnight and 1am. There was no security or anybody enforcing these rules. I would never stay at this campground again even if you paid me!

It was a great campground but I have been ruined by free campgrounds so when I do have to pay I am disappointed if there aren't showers. Also it was a little far away from the main section of the park (where we wanted to be) but it was the only campground available.

That being said, the campground was pretty sweet. We backed out truck in and slept in the bed, but there are plenty of rv and tent sites around. We stayed at site 12 for two nights and on our last morning we woke up to see a bobcat snoozing in the sun. We also lucked out and came across a mama bear and two cubs near Moro Rock which was incredible!!!

Next time I would try to reserve a campground up higher, but I wouldn't think twice about staying here again if they were full.

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